Evaporator drain tube

[jaxouk]

Hi all, just looking a bit of advice as to where the evaporator drain tube would be for my aircon. for a while i have been getting the smelly sock stench when my aircon is turned of. I`ve read thought all the forum`s and have tried everything, (comma aircleaner / dettol spray / new pollen filter etc) ...all of which seems to work for a day or two but then back to the way it was. having read on honest john website someone recomended to check to make sure the evaporator drain tube was not blocked as this could be causing the problem. the car they where talking about wasn`t a vectra so i don`t really know where to look tbh. any help is greatly appreciated!!

[Duncan]

Middle of the car (as in a line in the middle of the bonnet backwards), kinda where the front seats are - maybe a smidge forward of them. Little rubber/plastic tube just sticking down.

Simple way to check it's not blocked is to park up on some smooth tarmac, ideally with a bit of a slope, turn on the engine and the AC on the coldest setting and after a couple of minutes or so you should see a little stream of water coming out from under the car, like someone weeing themselves! lol

[jaxouk]

Cool, thanks for this! I hope it is blocked cos i`ve tried everything else. Its really starting to annoy me!

[jaxouk]

P.s do you know of anything else it could be?

[Duncan]

If you've tried the comma cleaner and a new pollen filter then you've covered the main bases.

When you changed the pollen filter, did you check to see if it was damp? i.e. have you maybe had a blocked drain hole in the bulkhead area (where the filter is) and water has got past the filter into the vents area?

[jaxouk]

I didn`t check the filter itself, just binned it. but from what i can remember it seemed dry around where the fan was. there was a LOT of leaves bugs etc around the filter which where dry too. going to get under it in the morning and see if the tube is blocked....fingers crossed!

p.s just read your post again, come to think of it there was a biggish hose in the bulkhead which seemed to be kinked as it went down, i must check that too..I let you know if i have any joy tomorrow.

thanks

[VauxVeteran]

Get a can of detol antibac spray, it's like £2.99 a tin and large, set the heater controls until you see the plunger behind the pollen filter drop down, start the car and put the a/c on with full blower and spray a good amount in, then, go inside and set the recirculate button to on, then just spray liberally around the car, the fan and recirc will do the rest, best way is to have the window open just enough to spray the stuff in to the car, 5 mins later that smell will be gone, I did it a few times with mine. hth.

[bobssignum]

Also check that the drainer under the pollen filter is not clogged up mine was full of rotting leaves etc . made one hell of a difference to my air con

[John C S]

Hi all, just looking a bit of advice as to where the evaporator drain tube would be for my aircon. for a while i have been getting the smelly sock stench when my aircon is turned of. I`ve read thought all the forum`s and have tried everything, (comma aircleaner / dettol spray / new pollen filter etc) ...all of which seems to work for a day or two but then back to the way it was. having read on honest john website someone recomended to check to make sure the evaporator drain tube was not blocked as this could be causing the problem. the car they where talking about wasn`t a vectra so i don`t really know where to look tbh. any help is greatly appreciated!!

There's also more on this thread.

http://forum.vectra-c.com/showthread...=aircon+stinks


I posted a reply on this thread on page 11, which may also be of use. It helped mine no end.

[Duncan]

I've just read all your post in that thread John. I have Climate Control in my car so the AC is always running, right up until the engine is turned off, and I've never ever had any sort of musty, nasty smell in mine - either at start-up or any other time.

From memory it seems to have only affected people with normal AC, as opposed to Climate Control, so I wonder if it's because they're not using the AC enough? If they only use it when it's hot then that's going to allow bacteria/bugs to sit and breed and make a stink, whilst with Climate Control it's always on so there's no moisture sat there long enough to get stagnant.