My cabin air filter is brand new, and smells just fine actually. Infact, there is no odor if I stick my face into the area shown in your picture! This leads me to believe the smell is coming from somewhere in the path, after the filter.

Edit: Have had the car for 32000km (1 year)

So I will no longer use recirculate as much as I do now. But how do I get rid of it.

What about flushing with some kind of fluid back up into the hose a few times? Water and bleach? Low pressure?

Sent from a Motorola DynaTAC 8000X

I've never used recirc even once in my car. It is always off. I have tried:
Lysol spray into outside inlet vents -works temporarily.. like.. an hour..
Unclog AC drain tube -did literally nothing for me, possible didnt do it right?
Blast fan on max, no recirc, no ac running for 20 minutes - nothing.

This is the last thing I have found and not tried yet:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1q3lFsZuOnY"]Clean Air Duct Treatment - How to chemically neutralize odors in your car - YouTube[/ame]

Have you tried attaching a shop vac to the drain line? I used to do that on house condensation lines.

Sent from a Motorola DynaTAC 8000X

Sorry about that friend, it must be some sort of result of condensation in the vents causing mold or bacteria to grow. You are definitely going to need to get the Toyota dealer to diagnose the smell and do one of those A/C refresh services, where they spray down the evap coil with a powerful foam that pulls all the gunk and bacteria out of the thing, then flood the vents with a lysol like disinfectant product. Also in a Dezoris, savagegeese review, in one of his videos he mentioned that the under-body aerodynamic panels are sealed and don't allow much airflow for cooling or removal of debris therefore when something gets stuck in there near the headers/exhaust manifold, it will stay there and burn and if you turn on the a/c it might lead to some smell finding its way into the cabin. Best of luck.

I will just have to suffer until then.. Thanks anyway.

Also, I love that you drive a CR-V. I did not know they had an "EX-L sadly" trim level :bellyroll:

:lol: thanks, its the highest trim with all the crap I needed like nav, moon-roof and heated seats and side mirrors and AWD. When I get a used FR-S next year the CR-V will be the winter car fake all wheel drive ftw.

geez still no fix to this... maybe bring it in and have it checked out... lets hope its not a bigger problem...

I was at the car wash and found the easy way to get to the hose without getting under the car. Juat pull the carpet up by unscrewing the single big plastic retainer. Once you pull the carpet towards you just remove the Styrofoam. The tube easily pops out of the floor.

I stuck a vacuum cleaner on it from the car wash for about a minute. Will probably do this as well ince I get the sprat.

Sent from a Motorola DynaTAC 8000X

Happened to me once, spilled perfume in the glovebox, left it for a night or two like that cuz I didn't realize, and upon starting it up, boom AC smells like shit. It'll go away eventually, though it helps if you place an air freshener or an odor remover on your AC vents.

What I have found is you should always shut off your AC 2-3 minutes before stopping the car. Make sure to get fresh air flowing through the vents to prevent the build up of mold. Good idea to spay something, but if you don't start shutting off the AC early you will get the mold smell again and again.

I have noticed a nasty smell from my AC in other cars I've driven, but only after the AC was on and then turned off. No other time. Fresh air, cool/warm, no smell. Run the AC (recirc on) for any length of time, then turn AC and recirc off and the smell would emerge. Weird. Haven't noticed it on my FR-S yet, though. I try not to use the AC that much.

Also... the idea of getting fresh air flowing through the vents to prevent mold by shutting off AC 2-3 minutes before stopping doesn't make sense to me. Mold needs moisture to grow, right? And the AC takes moisture out of the air as well as cooling it, so how would shutting it off and introducing warm moist air into the system right before you turn it off going to reduce mold growth(if that is the culprit)? I would think that would do the opposite.

Nice find @Minhtyfresh , why don't you try blowing air this way as well?

Did this remove the smell? I'm going to try this when I get back from my trip! It has been haunting me all weekend while I was away from my car.. ): if this works, you sir, are my hero.