Vent Cleaning

[The_Epsicle]

I've got a 1994 Ranger and the vents smell incredibly musty(not mouse in the heater core smell, but just musty), now that I know it's going to drive again I want to clean up everything very good because I very much doubt that in it's 20 years on the road it's been cleaned particularly well. I currently have the instrument panel bezel off and the directional vents out and boy do those vents look dusty! Besides running a rag on a stick through them I don't know how to clean them, my purpose here is to get rid of the dust and kill any bacteria or fungus that might be calling those vents home but all I've found online is a bunch of videos of people cleaning the directional vents...

So what's the best way to clean these puppies up?

 

[Mazda]

Use one of those flexible static dusters. Even spray the think with Windex to get it really clean in there. I did my 94 a few years ago and it did the job well. Wanted to get it cleaned up before I redid the carpet and headliner.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CAcQjRw&url=http://www.beautyexpress.co.uk/dustbuster-duster/&ei=z-RlVaORC8mXsAW0jICICQ&bvm=bv.93990622,d.aWw&psig=AFQjCNG1PZe4_zrTb2vkAnaZ36rlGSX2fw&ust=1432827466949760

 

[The_Epsicle]

Oh man... I must be working too hard...

Using a duster to dust never even crossed my mind...

I'd love to say I'm being sarcastic but I'm not, thanks for the help

 

[Earl43P]

I park under a pine tree...

So, about every year or so, I remove the heater blower.
Once you have that out, reach in that cavity and get all the dry loose debris out of the corners. Then, I take a garden hose with a brass spray nozzle (fan, not stream) and really deluge the core to get all the debris out of the fins.

About that time you'll notice whether the plenum drain is clear or plugged.

Lastly, I'll spray some bleach/soap water in there to kill the mold and fungi, let it sit a bit, then deluge rinse again.

Some model years, you have to remove the coolant/wiper reservoir in order to get the blower out. It's worth doing.

 

[The_Epsicle]

I park under a pine tree...

So, about every year or so, I remove the heater blower.
Once you have that out, reach in that cavity and get all the dry loose debris out of the corners. Then, I take a garden hose with a brass spray nozzle (fan, not stream) and really deluge the core to get all the debris out of the fins.

About that time you'll notice whether the plenum drain is clear or plugged.

Lastly, I'll spray some bleach/soap water in there to kill the mold and fungi, let it sit a bit, then deluge rinse again.

Some model years, you have to remove the coolant/wiper reservoir in order to get the blower out. It's worth doing.

That would be worth doing when I have some more time, I'll probably do that when I replace my steering gearbox later on. This truck basically lived on back roads all of its life so there is dried dirt and rocks everywhere, I shouldn't complain about that though because it also has no rust.

 

[Mark_88]

The dash vents are not long but they are convoluted...not sure of the exact term for that type of ducting but I think removing them and running a spray washer down through them would do wonders...

The older trucks used a sponge type material inside the air box and it managed to filter out plenty of dust and sand, but it would somehow work it's way inside anyway...and usually collected in the unused part of the system waiting until it was in season before unleashing a cloud of sneeze inducing dust...and must or whatever you'd call that smell...

And...field mice seem to love certain truck interiors to build their nests in the dash...Pontiac Montana is one that I found...and those mice sure aren't too concerned about pi$$ing in their own nests...

 

[The_Epsicle]

I know what you mean Mark, I took a look when I had the cluster off and unfortunately it looks like I would need to remove the dash in order to remove the vents. Could be wrong on that though, I didn't take a good look, just a look. I cleaned them up as best I could and reinstalled everything. It seems I broke an airvent taking it off, boy I should stop trying to fix things...

 

[Mark_88]

You're right David...the 94 dash requires removal to service the ducts, but it's not as hard to do as it may seem initially...there are only about 6 bolts holding it in...not counting the four on the steering column...but those are nuts...and probably best just to do what you did and let it ride for now.

When I was swapping the 96 dash into my 88 cab I couldn't see what bolts or nuts actually held the thing on there...and managed to strip quite a bit of the dash before finding the right ones...so now I have a bit of reassembling to do with no idea where each one came from...why do I still have a cupful of these things left over yet the dash seems to be installed?

Happens every time I do something...so don't feel bad about breaking something...I learned how to fix mine by breaking a few parts at the junkyard...so I feel bad about that sometimes...for a few seconds anyway...