3rd Generation Tacomas will eventually smell like old socks

you can try to Ozone it

 

I had this happen to me last summer in the mountains. Big temp difference between the inside of the truck and the outside and it stunk for the first couple of minutes after I started driving. I thought a Mouse had died in the HVAC or something, but then it went away. I never looked into it too far. I'll be curious to see what you find!

 

Seems like TW gave you a good list of places to look. It does sound/smell like water is getting inside somewhere. I'll add one thing which probably won't help your scenario, not sure if it has been said yet...

Run your heat on max, fan on high, A/C on, all vents, all defrosters, for 15 minutes or more. This will dry out your system and get rid of most smells in the system. This can be done on any vehicle.

Goodluck!

 

Husky floor mats will prevent any water getting on the carpet. I have them and they are great. Can even get in with muddy shoes, no problem.

 

I had the same problem about a year into owning the truck. I fixed it in an overkill fashion.

Here is what I did:

- Toyota tub style floor mats to keep the carpet dry
- Changed my cabin air filter, which I do every 3-6 months due to my allergies
- Ensured my brake light at the back was sealed ($1 worth of RTV silicone)
- Used AC Evaporator cleaner (Frost King from Lowes worked great)
- Never run recirculation on the HVAC system

The used product coming out of the evaporator was not pretty. I'd recommend everyone do it truthfully. I also did the evaporator drain hose mod as well, so it angles the drain downwards and it also exits in the wheel well instead of dripping onto the frame.

 

This stuff doesn't cover up, it eliminates. Take it from a cigar smoker. You're welcome

 

This - I didn’t use recirc all summer in the humid southeast this summer and my truck did not smell like old socks as it has before

 

Can the AC drain hose can come loose in the cabin?

 

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

 

I don't have an old sock smell but I sure have the smell of two drooly dogs.

 

wipe your ass better?

lol ok so all the recommendations are good and I have nothing to add, but the ac drain, you wouldn't believe how easily those things clog...specially if you have dirt dobbers around

 

I'm betting on the third brake light leak. Seems to be fairly common on the early models. Easy to check for, just look for water running down somewhere under the rear window.

 

Well strange as it appears it seems my leak has been an actual different source that reported here. Although the suggestions here were fantastic and may very well be the case of water intrusion in the future... this time the water appears to have came from the sunroof. The seal here is between a rubber ring around the window and the actual external body of the vehicle. it appears there was 'crud' that is some dirt, dust, pollen, a bit of lichen, grime, etc... this was apparently keeping the seal of the window from entirely keeping water out and it would drip slowly thru the 'seal' and into the forward part of the upper roof and onto the windshield. This was quite hard to find. After cleaning it all out very well it appears to have stopped. however, it is actually impossible to clean the aft surface of this without taking out the moon roof glass which i didnt do. When i got the truck i told the sales man i had no use for a sunroof as they would all leak at some point. He ASSURED me these would not leak, that they have been making sun/moon roofs for decades now and they dont leak anymore. Wrong. Unfortunately at the time it was the only way to get the features i wanted was to also get the sun roof. I also did a better job of sealing the 3rd brake light. used 3M marine 5200 sealant. IT will never leak. Was a bit surprised folks on here recommended silicon which is a joke to seal, but it is easilly removeable later if need. But i dont see the point in using silicon. The reason it is easy to remove later is because it really doesnt stay sealed that long.

 

The seal around the glass panel that contacts the body does not seal water from entering the interior completely. The moonroof frame has water channels integrated with 4 drain tubes/hoses at each corner. Dirt and debris can accumulate in these tubes/hoses. When enough water enters and can't drain its spills over on to the headliner usually. The front 2 tubes in each corner are usually easily accessible to inspect/clean.

 

wow, thanks for that heads up, i will check these a bit later today and let you know. it sure does seem to have dissipated lately from the cleaning i mentioned. We just had lots of rain last night and i was doing a test to see what happened and the next couple days will be the answer if i found the leak or not. So far so good. will definitely take your tip and have a look. thanks so much,

 

Back in the day we use to play a prank by putting a large hunk of blue cheese on an exhaust manifold in a truck. The smell it made would make old socks smell like new. It made a few owners puke.

 

Glad you see to be on the right track to having a truck that doesnt smell as bad!

 

i have a slight smell also in colder weather but just attribute it to not using the heat for awhile, its happened in other vehicles i have owned, not too worried about it but i do remember a time back in the day when a friend of mine threw up all over his dashboard when he was very drunk and it smelled like puke in his car for months....lol

 

I have a 2020 TRD OR that also has this old sock smell. No sunroof on mine. I will check out the 3rd brake light posts and try to figure out if there are any clogs under the wiper cowl thing. I did notice a couple months ago that water dripped onto my passenger floor mat after going through a car wash. Seems like annoying stuff to find the time to remedy.

 

Take out glove box and cabin air filter spray lysol into the fan for the ac system. Mildew smell gone