Stank A$$ AC Smell...

[macgyver_ga]

If you look under the passenger side dash you'll see a rubber hose running through the firewall. You may have to pull the carpet back slightly to find it. That's the condensate drain hose. You'll spray the cleaner in that. You can either snake the hose of the can through that, or remove it under the dash where it connects to the evaporator. If you choose option 2, make sure you have a cup or something for the crud to drain into so it doesn't get all over the floor board.

 

[Nolarola]

Heya Nola,
That's what you tell people from New Orleans.....he's lives in Florida! ound:

:jk:

:hiding:

HAHA, sad but true! That said, we may smell, but I still prefer it over the BR corn dog smell. :yo:

 

[<<<<]

Under dash? I thought it end outside cabin under engine bay and you spray up not down in it. Then open, right? Is there write-up or TSB on this? It is clear as mud right now...

 

[macgyver_ga]

Under dash? I thought it end outside cabin under engine bay and you spray up not down in it. Then open, right? Is there write-up or TSB on this? It is clear as mud right now...

The drain hose does run outside and dumps out under the vehicle. I was just saying that you can disconnect that hose where it leaves the evaporator core under the dash and spray the stuff in at that point instead of snaking it through the drain hose. Either way will work. Just depends if you wanna crawl under the vehicle or crawl under the dash.

 

[sickk21]

I got the stank a$$ smell

 

[hec983]

I had that problem as well. My 2012 never did this. My 14 did this with 4k. I notice that my 2012 had a premium cabin filter made in Japan while my 14 had the cheap Toyota one. I replaced the cabin filter with the charcoal cabin filter made in japan it's not cheap $40 plus but the quality of the filter it's awesome. What I did I turn on the heater full blast for about 5 min with the windows down, after that installed the new cabin filter and whala no more smell.

 

[LandCruiser]

Sometimes when I fart while getting out of my truck, the smell is still there when I get back.

 

[hec983]

Sud'd

 

[ic0517]

Does it smell like dead fish?

Maybe its the shifter being shaped like a dildo.

 

[perkdog258]

As an HVAC Mechanic I would suggest you use nothing other then a Evap Coil cleaner. If it says anything else you will just make the problem worse down the road. Evap coil cleaner is just a simple pine-sol solution that is designed to wash off from the water that naturally forms on your cooling coil. Anything else will form a sticky residue. Further dust and mold will form on the coil down the road and plug the coil. Typically a good once a year cleaning is all that is required up here in the north but down south you may need to do more often. I would pass along a word of caution too when using this stuff. It is designed to come out of the can like Bee spray. This way the cleaner gets all the way in to the coil and clean the dirt and mold that is deep in there. So when you spray it make sure you are ready for a little splash back.

If you ever looked at a home AC coil after a few years of no maintenance it would scare you. There is mold all over the place. Evap Coils are the perfect breading ground for mold. Cold, Dark, and Damp. Hence why if you got a newer AC setup in your home they try and sell you a UV light. They help kill the mold growth.

Hope this helps out.

 

[Kennyr44]

Using recirculate is the biggest culprit. Try to only use it when the a/c is off. If your really dillegent turn off the a/c compressor before you get to your destination leaving the fan on so there is time for the evaporator to dry out. Say a quarter mile or whatever. At least a few blocks.. Some cars have kits that allow the a/c fan to run for a few minutes when you shut the car off, thus drying it. My ML 350 has a mode built in for this but you have to activate it every time when you park, its not automatic. It also reads battery voltage and will shut the mode down if the battery is dropping too much.

 

[Jhalko]

I got a lot of moisture inside my truck and not long later a slight smell developed. Swapped out the standard cabin filter for a carbon and it went away almost completely. I got the toyota kit but it's been cold and snowy so I haven't had a chance to use it, but really it'll be preventative as that filter seems to have made the difference. The paper one I pulled out was gross... And it wasn't that old.

 

[bmwmotorcycle]

I've got the same smell. I went to the dealer and asked about it. They said the same thing. Switch to fresh air for the last few miles home. That's just great if you remember. I never had this problem in my 3rd generation. For a vehicle this expensive Toyota should fix this not pass poor design to the buyers.

 

[SCA]

My dealer installed a Toyota charcoal filter in my '14 LTD this past May. It has resolved the odor issue, but the filter appears to put out a lot of dust. Apparently you cannot have the best of both worlds.

 

[SR5Bart]

I try to tell my customers to the ac off just a little bit before getting to their destination that way it's also off when they start the car. Water will develop in the vents turning to mold and then you get a nice whiff of it when starting the car. I had one lady demanding that we do the cabin filter with mist service for free and of course managers dropped their pants and did it lol. I say it's good practice to do your cabin filter and mist service every 30k. Cheap insurance. So far I have seen 2 evaporator a get replaced one on a Avalon and one on a sienna and those people fork out a lot of money for it

 

[chuckckd]

My 2014 4runner smells horrible when left sitting with the windows up.
the HVAC has no odor coming from it, just stinks everywhere from mold.

This is after having paintless dent repair after hail damage.

The collision center checked and found a small leak in the tailgate speaker, but I never had any moisture in the cargo area.

Help! It is not usable unless the windows are down.