Seriously nasty A/C smell

[AKmoney]

I'm resurrecting this old thread (I'm the OP). I haven't (yet) had my 4Runner's A/C diagnosed by someone with more knowledge than me but a couple interesting tidbits:
- I tried using some of this stuff. I sprayed most of it up into the evaporator drain tube per the instructions, then removed the A/C blower from under the dash and shot the rest of it in that way, at least as best as I could. Unfortunately it didn't get rid of the smell.
- I have a coworker with a 2008 FJ Cruiser and the A/C in his truck has the *exact same smell*, just maybe not quite as bad as mine.

It's a unique smell in the world of A/C stinkiness; my '07 BMW's A/C smells like dirty socks when you first turn it on but then it goes away quickly. The 4Runner smell is different. It definitely smells worse when it's more humid out.

Sorry if this post offends anyone outside of SoCal but it was 80+ degrees here and I needed to cool off. I felt sorry for the folks posting to the thread about how the outside temp readout won't go below -30

 

[97BlackAckCL]

I have a similar issue with my heater, whenever the heater is running, whether the AC is on with it or not, I get a horrible mold/mildew smell, and have no idea how to get rid of it.

I have a can of this stuf
Air Conditioner Cleaner | Klima-Cleaner - Einszett Car Care Products

But it only refers to being ussed with AC, not a heater?

 

[AKmoney]

I thought about buying a can of that stuff but I don't think it's any different than the other product I already tried (which was a foam that, when injected into the evaporator drain tube, would fill up the entire evaporator cavity and supposedly clean/disinfect the evaporator coil). It's basically a disinfectant so it might be worth trying to spray it past the fan intake with the heater set to high (but might want to ask someone with more know-how on HVAC systems first to make sure you don't accidentally damage anything).

Something tells me the only way I'm going to get rid of that smell is to rip apart the entire dashboard so I can physically bleach/clean the evaporator. The smell is so bad sometimes that it leaves both me and my passengers gasping for fresh air.

I have to believe that I'm not the only one with this issue since my coworker's FJ Cruiser has the *exact* same smell.

 

[ryangab]

I just had the same issue last week. It was smelling kind like chemicals for about a week or two when I first turned on the AC. I live in south FL so the AC gets a workout. I noticed that the AC was not very cold then all of the sudden the driver side AC went warm and the passenger side was cold. I did a little research and found out the smell and the driver side turning warm was possible freon issues. I decided to do a quick AC freon recharge and BOOM problem fixed. AC is ice cold and the smell is gone. You might want to look into that.

 

[bagginz]

Toyota makes a foam that sprays into the evaporater. Those are honestly the best type. Maybe you didn't get the entire evaporater? You can also try a charcoal type cabin filter. There a bit more expensive but usually work well. Try putting the a/c in fresh air mode and try drying out the evaporater before turning it off also. Last but not least, sometimes a/c systems stink because of the people that are in the car jk lol. Good luck, a stinky ac is no fun

 

[AKmoney]

I just had the same issue last week. It was smelling kind like chemicals for about a week or two when I first turned on the AC. I live in south FL so the AC gets a workout. I noticed that the AC was not very cold then all of the sudden the driver side AC went warm and the passenger side was cold. I did a little research and found out the smell and the driver side turning warm was possible freon issues. I decided to do a quick AC freon recharge and BOOM problem fixed. AC is ice cold and the smell is gone. You might want to look into that.

This is my next step. I admit that my AC doesn't get *ice* cold; I'll have the system checked out.

 

[Dylan]

Maybe I'm wrong, but doesn't an A/C remove moisture from the air? Makes it dry-er? I always understood this, like when you have heat on at home a humidifier can make it feel warmer by adding moisture to the air. I.E. would running the fan without A/C on actually remove moisture that the A/C caused?

 

[amg_w211]

OZONE TREATMENT for smells

When I bought my 2003 4Runner as a winter beater/mountain vehicle, I had it shipped to me. Everything checked out on the one owner vehicle, except that I forgot to ask if it had been smoked in. When I received the car, it smelled heavy of smoke and dog. I had it professionally cleaned and detailed but the smoke smell persisted. I considered reselling it due to the smell.

That first week, I brought the truck into my mechanic for some minor mechanical work, he mentioned that the had an ozone machine and that it works great for almost any smell (smoke, puke, mildew, etc.). I reluctantly tried it out for $80. Basically, they hook up the machine and using a hose, vent in ozone (basically reactive oxygen, that kills/neutralizes ANYTHING organic in the car--again that includes smoke, mildew, puke, urine or even dog smells) for about a hour. They repeated this process twice for me (but charged me just for one hour labor). During the ozone treatment, they also ran the blower fan to get ozone in the HVAC ducts to neutralize any cigarette smoke reside (organic compound).

After I got the car back the next day, I can honestly say 98% of the smell was gone. It smelled almost like a new car, even with the HVAC fan on. Not exaggerating one bit, and from a chemistry standpoint, ozone neutralization of organic compounds makes total sense.

Find a car detail shop or some repairs shops to see if they do ozone treatments (different machines crank out different levels of ozone). Make sure the main machine is outside of the car (it needs regular oxygen to create ozone) and pumps in ozone to your car's interior. If they place a cheap ozone machine inside your car, it won't work very well as it scavenges all regular O2 inside your car, and after some time, it can't make more ozone.

Good luck w/ getting rid of your car smells.