Has anyone actually resolved AC smell issue?

Hi all,

First time posting but I’m getting very frustrated and need some advice on this AC Smell issue. For some background I’ve have had my Taco for 3 years. I’ve got some cosmetic mods and very low k’s driven. About 6 months ago I went into Toyota for a service where the service guy tried to upsell me on the recommended AC service which I said no to. Literally that week a smell developed in my truck (coincidence????) and it was a moldy/chemically smell which got progressively worse.

After much investigation, and literally reading every thread on the subject I systematically eliminated all causes of the smell, including roof rails leaks, I even cleaned the felt around the window sills. At first it would hit me like a punch in the face when I opened the door, eventually it got to the point it would get into my clothes and linger with me after I got out of the car.

I’ve done everything possible to get rid of the smell. Toyota cleaning kit, various other sprays, foams and ozonator mists I’ve spend well over $300 on different products and solutions. I’ve taken out the blower motor twice and sprayed frigi-fresh directly on the coils. Some solutions work for a day or two some for a week but it always returns. I went back to Toyota and they told me there nothing they can just don’t use recirculate button (which I don’t anyways) and this happens to lots of newer vehicles and not just Toyota. I’ve never had this happen in any vehicle I’ve owned ever.

a couple weeks ago I rented an ozone machine and ran that for an hour, the smell mostly went away and I could smell the ozone for a couple days. I proudly proclaimed to my wife that I resolved the smell…victory was mine or so I thought…then two weeks later it became a vinager type smell, and now the moldy smell is back and again it’s in my clothes when I run the AC or heat.

This truck is very much babied as I’m very OCD when it comes to my vehicles and a practically brand new $50k vehicle should not leave a mold smell in my clothes whenever I drive it. I am beyond frustrated and if there wasn’t a vehicle shortage right now, I am sure I’d trade it in.

So since this is a common problem which is well documented has anyone actually been able to resolve the smell, is there anything else I can do to try to get rid of it? Something I’m missing? Run the ozone generator again? If the smell wouldn’t linger on my clothes then I could live with it but this is too much. Can I complain to Toyota Canada?

I apologize for the long post (especially my first post) but I wanted to make it clear I’ve tried everything found in these forums, BMW forums, Tesla forums and nothing seems to work.

If anyone has been able to resolve this your advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you

 

I live in East Tennessee.
It’s humid here.

I’ve never owned a Tacoma yet that did not have a moldy, musty, smell when you first turn on the AC.

 

Have you gone in for the third brake light recall?

My truck was getting smelly. I clean the ac with the kit that you blast up the AC drain (subaru set is cheaper for the same thing) because that tends to smell, but that didn't do it. I haven't gotten the light looked at because I have a GFC on it that needs to come off to go in for it. It also overhangs it and I hadn't seen any signs of leaking when I look, so it wasn't high on my list. But, I was spraying a hose and water started pouring down from the ceiling. It's amazing how quickly the situation changed. I would guess there's all sorts of funkiness going on behind there. I put a household dehumidifier in there for a couple days and really crisped it out and haven't noticed a smell again yet, but it doesn't rain in Northern California in the summer. It is high humidity on the coast though and it makes the AC stink, but it wasn't that smell.

 

I would guess there is mold somewhere in the vehicle, you may have to pull the seats and carpet out to visually check for mold, maybe pull the headliner down around the edges first though. If you find mold you should water test in that area very carefully and make sure there's not some little tiny leak, I spent about 2 days tracking down a 1/2 inch long sliver crack in my civic recently that was very small but constant leak and got pretty moldy and very smelly. The best mold cleaner I've used is Simple Green, just make sure to start very diluted.

 

Check the cowl area on the outside. That is where the HVAC air comes in. I've seen those full of decaying organic matter. What does the cabin air filter and air box look like?

 

Are you sure it’s not a Freon leak?

 

Hi guys thanks for the quick reply. I’ve tested the third brake light and nothing visible I could see and no moisture or wetness. Checked all carpets nothing wet pulled the floor liner back and nothing wet all dry. Headliner seems to be fine, smell only seems to occur when I turn on heat or AC I’m 95% sure that’s where it’s coming from. When I have the front facing vents on my clothes actually stink like the moldy smell when I get out. All drain plugs sunroof, doors, body etc checked and all are draining

The ozone generator did work for a couple weeks, I’m reading mixed advice on whether too much ozone can wreck the plastics/leather but some say it doesn’t and to do a few treatments but I haven’t risked trying that again as the interior materials felt like they had a film on them after the first time I used and I was worried about wrecking it.

 

I’ve considered this but can’t seem to find anything on what a Freon leak would actually smell like and how I would test for this?

 

You would need a professional to test it. From your description it sounds like that’s what it is. It’s a very chemical-y smell and your nose immediately knows it’s not natural or something safe to breathe in. Have a hard time believing a newer truck would have such a steady smell coming from AC system that isn’t Freon. The obvious sign is that over time it won’t blow cold but that could take some time for it to really dissipate from the system enough to not blow cold.

It really is crazy how sometimes when someone else touches your car the most random things pop up right after that you’ve never experienced

 

About 2-blocks from the house, or final destination I turn off the recirculate button, then turn off the A/C...
I think this allows any condensation to drip-out or blow-out and not sit around to get smelly.

Sometimes I notice a bit of a funk when I forget to do this... but it happens in all cars.

 

following

 

Edit: slow typer

Mine does it a little bit... but every car I've had here in TX has smelly A/C if you turn it off and let it sit in a hot parking lot all day (like hotboxing the evaporator box with moisture).

I have started switching the compressor off a few minutes before I get to my destination (ideally until the vents form some condensation and then dry back out). Then I make sure the air intake is on fresh instead of recirculate and that has helped about 96%.

 

I started running my ac sometimes with just air from outside to “dry it out”

seemed to help

 

BG Frigi-Fresh.
always worked well for me.
See you've tried it already.

 

$33 GENUINE TOYOTA APPROVED S.E.T. SERVICERITE AC EVAPORATOR REFRESH KIT 00053-00008

https://www.amazon.com/GENUINE-APPROVED-SERVICERITE-EVAPORATOR-00053-00008/dp/B07D3B5JTZ

 

Bottom line if you already have a pretty bad smell then go with this kit.


If its not too bad, or you want to prevent it, do the lysol treatment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDUp4jWpT4Q

 

Things I’ve tried…note: truck has only been driven 25k miles in 3 years.

- Toyota foam refresher kit
- 2 cans of BG frigi freeze (through tube and with blower fan pulled) also vacuumed with a thin attachment in evaporator area when blower was pulled
- removed front dash pieces to clean vents and sprayed in vents
- Lysol spray with filter pulled and fresh air setting on AC
- took off cowl it’s clean underneath
- cabin filter changed
- very thorough cleaning off all interior/exterior
- cleaned engine bay plus radiator and condenser with AC cleaning foam from Home Depot
- cleaned window sills, inside doors cards and felt along the windows
- tried a couple of aerosols ozonator cans (maguires a the frigi freeze brand)
- cleaned and checked and tested all vehicle drainage plugs
- cleaned and checked evap drain
- checked and water tested third brake light
- checked carpets for dampness and lifted carpets checked underneath (dry)
- checked roof liner (dry)
- Checked and water tested roof rails
- ran ozone generator (helped for few weeks)
- over 6 months and various treatments smell went from Chemicalish, to mold/mossy, to vinegar
- always run fresh air before getting home for five minutes to dry it out
- bought ozone generating air freshener from Amazon
- I might be missing some other things I’ve tried

- original problem started I wasn’t even using AC as it was during the winter months of only using heat, immediately after a highway drive on the return trip home I smelled chemicals. Originally I thought it was road salts and maybe some got on my shoes from parking lot. Cleaned the mats but smell didn’t go away, then thoroughly cleaned the undercarriage of truck but the smell still remained (Jan/Feb).

Next I will make an appointment with Toyota to have Freon leaks checked as Sean42 has suggested it could be that. I have noticed that AC is sometimes really cold and sometimes less cold maybe a symptom.

Question if it’s a Freon leak somewhere upfront in the engine Bay Area would it still stink in the cabin? I only ask because I can sometimes get a wiff of the the smell near the hood of the vehicle when I’m walking up to the truck and I’ve auto started it from inside the house. Hence why I thought road salt or some chemical had gotten all over the truck from highway drive.

thanks for all the suggestions so far guys.

 

like a few others have said run outside air for awhile before you shut motor off

 

Turn AC compressor off when you don't need the cool air. Point being to keep the evaporator dry when AC is not needed. Use fresh air mode when AC is not on. Make sure AC drain tubes are clear and draining properly.

 

And thats it.

Amazing how people think this is just a Taco “issue” too. Its with any car especially in a humid area even more so.