After 1 year and 9000 miles, I have the dreaded moldy smell through the AC vents. Thought this would be covered by warranty but Toyota says "NO" and will cost me$120. That is unacceptable to have to pay $120/year for a problem that should NOT happen. I have had too many cars in the past to count and have never had this problem. It has to be a design issue (poor drainage??) 2012 PIP.
View 16 RepliesI have a 2013 and after it sits for a day especially when it's warm the AC vents put out a moldy smell when starting. I've heard all the ideas of Turing off AC before shouting down engine but that shouldn't required for a Lexus of all cars. The dealer ran a refresh we thru the systems that worked for a few days but that was it. I've never had this problem with my 2004 RX. I also replaced the cabin filter with a charcoal based one. Seems a $45,000 vehicle shouldn't have this type of problem
View 14 RepliesI enjoy your show and newspaper column. Here's my situation. I have a 2008 Grand Prix with a stinky problem. There's a terrible musty, moldy smell that comes out of my vents (any vents, i.e. dashboard, floor, defrost) after I shut off my air conditioning. When just the fresh air from outside is coming through the vents, everything is just fine. When I turn on my air conditioning, everything is just fine. When I turn off my air conditioning is when the funky smell starts.
Mechanic number one cleaned out the drain hole, sprayed anti-mold spray and foam through the air intake vents with the recirculation switch on and the windows rolled up. But the mold is still there. Mechanic number two shared with me that the only way to get the mold out is to disassemble part of the A/C unit, physically clean out and disinfect the unit and then add some other part that drain or dry the unit so moisture never sits in there and starts the molding process. Is that the best way to deal with this problem?
Every time I get in and start up my GX it omits a moldy / musty smell out of the vents, it stinks! It goes away in a matter of seconds but it seems at every start up I get that smell again, it's kind of embarrassing.
View 14 RepliesI bought a new 2013 ES 300h. It only has 7K miles on it. When I first start it up for the day there is a moldy smell coming out of the vents for a few minutes. I've not taken it through any deep water.
Does it just need some new vent filters? What filters would be involved?
My a/c vents smells musty/moldy when A/C is turned on, searched the FTE site and everyone says to check the A/C drain tube to make sure it is not clogged, I have searched all over top and bottom with a flashlight for the drain tube and swear there isn't one. I think it should be on the bottom of the condenser box but just do not see it. Where it is located? The vent smell is Awful!
2000 F350 Super Cab 7.3 Diesel
After a short drive this evening (5 miles) in HV mode city 0-48mph driving I noticed a smell from the passenger front corner of the car. I went under the hood and looked and sniffed around. It is somewhere on the passenger side under the hood, but I did not see any fluids low or overflowing, and the oil looked normal. I just had my 15,000 mile service on Friday and only put on a few hundred miles since. I did not see anything dead in the radiator or under the car, and it is parking in a garage mostly.
View 9 RepliesSo I thought the smell had been taken care of last year by the dealership (which I had to pay for) but that was not the case. As soon as the temp's outside started getting hot out, I notcied the mold smell starting to come back. Had the pollen filter replaced again this year at my expense and once again, the smell is still there. It happens after the car sits a while and only when I'm running outside air. It also happens as soon as you turn the air on whether its the A/C or just outside air. I plan on calling the dealership again today because to be honest, it's a bit embarassing when I have other people/clients in my car. Is there anything that I can do on my own to cure this?
View 1 RepliesIn the last week the I've noticed a moldy metallic smell when I turn my ac on. I've tired to come up with what I would liken it to. Almost as it the ac hadn't been turn own in months or it was almost out of freon. It's only a month old so I wonder what it might be.
View 5 RepliesMy wife's RX has had this weird, what I'd call a moldy/mildewy smell when you open the hatch. Cleaned everything out, check spare compartment for moisture, emptied out everything in the hatch, had the car detailed, and it's still there.
View 2 RepliesI have done some reading of past threads regarding both Gen 7 Camry with people having an issue with a strong smell coming from their vents after perhaps 1K miles or less on their vehicle. Looks like some people had it fixed (some fixing it by themselves) while others continued to experience the problem. Similar thread regarding Toyota Camry Hybrid but only brief thread. Then another thread regarding perhaps another smell like from plastics /battery (?) in Prius while I was on the Prius threads.
Has this problem been addressed/resolved either by Toyota or by owners who simply fixed it themselves? I also do not know if the Prius offensive odor (someone who was testing them noticed it while test driving) is a totally different thing (like I say someone said it was from plastics or battery itself, not sure.... )
These are things I never even thought of /considered when looking for a new vehicle, and never experienced in my older Camry.
My 2012 corolla has got about 7500 on it, and recently whenever I turn off the A/C, and keep it running on fan, it smells like old socks or really bad B.O. through the vents. Stays like this for about 5 minutes and goes away.
I heard of spraying Lysol through the air intakes, is it the one right below the windshield wipers? I know I should probably take out the cabin air filter and give that a thorough cleaning as well. Is there anything else I should do to eliminate the smell?It's getting to be pretty bad..
I have a 2012 Toyota Corolla LE. When the A/C is first turned on, a strange, musty smell comes from the air vents. As the system cools, the smell changes slightly but never goes away. It has done this since shortly after I bought the vehicle. Dealer has checked cabin air filter and says it is OK.
View 5 RepliesAfter my 25k service it seems the timer scheduler when the square button is pressed/held flashes at 7am. When i press the H button the hour advances to 12am then closes. I want to start the charge at 12am and finish at 5AM. The timer windows closes when i move the finish hour to 12am and then my regular clock hour changes. It used to be when i pressed/held the timer button the start time would show at 12 am and after setting it would go to the finish hour.
View 8 RepliesWhenever I start my car in the morning or when leaving from work, my A/C has a strong musty, moldy odor. It slowly dissipates as I drive (and switch to non recirculate). I haven't had the car but 4 months, but the odor is getting worse and worse.... I live in South Florida where the humidity is high, but never expected this!
View 14 RepliesI have a strange (musky) smell coming from my air vents when i turn on the air. I was told by the dealer that this could be mold growing inside the vents because I use the AC a lot. Is there any cure for this besides going to the dealer? they told me that they can partial get rid of this by spraying a chemical into the vent but they cannot guarantee that it will work.
View 19 RepliesOver the last few days, noticed immediately after starting car with AC on , slight mildew smell from the vents. Seems to last a few seconds then clears.
My Gen 3 is just over a year old with 10K miles. Most times my HVAC is set Auto/75/AC on, and use no special procedures to vent the evaporator with non/cooled air prior to shutting off the car.
Over the last few days, noticed immediately after starting car with AC on - slight mildew smell from the vents. Seems to last a few seconds then clears.
My Gen 3 is just over a year old with 10K miles. Live in Central Florida so the air has been on for plenty of those miles. Most times my HVAC is set Auto/75/AC on, and use no special procedures to vent the evaporator with non/cooled air prior to shutting off the car.
My bride reports a musty smell, possibly coming from the A/C vents, in her new v5. I've been away from home for six weeks and have not driven the car since we brought it home from the dealer on Sept 2. In years past we had a series of Ford Tauruses that had this problem. Apparently moisture from condensation builds up somewhere in the system and mold/mildew results. We used to have to spray Lysol into the HVAC air intake to alleviate the problem for a while.
View 19 RepliesI have had my Prius for a few weeks now and have noticed a very strong smell of petrol when I have the vents open to heat the car (without AC). It seems to only happen when the fan is on and vents open. What could cause this and should I be concerned?
View 19 RepliesI am about to finish up my graduate studies here in Ohio, after which, my wife and I will be headed back to California. We are in desperate need of a second car, but have decided to wait until we move to get one. My wonderful in laws have said that they are willing to split the cost of a new car with us. With that said, we have already decided that we want to get a Prius, but we can't decide which one. We both really like the V. We love how roomy the car is. This is very important to us because we are going to start a family soon. However, we also like the regular Prius and the PiP. I really like the PiP but am a little concerned about the new batteries, and I am not sure that I want to pay the early adapter premium assuming one is even available. But, only paying half for a PiP sounds rather tempting. Considering all that I just said, if you were in my shoes what car would you get and why?
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