A/C manure smell

I'm going to have to try this. My wife and I picked up a 2007 Civic for her to use as a gas sipper commuter and intermittently it smells like vomit coming from the vents. Cabin filter has been changed so I'll give this stuff a try.

 

This. I can run the recirculator all I want. As long as I turn it off before shutting down the truck there is no smell. If I forget....smells like a girl I used to date.

 

It's usually my 26 yr old son who let's one go outside then jumps in the truck and shuts the door quickly and has this grin on his face then the whole cabin fogs up...

 

Any update on this OP?

 

I regret ever doing the lysol through my cowl. Never again. Not only did it not work, but months later it still smelled.

 

This is what the dealer uses.

http://carspecmn.com/toyota-and-lexus-air-conditioning-odor-prevention-and-repair-of-foul-air/

For some who have never seen the inside of the HVAC unit, the Evaporator core lives in there and this is the shit that can grow inside. You can pull the cabin filter and spray the purifier/ disinfectant/ AC refresh as the fan runs. You can see the fan impeller once the filter is out. Some have used bleach diluted with water, but I don't recommend doing that as the bleach may discolor your interior fabric parts as it expels through the vents. We used to spray through the cowl intake before vehicles had cabin filters, but the method through the fan works better as it gets you closer to the EVAP core.

 

To avoid the "crappy" smell I always turn my A/C off a couple of miles before my destination, usually work and home, and run my fan on high to dry up the condensation that will build up in the vents caused by shutting it off. Generally the condensation is dried up before shutting the car off and I have been able to avoid the smell. I've done this in several cars I've owned, one is a 95 Civic, and never had a problem with smelly vents.

 

Correction?

 

Have you tried what the user in post #87 recommended? It sounds less invasive than letting the dealer take the dash apart.

 

I had the same thing going on in my 2001 Sequoia. This only ever happened when I started my Sequoia after having parked it on a hot day, without shutting the A/C off. Apparently this has to do with A/C condensation forming in the vent system somewhere and developing a kind of harmless bacteria that smells like dirty gym socks and blue cheese if left to fester in the sun. When you'd get back in and start up, the smell would be there, but would vanish within a few seconds after the vents were hit with the cold air again.

I found the only way to relieve this condition long term, was to turn the A/C off a minute or two before reaching my destination, so as to allow the warm air to dry the condensate in the vents up a bit before shutting the motor off. The next time I started it up, the smell would not be there.

 

Well, I doubt your solution would work for most folks, but it looks like you may have at least solved your own issue! I say run with it!

 

It's Eau de TurdGen

 

This happened with my wifes 2016 BMW as well as my Tacoma. From what I have read there are two issues with leaving the truck on recirculate, both having to do with excess water causing growth of bacteria. . The first is inside air is always higher humidity than outside air, even when it is raining believe it or not. Humans generate a lot of humidity. That means that the air hitting the evaporator will generate more condensation and have more possibility for condensation throughout the system. The second is that the closed system on recirculate doesn't leave as good of a path for the liquid to evaporate once the system is turned off (a path to the outside drier air).

The recommendations for fixing the root cause of the problem were to run outside air when possible, limit using recirc to the initial cooling of the car, always make sure you have it on outside air when you stopped, and if you want to go as far as possible with it turn the AC off a few minutes before stopping to dry out the system completely (which I don't do).

In terms of getting rid of the existing smell (kill the bacteria), the recommendations were to run the heater to dry out the system, then run a can of Ozium (available on Amazon) through the outside intake. It seems to have worked for me for both the Tacoma and BMW.

 

Ouch. Different deal, then. If it's that bad, I'd fall back and punt using the possible solution in post #87. PITA, I know, but if it's that bad, it might be worth it.

I'm with everybody else who wonders why Toyota's climate control system always has to default to the "cabin re-circulation" setting.

 

My 16 had this issue, my 17 and even my rental/loaner 17 did. I think its a mold issue with the routing for the AC drain. Need to crawl up under there and do some more diagnosing.

 

Frigi Fresh worked! Going on 2 months with no odor. Highly recommend it!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BG-Frigi-Fr...ash=item4169d622ed:g:eNEAAOSwAuZX2r~-&vxp=mtr

 

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