Hi Gurus,

I have 97 Honda accord. Today when I kept my A/C on I saw and smelled fumes coming from middle air duct. Any idea what could be wrong and what should I check and fix.

Thanks tons in advance for the help.

 

I have seen this only if I turn the A/C on after I had turned it off during the ride. It also happens on my BMW but I dont smell anything wierd so I am guessing its some kind of water condensation.

 

Is there anyway I can check or do something about it.

 

If it's REALLY humid, it might be condensation. Kinda like the 'steam' that comes off a big hunk of ice during a hot humid day. But that doesn't really smell...

What does it smell like? Maybe your evaporator drain tube is plugged & there's a bunch of moldy water sitting in the air ducts?

 

Your evaporator is probably leaking refrigerant if you smell it, or like posted above, check to see if the drain tube is clogged. If it's leaking refrigerant, it will eventually quit cooling. If it keeps cooling properly, don't worry about it.

 

its more than likely condensation. On a really hot and humid day if the recir/fresh button is on fresh the system will pull the humid air into the car and the smoke is condensation. Try running it in recirc for now. plus in this mode the a/c will cool better because your cooling the already cool air in the car and not the hot air from outside

 

Well, the smell was very weak, it felt little acrid, not sure if it was like burning wire. This did happen twice when I increased my car's speed to something like 75 mph. I did run A/C at lower sppeds too, the fog did not comeup.

Try running it in recirc.

Also where can I find evaporator drain tube.

Again how can I check for moldy water sitting in the air ducts. I am very curious here as the many time the air give alergy to my eyes.

 

I bought a Chiltons book at Auto Zone on my Accord. It is generally the first place I go to see what is wrong or what makes certain components work. Small investment, big payoff. This place is good too, but if you are mechanically inclined, don't mind reading drawing and diagrams, this is a good book to have. It also has a troubleshooting section.

 

I've encountered this in other cars when it's muggy and humid. Mechanics always said it was condensation. But didn't smell any thing

 

Here's the evaporator housing. It should live under the dash somewhere, but I don't have a '97 so... ??
The drain hose is #14, it attaches at the low point & goes thru the firewall. If you can see the bottom of this housing, it'll probably look a little like a funnel pointing forwards.

In my Integra you could see this hose way forward in the passenger footwell. In my '98 Accord there's all kinds of pretty panels to hide this stuff from view. Probably look in the passenger's footwell, or towards the center console.

From underneath the car, you'll have to look around the steering rack or the crossmember, to find where this hose comes out. It's supposed to drain the water out onto the ground.