Terrible odor from the AC vents!
 

In the last month or so, I've started to notice that the vents started letting out some kind of horrible odor! It honestly smells like someone pissed in my hvac, theres a dead mouse that pooped in there, or there are dirty gym socks roasting on in my vents... :barf:

Usually, if I run the AC on cold for a little bit it goes away. However, this morning it is now the worst it has ever been AND I can't remove it no matter how long I run the fan.

*sigh*

What to do? The nearest dealership is 2 hrs away, so is there anything I can try myself instead?

Sorry, but your name is just so ironic given the situation...

Have you tried looking under the hood to see if something died in there?

did you hit a skunk?

+1 for the solution. not this car but my Camry smell like sh!t with AC on. dont know why.

Well first off I would check your cabin air filter there is a great DIY on this here:http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24062

Next off I would find the A/C drain and flush it out even if it wasn't clogged to remove any old or stale water sitting in there:[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfXyo7a2F9A"]Water In Your Dash? Try Cleaning The AC Drain - EricTheCarGuy - YouTube[/ame]

Also at one point someone suggested to me when I had weird smells from a corolla a/c system of spraying lysol into the intake vents on the outside of the vehicle with the system on high to try and remove any "stanky" bacteria or mold, also I would check in those same vents for leaves or clutter that is decaying.

If none of those fix your problem I think its time to take that long trip over to the toyota dealer. I know they do alot of a/c referesh package deal things where they change the cabin air filter, spray down the evap coils with a solution and recharge the compressor. I think that may be your best bet after that. Sorry I'm not of much help, someone else could probably elaborate on here as well.

Lol I know.. its sad.. The interior and exterior are in fact pretty minty fresh (clean).

I've checked many places - I've never hit an animal and there are no actual dead animals in my car...

I'm thinking the evaporator drain tube is clogged. I have no idea where it is though! I would need to lift the car up to look for it and try to clean it out somehow...

So many issues with this car in the past year! :(

I think I've experienced the same thing as you, where my AC smelled like sweaty butts for like a week, then went away. It's happened twice, both for a week at a time, then goes away on its own. Idk what causes it.

Compressed air works best, but basically if you can lift the car up with the engine on and a/c on and find dripping fluid that's it.

Ironic, this thread was started today as well:

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45591

It may be related to oil leak/burn...you can google and see it has been reported by others.

Your advice above is exactly the stuff I found while googling things this morning!
-Checked cabin air filter
-Tried the lysol thing a couple hours ago
-Couldnt find the dang drain tube!

I'm likely going to Scion/Toyota 2-3 weeks from now so they can replace the windows they scratched... Thats a whole other story -_-"

I've actually had this happen a few times but it was extremely brief. It would either smell like a dead skunk was outside and it some how got in the cabin or if i farted after having some greasy mexican food. Either way i just put the A/C on full blast for a bit and it goes away. I don't think it's particular to the FR-S but other cars in the toyota line up as well.

I have a pressure tank and hose in the garage, but I'm at work and I will be leaving my car until after labor day. I will definitely try this next chance I get!

I just hope to hell the odor stays in the vents while I'm gone..

I've tried blasting full fan, NO recirc, AC on for 30 minutes, and off for 20 minutes.

Smells the same as when i got into the car. It used to go away after i ran ac for a bit. But now there is just no hope. Thanks anyway though.

I'll be honest. Sweaty butts sounds like it would be more pleasant than what I've got now ):