Aircon cleaner

[db8000]

Hi

following a service the dealer said we had high bacterial count in the aircon and recommended a £99 cleanse. 

sounds like an easy diy job though. The cabin filter will have been changed at a service this year or last.

it doesn’t smell and works fine. It’s a late 2015 Rav 4 diesel. 

can anyone please recommend a product to use? I can see that there are evaporator foam cleaners and antibacterial sprays. Use both or just the antibacterial?

thanks

[TonyHSD]

⚠️ Do not use anything to try to clean your ac system. 
All of these cleaners can and will cause more issues with bacteria then any help.  The dealers has policy to upsell products and services that has absolutely no positive effects on your car and in some cases actually can cause more trouble, like ac cleaning, camera’s etc.

 

First thing is to check is the drainage pipe if it’s blocked. 

The reason why your ac maybe smells sometimes or when on or off is moisture locked along the system drainage or air ducts. If you use sprays or other similar treatments you will add more moisture and more bad smell. 
The only way to clean the system is with heat. There are procedures to do by yourself, easy and no risk. 
Turn your car on, set heating to max temperature, air in from outside, fan speed 2, AC off, all doors closed but all windows lowered by an inch. Leave the car running for 30 min. During this time switch through air flow few times , down, up and middle, use the system in manual mode. Leave doors open for 10 min afterwards to refresh the car interior. Replace cabin filter and make sure you do so at least once a year or with each oil service. 
You may want to repeat all that process to make better affect. 
Use hvac settings at least set to 20-22C with AC on in auto mode all year around and your system will clean itself. And never smell again. 👍

[ernieb]

I’ve used the air cleaners cans on a number of cars and have always found them to do a pretty effective job. Certainly eliminating smells, setting the AC on and the car on recirculating air. I did my RAV after the last service when I was going to be charged all sorts of money starting at above £200 and reducing slowly when each offer was refused. I changed the filter, which had not been done, to a Bosch carbon fibre with an impregnated anti bac layer and then did the air cleaner. Then left the doors open engine off for 20 mins.

[FranSilva]

I use this method » 

But the professional way is like this » 

 

[Rav Rob]

Its like the service dept's have a new toy to measure 'air quality' as they quoted some numbers at me to make it sound bad then wanted £200, that is never happening!

My car hardly gets used now and can go days without use so bound to get a bit stale, the cabin filter was changed on the service anyway and I am going to run a cleaner can through this week to freshen it up. Yes they can add more moisture but that moisture contains anti bacterial chemicals so shouldn't go smelly itself.

[db8000]

2 hours ago, TonyHSD said:

⚠️ Do not use anything to try to clean your ac system. 
All of these cleaners can and will cause more issues with bacteria then any help.  The dealers has policy to upsell products and services that has absolutely no positive effects on your car and in some cases actually can cause more trouble, like ac cleaning, camera’s etc.

 

First thing is to check is the drainage pipe if it’s blocked. 

The reason why your ac maybe smells sometimes or when on or off is moisture locked along the system drainage or air ducts. If you use sprays or other similar treatments you will add more moisture and more bad smell. 
The only way to clean the system is with heat. There are procedures to do by yourself, easy and no risk. 
Turn your car on, set heating to max temperature, air in from outside, fan speed 2, AC off, all doors closed but all windows lowered by an inch. Leave the car running for 30 min. During this time switch through air flow few times , down, up and middle, use the system in manual mode. Leave doors open for 10 min afterwards to refresh the car interior. Replace cabin filter and make sure you do so at least once a year or with each oil service. 
You may want to repeat all that process to make better affect. 
Use hvac settings at least set to 20-22C with AC on in auto mode all year around and your system will clean itself. And never smell again. 👍

Hi thanks for the reply. I’d guessed the upselling tactic so turned it down esp. as I have no problem. It doesn’t smell!

My inclination was to do nothing. If others were occasionally cleaning it, I would have done so. 

[db8000]

27 minutes ago, Rav Rob said:

Its like the service dept's have a new toy to measure 'air quality' as they quoted some numbers at me to make it sound bad then wanted £200, that is never happening!

My car hardly gets used now and can go days without use so bound to get a bit stale, the cabin filter was changed on the service anyway and I am going to run a cleaner can through this week to freshen it up. Yes they can add more moisture but that moisture contains anti bacterial chemicals so shouldn't go smelly itself.

They did admit it was a new device. They even took a photo which didn’t help their cause as I couldn’t see how it worked!

[Rav Rob]

15 minutes ago, db8000 said:

They did admit it was a new device. They even took a photo which didn’t help their cause as I couldn’t see how it worked!

mine was apparently 714.

I suppose in years gone by we all just put up with suffering Typhoid from our cars aircon.

[TonyHSD]

Dealers are turning themselves into clowns 🤡 and dealerships into a circus 🎪😅👌