TOYOTA OWNERS! Here's How To Fix and Prevent AC Bad Smells
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 มิ.ย. 2024
- Dear Toyota and Lexus Owners. Nothing ruins your summer like AC bad smells. In this video we talk about ways to prevent them from happening
And if you already have a bad smell, we'll also talk about how to fix it and prevent it from happening again.
Prevention is key when it comes to bad HVAC odors in your car. Try these simple tips to keep your AC Smelling fresh and healthy!
TCCN Automotive Inc.
Toyota and Lexus Specialist Repair
Visit www.tccnautomotive.com to schedule your appointment today.
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#thecarcarenut #tccnautomotive #toyota #lexus
0:00 Intro
0:40 Why Do They Smell
3:06 Why Certain Models Get This Smell
4:46 What to do if your car AC Smells Bad
6:11 DIY Guide to fix it
12:51 How to Prevent It - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
You are my freaking hero. My wife’s new Corolla got this. We took it to dealership (Lowe Toyota in Warner Robins) and they said they had never heard of this kind of problem and even tried to blame it on an accident!! that showed up in error on car fax. Literally, they did more work not to work than just addressing it. God I wish you were local.
Yea don’t you just love it when some mechanic say “wow, that’s the first time I’ve ever heard of something like that happening.” Because they know it’s a tedious job that requires attention to detail to resolve it. And they just want to make it go away with a minimal amount of effort.
Lol funny story because acura tried to tell me my engine vibration was caused by an accident because they could tell the door was repainted. It was repainted because of scratches not an accident. They will look for any excuse to not fix things.
I have always run my Toyota’s with AC off on the last 1/2 mile to my house for this exact reason! 30+ years now. Nice to see the explanation and details, thank you!
I am a professional car electrician, I love your jobs
Much Respect brother
Man are you located near the state of Delaware?
Man are you located near the state of Delaware?
@@davidrivas1174He’s in the Chicago area.
I change my car's cabin and engine air filters every year on my birthday.
Yearly gift for my car and me.
I use to to this every 2 years ( thats as long as it lasts for me). I was tired of spending 70$ CAD everytime to get this done. So I started to pull the cab air filter and spraying Lysol into the blower which ends up on the evaporator. ( done on high speed) with the AC on. It works like a charm and 1/100th of the cost. Also my RAV dosent smell overpowering for a few weeks.
I wondered why we’ve never had this problem but then learned me changing the charcoal cabin filter yearly and leaving it on auto 72 is probably why!! Thanks for another educational video!!
An important note: If your driveway is at an incline, back your vehicle into your driveway. The condensation builds up and will drain slowly but sometimes pool and contribute to mold/spores. This allows the condensation to drain as much as possible.
Our import shop uses a very similar product made by BG Automotive. The foam dissolves any mildew and spores in the evaporator. It works very well in our Southwestern Summer heat.
BG seems to make good products
You always have very very informative videos brother wish we had a mechanic like you in south carolina. God bless you very very much
Thanks for this! My Camry got stinky a few years back, cleaned the evaporator with that spray and changed the cabin filter. Now, I always shut off the AC within a mile or so before arriving home, allowing the fan to help dry out the evaporator box. No more musty odors, "the war department" thinks I'm nuts for doing this.
If you live in a dryer climate, like I do, I just make sure to not let it run on recycled AC the last 15-20 minutes of the drive, and that also seems to work fine. Cheers.
@@chrisbaty3824 I AGREE!
I live in Palmdale Ca which is a dry desert. A couple miles from home, turn off A/C leave fan on high with the control on fresh (not recirc) air and one window slightly open.
WORKS GREAT!
Your channel is big blessing for me I am a mechanic and I been working for my self for over 20 years and I am learning new things from you all the time. I am also teaching young teenager and I tell them they must watch your videos before they can come to work in my shop. Thanks alot for the hard work for sharing knowledge.
I park my car turn the AC off and let the fan run with the AC off for a few minutes. Especially after a long trip! In my area its usually not that hot so I usually switch to fan only for a few minutes before I get home. This always made sense to me since I'm a residential HVAC guy. Good to know I was doing the right thing!
Nice tip on not using the re circulate, I live in south Alabama and the heat and humidity can be brutal sometimes.
Running the A/C with fresh air in a humid climate is a horrible idea unless the goal is to condense as much water as possible in the evaporator coil and hope the condensate runoff provides a flushing action. I agree 100% with his suggestion to turn the A/C off 5 (or more) minutes from home and keep the air circulating. That's really the only way to dry an evaporator coil.
That’s a really good point!
Running A/C on recirculate all the time is a terrible idea.
@elonmusk should program this into Teslas.
@@TidewaterC Depending on the climate but in the warmer places it should always be on after the car is relatively cool.
@@TidewaterC *Might work OK in the Tidewater area (Chesapeake, VA) but come to Florida and see how that works for you. Cheers!*
You read my mind. I was looking for this video from you yesterday. I am trying to prevent smells I knew of the Toyota kit, but wanted to see you do it so I know I’m doing it right
Yes u can use ac cleaner kits on other brands
Everything that you shared is definitely sound, and makes sense except for one major item. We can agree to disagree that in Florida the summers are so humid. I’ve always used recirculate and only recirculate. Otherwise you’re bringing in the humidity inside the vehicle and you’re not getting maximum cooling and dehumidification. The one thing I do when I cut the car off is I make sure that the AC is reset back to fresh air so that you’ve got some flow through ventilation to help dry up the evaporator and reduce any smells.
I like what you say at the end "May the Lord bless you and keep you" 👍🏾. People are scared to say things like that nowadays, for fear of 'offending' someone/ group.
This video is super useful because I have had three Toyotas and bad smell problems in all three.
In my 2012 Altima that I have owned since new I have NEVER had a bad smell coming from the air conditioner. I also par k my car in my garage every night. Sounds like a Toyota problem to me.
@@josephkelleher8820 That’s exactly what he mentioned: th-cam.com/video/xb0fDfzV41I/w-d-xo.html
MY 2011 AVALON LIMITED LOVES YOUR CHANNEL ❤❤
I thought I was knowledgeable about automotive AC, but thank you, I DID find this video helpful and I DID learn something new! Namely, the tip on Auto Mode programming preventing this problem, drying out the evaporator in the last minutes of driving, and the available cleaning kit. Very helpful for my new-to-me 2020 Tacoma and my 215k 2007 RAV4. Thank you for another excellent video applicable to all us Toyota/Lexus owners who live between the Arctic and Antarctic Circles! 😅
Ive owned 4 Toyotas and live in FL and store my vehicles in a garage and Never had this problem. But i was always told to shut off the AC but keep the fan running the last couple min home.
Very good presentation on how and why the A/C smells and how to correct the problem 😊 nicely done ✅
Long live and prosperous. You have touched many lives.
I've been looking for this video for a long time. Excellent timing, I planned to clean the AC tomorrow. Thank you.
You are good at your work. Thanks a lot for always making a video for many of us in Africa. I came across your channel only in few days ago but trust me am learning a lot to run my small shop.
Extremely useful. Cleared up many questions on the subject.
I find it amazing how DIY Toyota’s are and can be. I own a ‘21 Corolla and I’ve done a few things to it myself and this will be my next thing to do.
Thank you so much for your videos!.
Good prevention comment! With both of my Prius, a 2003 and a 2009, I would smell the sour, vinegar smell coming out of AC vents, usually a few weeks into hot weather. So, I got in the habit of always running the fan only for about 3 minutes to dry the evaporator, as I approached home. Never had any smell 👃since. Oddly, with my Subaru or Nissan autos did I have any issues of odors.
A lot of cars I work on have never had the cabin filter replaced at all, or at least not for years. It's amazing how much debris and dirt gets in there!
Yeah, lots of people don't service them. I do it yearly, usually every spring after the pollen is gone.
I love cabin filters, if it were not for them all that debris would be sitting and rotting on the evaporator coil...
@@volvo09 Yep, exactly. And it does in older cars like my 1993 MR2, 1993 Paseo, and 2001 Solara. It's a total pain to disassemble it every few years and clean it. I end up running on recirculate to minimize it but maybe the product he's describing will do the trick...
I spray lysol in my intake cowl. Then run ac on high with windows down to air it out for a couple of minutes works every time.
Yeah, I did that to my car, and the ventilation baffles got stuck. All the AC came out the floor vent.
Pull the cab air filter and spray into the blower - it works way better.
great informative video! I have a 2014 GS350 with this same issue but i never knew why. I did research and found to at least sometimes use the fresh air function instead of recirculate, which does help eliminate the mildew smell. I bought my GS used, and i have seen the carfax report which shows the first owner brought the car in for service MULTIPLE times to have the AC checked and cleaned. I bet he sold it because of this issue! his loss is my gain, I bought it with 39k miles, now have 97k nearly trouble free miles on it!
I was doing this yesterday, but didn’t think about pulling the cabin filter first. I wish your video came out 24 hours earlier ! I also thought that it was good to cycle through all vents , including windshield defroster. Now I have little oily spots inside my windshield. Thank you AM , you always have good advice and information. Keep those videos coming.
WOW!!! Thank you, Thank You! This is the First Vid on this matter that actually makes perfect sense! You really know what to do and you are great at showing reality....esp. the prevention methods......
I was just wondering about this last night and you magically release a video on the subject :) Thank you and keep up the great work!
Thanks Ahmed for another excellent review.
What I like about my Lexus ES 300h is that with the Auto function on it detects pollution so if your behind a car with a lot of fumes it will automatically switch to recirculating mode then once the air is clear it will switch back to fresh air mode,love it,this avoids having to keep fiddling with it and forgetting it in Recirculating mode.
Thank you so much for this video. I have this problem with my Tundra. I will follow these steps. Love your videos!!!
I always heard the best practice was to let the fan only run for a while before shutting off the car. Let some of the moisture dry out on the AC with the fan running.
It was suggested to me to turn on the heat for a few minutes before you get home to dry out the air passages, but that's brutal in the summer.
@@perniciouspete4986 I'm sure that's best but fan only for a few minutes is what I've been doing for years. I figured it gave everything some time to dry out. Good to know the Auto setting works and to turn off recirculate.
It’s what I do
@@perniciouspete4986heat may help some, but the evaporator housing where the moisture accumulates is the first thing in the air path, so it's before the heater core.
I'm 60 with a 2022 camry XSE. Just when I thought I knew how ac's work you taught me something new. TY!
Thanks for sharing this video. Makes absolute sense. I had a lot of "oh that's why" moments while watching.
As CCN says: after using A/C, go: A/C off, fan full on (coolest temp) until the incoming air is ambient and dry feeling, turn fan down gradually. I rarely use recirculation mode for A/C. I've never had an issue.
I wish I had a physician like you. You would also make a great doctor! Excellent explanation and presentation.
I have a Buick and you are the best, I have been racking my head to figure this out thank you!
Also, it is important to check the filter used. The previous filter I used does not have a good seal on the edge, which allows some mildew, dirt, etc. to pass through and cause the bad smell. After switching to a better filter with a better seal on the edge, that smell slowly disappears and hasn't come back.
My Toyota dealer recommended this at my last maintenance visit, worked great.
Thanks CCN - another great video. I actually traded my 2014 Camary after 2 years because of this. The first summer was fine, then the second had the moldy smell. I get frequent sinus infections and didn’t want the risk. I tried the Lysol method, but didn’t fix it, the dealer said they had not heard of it, but said they could clean the system for 100 bucks. Of course when I did an internet search, I noticed it was a common problem, and recurring, so I got an Accord instead. 6 years so far and no smell and always on recirculate. I’m sorry, but this is unacceptable for Toyota, they should redesign the system to drain better. I never had this problem until I got the Camary.
BTW - so glad I found your channel, very informative, great delivery, and great sense of humor. Keep the reviews coming, I’m hoping to get a new ride in 24.
JUST WHAT I NEEDED THANK YOU!!
Agree on your recommendations . I do it for years because it's just makes sense.
I’ve used this product on two different cars. It truly works! I’ve tried other off the shelf products, none of them work as good as this kit.
Thanks AMD. This is exactly what I do to my cars with auto a/c. Set them to 72 and be done with it. But kids don't listen, they get in the car and manually adjust to 65 in summer. I told them it will take the same time and fan speed to get to your comfort zone, but no one listens. I will forward this episode to them. Thanks.
I have a RAV4 XLE 2022 and had exactly the same situation. A strong moldy smell start coming when turning on the ac. So, I went to the Toyota authorized service center for a scheduled 24,000 km servicing and mentioned this problem. The technician found moldy cabin filters but they did not replace them with a charcoal filter. I always run AC in auto mode at 20'C and recirculate the air and park my car in the underground parking lot. This video has some really very helpful tips & tricks and I will follow those tips and tricks and will definitely share the video with my fellow Toyota user friends.
This such an important video for GX owners. This exact thing happened in my 22 gx. I only used recirculate and max ac, the perfect recipe for this happening along with the fact that the GX ac is an older design. I traded it in for a 23 gx so could get the off road package and I wondered if the smell would happen again and now know it would have. I just went
and put all settings like Mr Nut instructed and I'm looking now into some kind of AC for
my garage or at least a dehumidifier. Thank you so much and God Bless!!!
Just started having a bad odor on my 2020 Camry! Good video as always AMD, greetings from SoCal
Thank you, AMD
Great information about a problem that most people might have experienced during car ownership,
I learned about this with my 2000 Lexus GS300. You made another wonderful video showing how to replace the evaporator and had a great opportunity there to show where the mold and bacteria live and where the foam would go in and clean everything out. Since my GS300, I have always used the charcoal filters and changed them every year and a half, and mostly always use fresh air in all my cars when using A/C, and like others mentioned here, turn off the A/C while driving home the last 20 mins to help air dry the evaporator box. What I also do at the end of the summer season, when I know that I won't be using the A/C as much, I take out the filter and turn on the fan to high, and spray in some basic Lysol Spray for a few minutes into the cowl intake to help kill off any active bacteria in the pathways and evaporator box. I do the same process of using Lysol on my windows A/C units to help kill off the musky smell that sometimes accumulates as well.
AMD, Thank you for this video! I have bought this kit for my 4Runner in the past and applied the cleaning foam and deodorant completely in the wrong way - all in one shot. I thought I just wasted my money because I did not get the best results. I will try it again in the future with your instructions and suggestions!
I've been doing the preventative method for a long time, glad to be validated.
Mr. Ahmed, thank you. Your video provided information I wasn’t aware of. I look forward to more.
As always, another great instruction video on how to fix and prevent AC bad smells. I have had this problem on one recent vehicle I had. I would like to know if you can use the Toyota cleaning kit on other makes of vehicles such as Chevrolet, Ford, etc.
Yes u can use them on any brand,
why it happens is natural plus not changing filters which causes moulding etc etc
@@hiteshadhikari Thanks for the helpful info!
Another amazing video!
Thank You Again AMD! I never realized that you need to turn off recirculate mode on the A/C to prevent excess moisture build up. Your Channel is awesome!
Awesome Video, you are the ultimate teacher, thank you.
Thank you for tip and tricks in the video.
Unfortunately I can't afford to turn off the A/C 5 mins away from the house, since I living in Houston TX and lately the temp has reach over 105F.
I do leave all of my car climate control in auto setting, funny you mentioned the temp control. I put mine at 68 during summer and 72 during winter.
Please keep put up great education video. Thanks
AMD you are the Toyota guru! Thanks for all you do to educate and inform.
True That!
Great advice! Just ordered a 4 stage carbon plus filter from Amazon for my 2004 Lexus LS430. Fortunately I do not have an odor problem but it great to know how to prevent it!
We can send you a box of odor problems if you would like.
You are the most considerate, kindest person I've never met, I love your show, I love the way you teach, and most of all I love applying your knowledge to my 2010 Scion XB you have saved me thousands of dollars on suspension alone, I learned why my car burned oil from you, now it burns no to a little bit of oil because I change it using great oil and filter often, never longer than 3000 miles, you rock, and may God bless your family
Good info, I have a 23 R4 Hybrid. I will always use auto now that I watched this info. I was playing with the recirc button and turning off the AC a few blocks from home
Very informative as always. Always learning something new from watching your videos. Thanks AMD.
Great information and advices. Thank you!
Thank you AMD this video was sorely needed.
Thank you for the detailed explanation. You are the best!
Thank you so much for the tips on air conditioning care.
This was highly informative. Love your channel, thank you!
I just changed my cabin air filter in my 2023 Toyota Highlander Hybrid to prevent such problems. 33,000 miles on it already.
I leave my AC in Auto mode, 72, but sometimes adjust the fan speed.
Great advice. My 2020 camry hybrid had that smell bought the kit online and followed your advice to the T and worked great. Only struggle was dam this car sits low to the ground. Rhino ramps only lifted car a bit but was about to get to hose to spray up the drain hose. Thanks you were a great help 👍
Excellent Tutorial, Thank You for sharing the knowledge.
Excellent pointers ADM!
I used this on my volvo, worked like a charm!
Sehr schön und umfassend erklärt, und auch vielen Dank für den Tip, den Schaum durch den Ausslass zum Condenser zu sprühen…
Well, like always I just learned something new! Thank you!
Thank you so much for making this video!!
Thank you do much for your videos and also I was just questioning if I should turn AC off before shutting down vehicle, than you for answering that question.
Amazing video! Just had the same issue with our Tesla.
Love your video when talking about common issues not necessary repairs. This one seems not a DIY as I have to raise the car up. I usually just use Lysol spray on to air filter compartment (filter removed) with fan a high speed. Seems to work.
Setting the temperature depending on where you live. I was laughing 🤣 when you stated you temp ranges 😂. In the Southwest 75~78° is cold... But I do understand your suggestions. Great video 👍
Thanks for sharing. Good information!
Thank you for your excellent and very thorough videos.
This man is a legend. I have this issue with my Lexus is300h.
Ingenious way of using the A/C drain to access the condenser!
Thanks for the info AMD!
Good tips. Re circ on and off. 68-74°F Also, I remove my cowl and clean out all the leaves and debris.
Excellent video ,I just did this works perfectly
Amazing video and information. I love it. Thank you
You inspire me to become an automotive technician and become a Lexus/Toyota tech I just finished school
Absolutely excellent summary and solution. Maybe explain what re circulation function means as many don’t know. Hope all is well Stephen
Thank you for another great video!!
Thank you fellow Saint!👍🏽👏🏼
I have had my 2012 Toyota Corolla-S with a 5-spd manual since its birth....now 178000 miles. It is not garage kept. I have always changed my cabin filter twice every year, once after pollen-fest in June and then again in December. My Corolla developed this smell in 2016 and has reoccured a few times. My cheap solution was to carefully spray Lysol foaming bathroom cleaner into the cowl intake and do the dryout cycle you mentioned. Worked every time.
Just purchased a used Prius and the smell was horrible. My allergies went nuts. Grateful to know this is an issue with my car and how to remediate the situation. LOVE YOUR VIDEOS!
Did you get it fixed?
Thanks a lot again for your tips! Here in the Philippines, we only recirculate because of dirt and pollution outside!
Great information about AC maintenance
Even though I have an appointment with you to clean my A/C box, I’m glad I watched this video. 😂 I actually haven’t been using AUTO mode at all on my RX. I’ll start doing that.
Dear Ahmed, as a Toyota fanatic I just love your channel and content. I thought I was the only nutter out there, turns out I’m not. 😊 Appreciate your attention to detail and you taking care of the cars and the clients. Greetings from a fellow ocd. My rides are a 2019 Land Cruiser Prado and a 2023 Prius IV (not the Plug-In).
Lots of us Nutters out here!! My family has 6 Yotas (2008-2021) and Ahmed is a huge blessing!!
Omg thank you so much. This worked perfect on my Toyota 2001 corolla. When popping the vent back in, it worked better for me to fit in one side first (forward facing rather than downwards like he instructed) then popping in the other side with the aid of the screwdriver as OP noted. 🎉