My AC stinks!

[NCCamry95]

MY gen 3 was stinky from smoking ( I quit and couldn't the smell) and it had a musty smell. I found a cleaner @ www.dwd2.com and it cleaned the evaporator and got rid of all the funky smell. On a Camry you have to remove the trim panel under the glove box and drill into the housing between the fan and the condensor and insert a threaded fitting that is permanet. Then you attach a tube that is tucked or mounted in the trim under the glove box for a small shot of the refresher should you need to do it later. You turn on the A/C run it for a minute or two then inject the cleaner until the air stops blowing through the vents and cut off the car. Let it work for a few minutes andyou will have spring fresh air blowing out of you A/C.
I prefer the non-scented cleaner.
The complete kit is about $75.00 and you also get a extra can of refresher. I have installed this kit on several of my neighbors autos.
Go to their site and read They have complete directions, and I had no problem performing this service. It works better that spraying something in the cowl area...you can see the nasty dirty junk dripping out of the condensation tube under the car when you restart your auto.
And no, I don't work for them!!!!
RB

[rebel_mtc]

Originally Posted by xsacta

That's a story in itself:

The first time I got mold blasted was in December. I didn't know what to make of it at first. Two days later I got sick. First, I never get sick. This was strange because of the way it affected my throat and eyes. Also, I had a wierd body ache. Very uncomfortable. I called Toyota and they were very concerned. The rep took it very seriously. He put me on hold for a while to talk to a higher up, then got back on and said they would transport my truck to a dealer and take care of it. Gave me a case number and told me that I wouldn't have to contact a dealer, that they would take care of everything. I was told he'd call me back in the next few days. I was wowed! I felt like "well, now that's service". Anyway, I never got a call.

When I finally called them back with my case number, they told me that the rep was unavailable, and that a new rep would handle the case. They also let me know that the original rep didn't have the authority to authorize basically everything he told me. I'd have to transport the vehicle myself, at my own expense. They'd still perform the service though, under warranty. I must've looked odd to other morning rush commuters with an organic paint respirator strapped to my skull. I don't really know? I just looked straight ahead! They performed the service under warranty, but it didn't work. When I alerted them to this fact, their response was troubling. They said that they'd try again with another product, but at 50% reimbersment. Called it "Good Will". I found that troubling, not because of the money, but because I felt that they were attempting to *distance* themselves from the problem. I only have 18,000 miles and it's 2 years old. What's the idea here? Plus 3 weeks ago, I got sick again with the same symptoms. How, without a look into the system, however invasive, could this be determined to be an "environmetal issue" and not a possible defect? In the end I made my case, which BTW I was disappointed about the amount of energy I needed to expend in doing so, and they agreed to take a look into the problem again while overseen by the regional technical rep. That's next week. That's where it stands.

This is my first post here and I was amazed by so many people who have the Gen 6 share the same problem as mine.

I have a Gen 6 Camry just 3 months old and I have the smelly socks problem everytime I turn on the AC for about 5mins just like most of you but what caught my attention is I now have frequent mouth ulcers whenever after I use the car even my eyelids are developing rushes and I just figure out the same thing happens to my 6 years old son except he doesn't have the eyelids rush because he uses the camry about 1 every 2 weeks but after every use he would develop mouth ulcers.

I think the car is not healthy for us and I hope TOYOTA finds a fix for this problem soon.

I'm going to bring it to the dealer next week hope they can fix it.

I already put all sorts of Ionizers, Ozonizers and scents on the car but the smell just doesn't go away during AC turn ON.

I have other cars like ford expedition and mercedes but none of them have this problem and none of them I had to use air freshener or ionizer or ozonizer.

This is my first camry and I feel sad that It has such a defect.

I honestly think it's a design problem on the drain of the water condensation for the AC.

Here is one reason for my observation. If my car would be park in a uphill position for 4hours then I don't as much bad smell compare to parking in a flat position in my garage which is where it is park all the time.

TOYOTA WAKE UP!! BEFORE OTHER PEOPLE GETS SICK.

[MCeatalot]

Have any of the posters here who have/had the problem got a fix? I ask because at 15,600 miles, I've started smelling this "stinky socks" that everyone else has.

[rebel_mtc]

I'm getting mine fix next week I just hope it's going to be under warranty.

Smelly Socks it is.

[lollonais]

PLEASE DO THIS - - - CALL THE 800 NUMBER AND PLACE YOUR COMPLAINT.

thats the only way they will make a recall on this issue. I called, they called my dealer where I bought it and had me an appointment. I did not pay for anything, they had to do a cleaning of the coil. The problem is the flush hole of the A/C condenser is too small. This causes water to continue to stay in the car. Basically, what the guy told me that in there it looks like water on a flower vase after 3 months. Its unhealthy because spores of mold are flying all over the cabin. Why they havent made this an immediate recall is beyond me, but all I can say people with money always tend to win in a court of law.

[rebel_mtc]

I'm in the Philippines and I wrote a complaint letter to our country Toyota and they had one of the dealers called me to bring in my car and it's schedule for next week I hope after cleaning the problem will be solve.

Did your dealer make the drain hole larger?

[rebel_mtc]

My car was with the dealer for 3 days they pull down the evaporator and clean it.

When my car came back it was clean and I can smell the fragrance of soap.

8 days later the stinky smell was back.

At this point the dealer said they don't know what to do anymore.

[coontai]

take a read: http://autotechrepair.suite101.com/a...ve_a_c_systems.

[lollonais]

Well 32,000 miles and the smell is coming back. Its winter here in south florida, you know, winter, so we are in a frosty 85 degrees. I will call the 800 number back and see if they can do it again. Damn engineers.

[healthman]

I had the same on my tundra.the problem is two part,first the factory filter is usually made of paper type material that does not resist mold growth or resist moisture. First remove the factory filter and run the a/c syatem on high and spray lysol in heater/ac intake under hood until you can smell the lysol.it should sit for about 12 hrs to work,then i change the factory filter to one that is polyester with activated carbon,i use a multifit cabin filter(healthwiseautofilter.com) the polyester naturally is anti-microbial and combined with activated carbon will help this problem and also reduce toxins from entering your vehicle.If anyone needs more info let me know.I am a licensed technician with alot of experience with this problem.

[Tobeit]

Originally Posted by healthman

I had the same on my tundra.the problem is two part,first the factory filter is usually made of paper type material that does not resist mold growth or resist moisture. First remove the factory filter and run the a/c syatem on high and spray lysol in heater/ac intake under hood until you can smell the lysol.it should sit for about 12 hrs to work,then i change the factory filter to one that is polyester with activated carbon,i use a multifit cabin filter(healthwiseautofilter.com) the polyester naturally is anti-microbial and combined with activated carbon will help this problem and also reduce toxins from entering your vehicle.If anyone needs more info let me know.I am a licensed technician with alot of experience with this problem.

...than can you say a few words on the "plasmacluster" filter on an XLE?
I know very well what a real plasma is in physics, but that can not have anything to do with the A/C filter in a Camry.

[healthman]

Plasmacluster technology causes positively and negatively charged ions to be released into the air. These ions are unstable and are immediately surrounded by water molecules. The resulting clusters, which are called Plasmaclusters, spread throughout the heater case and interior, attaching to airborne particles and molecules.then they drop to the ground because of the weight.In my opinion i would rather remove the particles before they enter into the heater case or cabin interior.

[Tobeit]

Originally Posted by healthman

Plasmacluster technology causes positively and negatively charged ions to be released into the air. These ions are unstable and are immediately surrounded by water molecules. The resulting clusters, which are called Plasmaclusters, spread throughout the heater case and interior, attaching to airborne particles and molecules.then they drop to the ground because of the weight.In my opinion i would rather remove the particles before they enter into the heater case or cabin interior.

Thanks a lot, would not call it "plasma"-cluster but whatever works is fine with me.... next time I go vacuum my car I can say I am going Plasmacluster hunting

[TRD VVTi]

Originally Posted by rebel_mtc

This is my first post here and I was amazed by so many people who have the Gen 6 share the same problem as mine.

I have a Gen 6 Camry just 3 months old and I have the smelly socks problem everytime I turn on the AC for about 5mins just like most of you but what caught my attention is I now have frequent mouth ulcers whenever after I use the car even my eyelids are developing rushes and I just figure out the same thing happens to my 6 years old son except he doesn't have the eyelids rush because he uses the camry about 1 every 2 weeks but after every use he would develop mouth ulcers.

I think the car is not healthy for us and I hope TOYOTA finds a fix for this problem soon.

I'm going to bring it to the dealer next week hope they can fix it.

I already put all sorts of Ionizers, Ozonizers and scents on the car but the smell just doesn't go away during AC turn ON.

I have other cars like ford expedition and mercedes but none of them have this problem and none of them I had to use air freshener or ionizer or ozonizer.

This is my first camry and I feel sad that It has such a defect.

I honestly think it's a design problem on the drain of the water condensation for the AC.

Here is one reason for my observation. If my car would be park in a uphill position for 4hours then I don't as much bad smell compare to parking in a flat position in my garage which is where it is park all the time.

TOYOTA WAKE UP!! BEFORE OTHER PEOPLE GETS SICK.

What is this world coming to?

[tzeshan]

Originally Posted by healthman

I had the same on my tundra.the problem is two part,first the factory filter is usually made of paper type material that does not resist mold growth or resist moisture. First remove the factory filter and run the a/c syatem on high and spray lysol in heater/ac intake under hood until you can smell the lysol.it should sit for about 12 hrs to work,then i change the factory filter to one that is polyester with activated carbon,i use a multifit cabin filter(healthwiseautofilter.com) the polyester naturally is anti-microbial and combined with activated carbon will help this problem and also reduce toxins from entering your vehicle.If anyone needs more info let me know.I am a licensed technician with alot of experience with this problem.

The list from that site does not include Toyota Camry.