Accessing A/C evaporator core... Mold and Mildew smell

[BavarianZHP]

I rarely ever use the A/C here in Seattle, but whenever I do I get this horrid smell afterwards. Most of you know what I'm talking about. It's beyond putrid in the ZHP. Anyways, I have a little time today and attempted to access the evaporator core.

Seemed easy with the video below:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKQnjH-5i3I


Anyways, in 15 mins I got to the four aluminium tabs that hold the cover into place (in video this is at 2:20). I quickly get rid of those, but the cover is still FIRMLY attached to the surroundings. I used quite a bit of pressure and I can get some space above and below the cover, but it seems like something right in the middle of the cover is holding it in place (feels like it's still attached in the middle somewhere).

What am I doing wrong and what did I miss? The video does skip a few steps (like removing the dash vent ducts to access the rest of it) so I'm assuming they also missed a step here - like removing the wiring or tabs or something?

Thanks,

[BavarianZHP]

Here's where I'm currently stuck at... Trying to remove the BEHR cover:

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc12/Bike_enthusiast/IMG_0084_zpsa0e7e793.jpg (http://s218.photobucket.com/user/Bike_enthusiast/media/IMG_0084_zpsa0e7e793.jpg.html)

[BavarianZHP]

Ok. Nevermind... I'm an idiot. I took out the wrong aluminum tabs that were further down than the ones that were holding the shield. You have to move the cables to see them and they are much higher up from the bottom.

[Dave1027]

My car has that after smell too but I thought it was normal. My Toyota pickup has the smell even worse. It's did it since the day I bought it brand new. Smells fine as long as the ac is on but if I turn it off with the fan still on it will begin to stink within a few miniutes

[Sockethead]

You can get a can of spray specifically for that. All you have do is take out the final stage resister and squirt it in. I used this on my old 325i and it worked great

[BavarianZHP]

My car has that after smell too but I thought it was normal. My Toyota pickup has the smell even worse. It's did it since the day I bought it brand new. Smells fine as long as the ac is on but if I turn it off with the fan still on it will begin to stink within a few miniutes

Same symptoms here. Except the smell is so strong, I gag if I don't lower the windows.



You can get a can of spray specifically for that. All you have do is take out the final stage resister and squirt it in. I used this on my old 325i and it worked great

Yep, I saw that method as well. Although it's quicker, I think it would be much harder to clean the core spraying it from the side. Mine smells so bad, I wanted to make sure I get it all. Right now I'm playing the waiting game before I rinse and air it out.