Air from vents humid/smelly after turning A/C off

[Spectral Entity]

Originally Posted by babydriver

My 1 month old 2015 FR-S had the same problem. I took it back to the dealership that sold it to me and said essentially that they needed to take care of it and I didn't care how. Because I paid cash for the vehicle, maybe that helped. Anyway, the service manager was helpful in treating the problem and at least after I got it back, it smelled OK. Now here we are about three more weeks down the road and I noticed the odor again this morning. It only occurs on startup.

I was told that this is a problem endemic to most Toyotas and ALL Scions and is caused by the air conditioning condenser (under the dash) becoming mildewed and/or moldy. I guess I will have to go back again to get it fixed.

Dealerships actually prefer folks to finance cars over paying cash. The better deal for paying cash is a memory of a bygone era.

On another note, my '06 Tucson did this, smelling like rotten water. The closest the shop could suggest was the catalytic converter was stopped up, but since the Tucson had 3, they never fixed it, kept the prob placated by deodorizing every couple months til I traded the thing.

[billwot]

Originally Posted by babydriver

I was told that this is a problem endemic to most Toyotas and ALL Scions and is caused by the air conditioning condenser (under the dash) becoming mildewed and/or moldy. I guess I will have to go back again to get it fixed.

This can occur on any A/C system, any auto mfgr, even residential systems.

[myusernameisrob]

MOLD.

Replace the cabin filter and you'll be good.

[FRSBRZGT86FAN]

An older technique was to spray Lysol disinfectant into the intakes for the air conditioner continuously till the bottle is empty along with blasting out the condensation vent line

[babydriver]

Originally Posted by Spectral Entity

Dealerships actually prefer folks to finance cars over paying cash. The better deal for paying cash is a memory of a bygone era.

On another note, my '06 Tucson did this, smelling like rotten water. The closest the shop could suggest was the catalytic converter was stopped up, but since the Tucson had 3, they never fixed it, kept the prob placated by deodorizing every couple months til I traded the thing.

The deal was the same as if I had financed, but I wanted to point out to the pinhead service rep (not the manager) with whom I first spoke that I had just dropped nearly 30K one month earlier in their place of business and I expected the car to be free of defects for at least a little while. No worries, it got fixed. At least for now.

[Cliu91]

My A/C occasionally smells like smelly feet. I've grown accustom to the smell, and mayeb even a little fond of the stench.

[babydriver]

Originally Posted by yoitsrob

MOLD.

Replace the cabin filter and you'll be good.

It makes me wonder how they stored it prior to sale for there to be mold after one month. Mine has been in the garage every night and I also garage it at work.

The car was transferred up to Charles Maund (Austin) from Red McCombs in San Antonio so I am pretty sure the problem started with that dealership. Nevertheless, it is now Maund Toyota's problem.

[FRSBRZGT86FAN]

Originally Posted by babydriver

It makes me wonder how they stored it prior to sale for there to be mold after one month. Mine has been in the garage every night and I also garage it at work.

The car was transferred up to Charles Maund (Austin) from Red McCombs in San Antonio so I am pretty sure the problem started with that dealership. Nevertheless, it is now Maund Toyota's problem.

It might just be the standing water in the a/c unit I really think this thing needs better flow