A\C system musty smell

are you 100% sure? If you don’t mind checking- literally turn the dial off low, turn off with circ off then turn it back on.

recirc turns on automatically if ac is on regardless of dial temp… for me at least

 

yep that's how mine works as well.

 

I wish someone would figure out how to turn off the auto recirc on… like the ect auto off @MESO even possible or not even close to similar as ect?

 

Mine only comes on when I turn it to max ac…

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0JDB7E2nJorgLMKRSlePu5v6A

 

Sometimes mice can get into the duct system and piss… it can leave an unpleasant smell that will be hard to determine a pinpoint spot. A charcoal cab filter might help? I always let the air run for a minute before getting out with the a/c off.
You can also put a 1 or 2 of drops of essential oil of choice in your cabin filter but don’t over do it!

 

Having gotten the funky mold smell in several vehicles, I turn off the AC--in ALL our vehicles--about 2 miles from home and let the ambient air blow thru in vent mode. Never had that moldy smell again. So now you know at least 2 people.

 

Spray the coil cleaner in the evaporator and the refresher spray in the vents on the cowl. Youtube clips below with instructions...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRy23TFpM4I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMj3h3-un_g

 

If it gets really bad you can find a detail or mold remediation company that does ozone treatment that gives a guarantee. They usually hold the vehicle overnight and pump ozone thru it. It will kill anything in there causing odors.

 

Those ozone machines put out some nasty stuff. A dealer I worked for would hire out for that on smokers cars. It helped significantly, but we had to leave the windows down for hours after and it had a nasty smell that would linger. Always wrecked my sinuses.

 

Yes, ozone is actually very dangerous and needs to be used carefully. It is a disinfectant and very powerful. I use an ozone generator in my aquarium to eradicate microscopic parasites. After the ozone treatment it is important to let it disperse, and it may take a day or so for it to fully “flush” the odor out of the fabric.

 

Real simple solution and no Lysol is NOT a solution. Try to limit the use of RECIRC and push the ac button to off a mile or two from your destination.

Like using a seat belt, turning off the a/c before you arrive at your destination becomes habit.

Follow these two suggestions and you can toss your can of Lysol back in the bathroom

 

So it was my Tundra that auto circ came on when set to low. After a test with my Tacoma I found that auto circ comes on when the temp is set below 65.
If I think of it I shut the ac off when I turn onto my street, but I don’t worry about it too much because I’ve already shut the recirc off and I know the baffle is open so the air box will dry.
As for getting rid of the fungus that has built up I went through two bottles of Lysol (remove cabin air filter and spray directly in there). That wasn’t enough so I bought a product from the parts store designed for just this problem. You should be able to get rid of this problem over the weekend and not have to deal with it again if you follow the advice on this thread.

 

ZAK

 

See I don’t understand this. Mine works the exact opposite of this. Anytime ac is turned on, recir does too. It can be any temp setting or speed. I can turn recir off after ac is on but it will still auto come on on next startup or button cycle.

I don’t think there is a setting to change for this but could be wrong. If so the only true difference is I’m an 18

 

If outside temp is over 70, recirculate will automatically turn on at startup. I’ve tested this recently so I know for certain.

 

I will have to try and remember this when the temp finally drops… in oct/nov

 

Interestingly enough Wife and I had dinner with another couple last night and the husband is a Lexus technician. I asked him about this and he mentioned this refresh kit is the best way. He said that if you already have a problem, using ambient air that has a lot of moisture in it won’t actually fix it

 

Prob should get the antibacterial foam spray and stuff it up the drain tube and spray it into the coils area. It foams up and fills the evaporator and kills everything growing in there and drains out. Leave a nice minty smell. My 2005 Kia needs that done every year or two, easiest to remove the inside kick panel and unclamp the hose right there to spray it due to a sharp bend in the Kia drain hose. Which is, of course, irrelevant here since this is a Tacoma forum, but I digress...

$15 Lubegard 96030 Kool-It Evaporator and Heater Foam Cleaner

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007PHD0S

 

Pulling the blower motor works best for me

 

So, I have the temp dial on my '19 plus Recirc and a/c buttons. If I turn the temp dial all the way CCW then it goes into "MAX A/C" mode which auto-enables "recirc" (you can see the recirc button magically light up at night.) So I turn the dial *gently* until it stops just shy of kicking into MAX (thus it is not turned CCW all the way possible) and then I press the a/c button. This takes outside air and cools it down before blowing it into the cabin. In smelly areas I just tap the recirc button until we get past the area, then tap it again to allow outside air back in.