Suggestions for cleaning cabin air intake

[slowdime]

It's about time for a good spring cleaning. I'm going to do a good thorough wash, including the undercarriage; shampoo the interior; and degrease the engine bay.. Not that it's too bad in the first place.
The cavalier is no spring chicken but it's in really good shape for it's age, no scratches or dings or anything, no leaks or burning.
There's no cabin air filter equipped, and I want to get the air intake as clean as I can since it's time to start using the ac more often. I sprayed some antibacterial stuff down the cowling with the heat on full blast, and again with the ac on full. Aside from smelling like lysol for a couple days I don't think it really made a big difference. I plan on taking the cowling off to pick out sticks and bugs that have gotten stuck in there over the years; I also want to take at least part of the dash apart to tighten down fasteners and put some foam tape along mating surfaces to quiet down some of the squeaks and rattles. I'm not sure how accessible the hvac duct work is so I'd like to have a plan to get the system as clean as I can within reason. Any tools or suggestions? I was thinking of maybe using a foam bottle brush type thing to snake down the duct work from the cabin.

 

[bdcardinal]

Frigi Fresh
https://www.bgprod.com/catalog/climate-control/bg-frigi-fresh/

 

[OneEyeJack]

Something like this.

 

[mikered30]

Might want to consider pulling the blower motor and removing the leaves, bugs, grass, and other debris that is stuck on the evaporator and clean it with a foaming evaporator safe cleaner. I think that would be more beneficial than removing the cowl to clean that area.

 

[raytseng]

there are a variety of brushes at home depot meant for cleaning dryer ducts or refrigerator coils.

You can also consider and see if there are vacuum accessories that you can attach to snake a hose down and suck anything out.

 

[slowdime]

Thanks for the input, all.
I think I'll try a multi-prong approach. I want to get the stuff out that I can see stuck in the cowling, the blower motor isn't too tough to get at so that can get a cleaning. Then follow it up with one of those cleaning systems. Hopefully that'll get rid of the musty smell.

 

[user52165]

Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
Something like this.


+1

Go in thru the drain on the lower firewall.