CUTLASS Is there a way to clean out heating ducts?

[old80cs]

Shot in the dark here, guys. My car has been in storage since 1991 and I (and my friend) got back working on it last year. I installed the heater blower motor (Non-A/C ) and can hear stuff getting blown around in the ductwork. I found several mummified mice on the floor of the car when I cleaned it out in May 2022 and assume they found their way into the ductwork with acorns etc. The heater control on the dash works a cable to the diverter / blend door in the ductwork and it's somewhat difficult to move from side to side and won't stay centered on the "Heater" setting. Is there a way to clean (vacuum) out the ductwork without removing the dash and all the guts of the heating system in this car? Any help is appreciated.

 

[BlairC_789]

Take out the blower motor and then blow a ton of compressed air down the air vents and then vacuum it up from the hole of the blower motor. At least that's how I did it when I bought my car

 

[old80cs]

Thanks for the response, I’ll give it a try today!

 

[Texas82GP]

Careful with that stiff heater control cable. The plastic where it attaches to the temperature blend door is prone to breaking. I'm no expert on the Cutlass dash but I would think you would be able to get at least some of the ductwork out from below and with the glove box out, without pulling the dash.

 

[Max Headroom]

If the blower moter is under the hood and easy to remove, take it out and try a leaf blower. Not sure but I think it would probably work better to blow in the direction the system was designed for. If it works, it will probably bow all the crap in the ducts into the passenger compartment, so be ready to do some housekeeping when you are finished. Also, I would not start with the leaf blower on hi or pressed into the blower compartment. Start with less air pressure and increase as needed. It would probably make sense to blow the ducts, switch to defrost and then to heater to get at all possible places that might be holding a surprise. Also, spraying some Lysol into the airstream from the blower would go a long way to killing mold, mildew, etc..

Good luck with whatever you try.

 

[GP403]

My Facebook feed is full of people who want to clean my heating ducts.

Sorry. Carry on.

Edit: ok. Wrong thread

 

[ck80]

My Facebook feed is full of people who want to clean my heating ducts.

Sorry. Carry on.

What about the ones selling you t-shirts, offering to sketch your car, and, offering to tell you more about how they make money from home?