water and carpet.

[fdiphill]

Hello,

I have a 2008 Camry LE V6, For about a month or so I've noticed a moldy foul smell coming from inside the car. when I was cleaning the carpet I noticed the rear passengers side carpet was soaked through and very soggy to the touch.

I'm sure that is the cause of my condensation and smell, it feels like water not oily but I've also noticed a foul smell coming out of the vents when the a/c is on.

Any thoughts on what's creating this wet carpet and how to get rid of the moldy fouls smell?


Thanks,
fdiphill

[Glenn8963]

Originally Posted by fdiphill

Hello,

I have a 2008 Camry LE V6, For about a month or so I've noticed a moldy foul smell coming from inside the car. when I was cleaning the carpet I noticed the rear passengers side carpet was soaked through and very soggy to the touch.

I'm sure that is the cause of my condensation and smell, it feels like water not oily but I've also noticed a foul smell coming out of the vents when the a/c is on.

Any thoughts on what's creating this wet carpet and how to get rid of the moldy fouls smell?


Thanks,
fdiphill

i would first suspect the drain tube for the a/c..

you may have to get the car up on a lift, look around the passenger side of the firewall, and you should see a black tube sticking out. or look around the a'c, heater unit...it may be plugged up. you can use a wire hanger and gently get inside of that tube to clear it out..watch out though, you might get rained on when you do this.

as for the smell, you can spray some Lysol into the vents to kill off the germs.

go to just about any automotive store and look for sprays that specialize in this.

i would also recommend that you leave the windows open to dry out the carpet, or use a wet vac to suck up as much water as you can. that water already went through to the carpet under-layment, and now your metal floor is wet as well. this can lead to rust.

you could pull back the carpet and wipe it all down.

[murph3699]

My wife's Mazda 3 had the same problem. It ended up being the drain for the AC. We caught it quick, though. There was no rust or mold under the carpet.

[Luna2]

One other issue could cause this problem. Only if you have a moon roof...

[fdiphill]

Yes I have a moon roof, also I have a Toyota Platinum extended warranty good for 75K or 1-13-15, and being a 2008 with 22K I would assume this would be covered? Anyone know this before I try to make my case with my local Toyota dealership?


Thanks,
Fdiphill

[Luna2]

The leak could be from your moon roof, the hose pops loose from the drain fitting near the back. There is a TSB on this problem, I don't remember the number. If I find it, I will post the number.

[Luna2]

T-SB-0141-08 Rev2 July 29,2008

Water Leak at Headliner

for 2007 - 2011 Camry, Camry HV

TSB REVISION NOTICE

January20,2011 Rev 2:

• Applicability has been updated to include 2010 -2011 model years.
• Repair procedure has been updated.

April 15, 2009 Rev1:

• Applicability has been updated to include 2009 model year Avalon and Camry vehicles and 2007 - 2009 Camry HV vehicles.

Any previous printed versions of this service bulletin should be discarded.

Some customers may experience a water leak condition in the headliner that may also result in a wet foot well area. This condition may be the result of one or more moon roof drain hoses becoming loose or disconnected from a moon roof drain pan nipple.

APPLICABLE WARRANTY

• This repair is covered under the Toyota Comprehensive Warranty. This warranty is in effect for 36 months or 36,000 miles, whichever occurs first, from the vehicle’s in-service date.
• Warranty application is limited to correction of a problem based upon a customer’s specific complaint.

This should help, PM me with an email address and I will send you a PDF copy...

[new-b]

Hello all,

I am having a similar problem with my 09 Camry LE (No sunroof). The details:

My car has a musty, slightly sweet smell
The A/C does not smell
The front passenger floor under the glove box is wet.
The A/C drain IS draining water from under the car after prolonged A/C usage

Possibly unrelated - there appears to be some moisture in the window compartment (of BOTH front windows). Whenever I roll my windows down I smell a very musty smell from the window slot. Also, when I roll them back up, there is moisture on the window.


Similarly, I have the extended platinum warranty. Do you think any of this would be covered? If not, do you have any suggestions how I might fix this on my own?


Thank you very much for your help!!!

[Dave's]

Sounds like yours is a leaking heater core. Try pressing some white paper towels into the passenger side carpet and inspect for color and smell. I don't know for sure but assuming your coolant is pink. With the engine cold you can remove your radiator cap or check your 'overflow' reservoir to compare the appearance and smell. I would hope it would be covered under warranty.

[new-b]

Originally Posted by Dave's

Sounds like yours is a leaking heater core. Try pressing some white paper towels into the passenger side carpet and inspect for color and smell. I don't know for sure but assuming your coolant is pink. With the engine cold you can remove your radiator cap or check your 'overflow' reservoir to compare the appearance and smell. I would hope it would be covered under warranty.

Thanks for your response Dave! I removed the carpet and padding in the front this morning and found clear water on the floor in addition to some mold. I sprayed it all down with lysol and left the carpet pulled up.

I just bought the car a few weeks ago, so I am thinking that it may have had a clogged a/c drain but was not properly dried out. On my way home today I ran the A/C on high and saw water running out of the drain pipe, but did not notice any leaking.

Perhaps for now I will just wait and see if it develops a wet spot again.

Does this sound like a reasonable course of action?

Thanks!

[Dave's]

Shouldn't hurt anything more than it has. It was the 'sweet' smell that had me worried. If you have the carpet up you probably can see the drain hose running down the firewall. Usually just to the right of center. Should actually be able to pull it up thru the hole and run a wire or something up it to make certain it's cleaned out. Then push it back thru the hole. For some this may be easier than going under the car to access the hose. But if you can see water running out the hose and no water leaking inside it's probably fine now. Maybe whoever was selling it noticed and cleaned the hose out. Very likely if someone traded it in thinking they had a big problem and the company selling it had it serviced/cleaned up to help sell it.

[new-b]

Originally Posted by Dave's

Shouldn't hurt anything more than it has. It was the 'sweet' smell that had me worried. If you have the carpet up you probably can see the drain hose running down the firewall. Usually just to the right of center. Should actually be able to pull it up thru the hole and run a wire or something up it to make certain it's cleaned out. Then push it back thru the hole. For some this may be easier than going under the car to access the hose. But if you can see water running out the hose and no water leaking inside it's probably fine now. Maybe whoever was selling it noticed and cleaned the hose out. Very likely if someone traded it in thinking they had a big problem and the company selling it had it serviced/cleaned up to help sell it.

I pulled the drain hose and it appears to be clear. Everything has dried out now, so I'll put it all back in tomorrow and hope I don't have any more moisture on the carpet. Fingers Crossed. Thank you very much for your help and advice!

[fdiphill]

Here's a followup to my original post, Sent 08 camry back to dealer, yes there is a tsb on the water leaking from the ac drain amd moon roofs, but it's only covered for 36K or 3yrs. My problem isnt the milage coverage 23K its 4 months out of warranty. The dealer wants 350.00 to blow out both clogged ac drains and moon roof drains. If there is mold in the carpet which I suspect there is they want 4K to replace it. Now I've contacted Toyota Corporate and they are dealing with issue, will keep you posted.

PS Dealership states anyone who has a camry is recommended to come in very 2 years for the "maintance service" done to clean out the drain hoses.

[new-b]

Originally Posted by fdiphill

Here's a followup to my original post, Sent 08 camry back to dealer, yes there is a tsb on the water leaking from the ac drain amd moon roofs, but it's only covered for 36K or 3yrs. My problem isnt the milage coverage 23K its 4 months out of warranty. The dealer wants 350.00 to blow out both clogged ac drains and moon roof drains. If there is mold in the carpet which I suspect there is they want 4K to replace it. Now I've contacted Toyota Corporate and they are dealing with issue, will keep you posted.

PS Dealership states anyone who has a camry is recommended to come in very 2 years for the "maintance service" done to clean out the drain hoses.

fdiphill,

If it is out of warranty and you want to save some money, I would suggest the following to get rid of mold (caused by the A/C backup, your problem could be worse if a leaking sunroof is contributing to your moisture problem)

1) Remove the carpet on the front passenger side. It is easier than it sounds. Just pop the threshold along the bottom of the door opening off, then remove 1 screw in the upper right side of the passenger foot are (sorry, don't know technical terms Lastly, remove some plastic clips using needle nose pliers that were covered up by the door threshold.

2) Pull the carpet back, you will see a pad that is between the carpet and the metal floor. This is what will likely have mold on it. Wipe any mold off of the carpet or padding with soap and water

3) Spray any places that had mold with either a spray specifically meant for killing mold, or Lysol (thats what I used).

4) Once you have the carpet pulled back, you will see a hose that runs through the floor. Pull it out of the floor (this is your blocked A/C drainage line) Use a hanger and poke it up the hose to see if you can find the blockage. If that doesn't work, try using compressed air. If your problem is a blockage, you should see water drain out after it is cleared.

5) Re-sanitize. You can never be too clean!

6) Let everything dry out really well. Make sure it is bone dry.

7) Put it all back.


This completely fixed my musty smell in my car. I don't have any experience with the sunroof drains, so I can't help you there.

Good Luck!

[fdiphill]

I appreciate your advise, i will follow through this w/e!