Possible Fire Hazard in Evaporator Case

[Glenn Biggs]

Do you live in an area where there are lots of leaves? Well beware, if you start smelling something burning when you turn you’re A/C on, it’s time to clean out leaves in your evaporator case. Leaves can get in to the fresh air inlet through the cowling openings for the windshield wiper arms. As time goes by the blower will suck these leaves in and pile them up inside the evaporator case right by the blower motor resistor assembly. This resistor assembly has three coiled springs that act as resistors and get really hot when you set your blower to any of the settings between off and high. If you have leaves being piled up on it they will start to burn whenever these resistors get hot giving you that burning smell and maybe even some smoke through your vents. It’s not that hard to clean out, all required is to remove the resistor assembly and the blower motor to gain access. It will make it easier if you remove the engine air filter box.

------------------
92 EB 4x4
140,000 m

 

[BGN]

Speaking of evaporator cases, here is a new product/service http://www.dwd2.com/index.html that claims to be able to clean the dirt,dust,pollen and whatever is in yours for a price of approx. $80-$100 total cost instead of having to pull apart the dashboard for a price much higher then that.

the article in the latest Motortrend says this is accomplished by drilling a 3/16 hole between the evap case and the blower assy. A nozzle is placed inside and an aerosol foam product is injected into the evap core.

They claim this creates a more healthy and clean smelling environment inside the car. Has anyone ever heard of this before and/or whether it will work on Explorers?

Barry
1991 2dr Explorer 172,000 miles

 

[Glenn Biggs]

Talk about a rip-off!!

Barry, I've never heard of it. I think that's a little extreme dollar amount, the explorers evaporator is easy to access. It only takes me about 15 minutes to access my evaporator from the engine compartment to clean it out. I solved my leaf problem by inserting some of that stainless steel pot scrubbing mesh into each windshield wiper arm opening in the cowl. Works fine.

Glenn

 

[BGN]

Glen,

Can you tell me exactly how you got to the evap case and what you did to clean it out?

Thanks!
Barry

 

[Glenn Biggs]

To access the evaporator on my 92 Explorer, you first have to remove the air filter box and it's bracket that mounts to the plastic fender. This allows for more working space. After that disconnect the blower and resistor connections. There's two screws that hold the resister assembly on the evaporator case, remove them and the resistor assy. Remove the screws on the blower fan and remove it with care. The electric motor will also have a cooling air hose attached to it, remove the hose end from the evap case, the other end should be secured with a zip-tie to the fan motor. Now with a vaccuum you can clean out the leaves and other junk in your evap case. I also used a mechanics mirror with a flashlight to inspect inside the case. After that assemble everything in reverse order. Note: it's a good idea to clean the resistors with alcohol that way they will be clean and disipate heat better. That's my story. Have fun.