Worst Odor ever... - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

|Virus| · 08-28-2011, 12:58 AM

I have a horrible smell that smells like stagnant water thats coming from my vents whenever I turn them on. When it rains its the worst but as soon as I turn on the A/C it cleans the air...then when you turn the ventilation back on after around 5mins of solid highway driving it comes back!!

I brought it to the stealership and they cant replicate the smell - they soaked the car, ran it through their car wash, looked inside the vents. and so on (so they say.....) and cant find anything...any ideas?

Oh and the air is dry as ever when the vents are on and smells musky ....just generally horrible smelling. This happened since we first picked up the car and we just thought it would go away but it seems to be getting worst.....The stealership said theirs nothing more they can really do and said to bring it back as soon as the odour comes back.

Shft99 · 08-28-2011, 04:51 AM

It's normal. Turn on the ac, let it run for a while and then turn it off while still letting the fans run, that's the odor you get. Kinda rotten egg smelling huh. To remedy turn on just the fans full blast and put the windows down for a few seconds.

nervx · 08-28-2011, 05:45 AM

do you have it set to recirculate? i've read that can cause odor... maybe look into the air filter and see how clean it is. the ones that toyota uses are basic cheap filters that dont stop odor.

my car doesnt have this problem and i have the vents on almost all year. i never recirculate though.

TFCommanderBob · 08-28-2011, 06:01 AM

I had a mouse die in my air vents in the eclipse. Even after removal, that car still smelled every hot summer day for years.

***PhatRoyale*** · 08-28-2011, 06:50 AM

That is normal in A/C systems. Just condensation that is building up in the cooling system.

You can prevent it by doing things like:

- turning off the AC well before you get home/work etc. setting the switch to draw fresh air
- get at cooling coil and clean it out.
- turn off the AC, crank the temperature to the hottest setting and the blower for a few minutes until the smell is gone.

gold94corolla · 08-28-2011, 10:48 AM

This is normal.... the smell shouldn't be so bad though. But this is what happens when you have the fan on, A/C off, and the setting to recirculation. Switch it to outside air and it should go away....

***SuperchargedMR2*** · 08-28-2011, 04:28 PM

I've never noticed any bad odor at all. I always have my setting on for fresh air unless I'm using the A/C. With the A/C on I always put it on the recirculate position. I do this with every one of my 6 Toyota's & I've never had any nasty odors at all.

gold94corolla · 08-28-2011, 07:24 PM

exactly.... it is when you recirculate the air without the a/c on that it can smell funky. I use this because I don't like putting dirty outside air in the Lexus

|Virus| · 08-28-2011, 08:03 PM

Yea cause I mean its really bad, im going to try it without recirculate but I like the feature. Doesn't that keep the entire car the same temperature?

I completely forgot about checking the air filter as funny as that is

Im going to try all the suggestions within the next week but as soon as the rain comes its the worst air attack ever!! My passengers in the car hope im not harming their health in anyway...I hope so to

cabur · 08-28-2011, 08:14 PM

My car have auto climate. It selects fan speed,heat or air-con, re-circulation or outside air by itself till it reach pre-select temp. No smell at all.

Jeff Lange · 08-28-2011, 08:25 PM

Some odour from the A/C system is normal. If it is excessive, there is a TSB for the 10th Gen Corollas to replace the A/C Evaporator due to odours in the car. I had the evaporator replaced in my XRS due to smells.

Jeff

***SuperchargedMR2*** · 08-28-2011, 10:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gold94corolla

exactly.... it is when you recirculate the air without the a/c on that it can smell funky. I use this because I don't like putting dirty outside air in the Lexus

Your Lexus doesn't use a cabin filter? Even on my cars without a cabin filter I have no issue with fresh air coming in. I prefer it anyway as the air feels better & less stale. The air around here is pretty clean anyway so no problems.

For everyone saying it's a normal odor, it's not normal to use recirculate mode except when using the A/C. Use the controls as intended = no odor.

|Virus| · 08-28-2011, 10:51 PM

So I should get the evaporator looked at as well. Noted.

I have an LE as well and as soon as I turn on the auto it puts the A/C on and blast the fans to the max....is that normal?

nervx · 08-28-2011, 11:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperchargedMR2

Your Lexus doesn't use a cabin filter? Even on my cars without a cabin filter I have no issue with fresh air coming in. I prefer it anyway as the air feels better & less stale. The air around here is pretty clean anyway so no problems.

For everyone saying it's a normal odor, it's not normal to use recirculate mode except when using the A/C. Use the controls as intended = no odor.

its super dusty where i live and i always use fresh air and have no problems. i dont know why anyone would use recirculated air unless you want to savor a fart.

i might be wrong but i dont think the car lets you use recirculate with the AC on full.

***SuperchargedMR2*** · 08-29-2011, 12:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nervx

its super dusty where i live and i always use fresh air and have no problems. i dont know why anyone would use recirculated air unless you want to savor a fart.

i might be wrong but i dont think the car lets you use recirculate with the AC on full.

It actually locks in the recirculated mode when the a/c is turned on, something that older Toyotas never did. I like having complete control for any condition but so many people would have issues with windows fogging up because they left the setting on recirculate instead of fresh.

I still see older cars every year with the same issue because they don't know how to properly use the HVAC controls.