Hello! i have a 2002 f150 4.6 xlt, i had alot of ac issues, my compressor blew up internally, and i didnt replace it for like 2 years, i finally got around to replacing it, ac blows ice cold now, however theres a mildewy smell when its on, i put air fresheners and they kinda help, but i know my truck has a mesh filter and im not sure what to do in order to fix this, any help would be great.

EDIT: thank yall for the help, after a couple days it randomly just went away, I still sprayed Lysol on the intake vents and have been letting the heat run before I shut it off, but either I got used to it, or it went away on its own, but again, thank yall for the help

 

What mesh filter?

That being said, you probably have all sorts of good stuff growing in that evaporator coil. You’ll need to apply some coil cleaner to that and pray.

 

Yep. Need to try and clean the coil and spray some Lysol spray in the intakes at the windshield base.

 

ill give the lysol a shot, no clue how to use the coil cleaner though. ill lookup some yt though

 

The 11G trucks were pretty common as far as mildew type smells. I’m not sure Lysol will do enough to clean those coils.

The coil cleaner I use at the day job foams up and pushes all the way through with air flow. Hit up a favorite AC shop? I’m sure they have a particular way to hook up.


I guess you could drop the blower motor down and look straight at the coil.

 

Ford makes some stuff called A/C "deodorizer"
Get some of that stuff and spray it into the intake vents under the hood
Let it dry out completely before driving the vehicle around
Part number YN-29
Best thing to do is to prevent the mold / mildew buildup in the first place
You turn the A/C off about a mile from your destination and let warm air run through the system, preventing the condensation in the first place

 

also check the drain pipe under the truck - the mud wasps like to plug that up

 

i tried looking for that but i could not find it, dont even know what it looks like.

 

It's just a rubber hose coming from the HVAC case at the bottom
They ARE hard to see unless you crawl under the truck and look up
They have a smashed / formed end of the hose that likes to plug up
You can just squeeze it and deform it a bit ,and it will usually let go of some leaves and debris
Some of the 97-04 got 90 degree elbows as a TSB for water leaks causing misfire
Those plug up too

 

here is mine - passenger side near the starter