Cleaning vent system to kill molds etc

I had it done by the dealer service department-- they offered an air system cleaning special (or similar name). It worked well for me. At first it smelled like a cleaning fluid, but that went away after a day or so.

 

This

 

If there IS a cabin air filter in the system, it probably should be removed before the "treatment" and then replaced with a new one.
You also should check to be sure the drain tube is not blocked.

 

Cabin filter removal not necessary with KOOL IT
Remedy as its connacted to Ac drip hose and injected
Into e box from under the car.
Works very well and recommended at least once a year
To keep e coil clean.
The vents aren't the issue its the swamp in the e box
That stinks.

 

Sorry for asking, but what's an "e box"? And where is it (other than under the car)?

Thanks.

Mike

 

The evaporator coil found in the sealed box behind the dash. Its constantly wet from evaporation and gets moldy quickly. That's what your smelling when u smell the vents. The universal maintenance is inject foamy microbial cleaner up the drip hose found under the car.
The e coil needs routine cleaning just like the e coil in your house up in the attic.
Car like house don't clean it and first it stinks then it clogs the coils and then it clogs the drip hose.

The dealer uses a 2 spray can treatment. One can is foamy cleanthethats injected up the drip hose.
The other is just disgusting perfume that's injected where u are tslkibg about. It does nothing. That what Lisa above describes as cleaning fluid.
Its pretty nasty and spraying anything else where you say does nothing.but stink the car up.
The issue is the swampy e box under the dash.
That is what needs the cleaning.
Dealer charges $100 for the 2 can service.
Skip the perfume

 

But removing it to inspect it is still a good idea.
If you have real mold growing in there, it can spread to the filter too.......rather easily.

 

Also try to use the fresh air setting as much as possible I have been told by the dealership If you must use the recirculate in the summer that it's best to switch over to fresh air a few mins before arriving at your destination. This in essence dries out your HVAC pipes of condensation that causes the moldy nasty smells.

 

That won't really dry out anything much unless you also turn off the AC at the same time.
My wife HATES it when I do that.

 

I am correct or if I am not I am stating toyota corporates as well as the dealerships stance on the subject as we went through the complaint process and had them involved when we had an issue with my wife's new Rav4..

Her brand new 2014 Rav4 xlt 4x4, was constantly having that moldy smell coming from the vents. Long story short after going back and forth and a few visits to the dealer, corporate was contacted.

They authorized the HVAC foam treatment (dealership first did the smell good spray only that did nothing), and I insisted on the carbon cabin filter which they authorized as well all under warranty!!

They also stressed the importance of what I stated, that switching to fresh air blows out the condensation trapped by running recirculate, and if possible run the car in fresh air setting only. I guess the reasoning is that with recirculate the humidity even with ac running has nowhere to go as it is well recirculating, but for some reason the fresh air setting allows the humidity to blow through.

Easy rider / While we were dealing with this issue the smell persisted with AC on and off, it did not matter! But yes I can see how turning AC off before your trip is over can help also. Just google "Rav4 moldy smell" supposedly it's a common issue with the new Rav4's...


Car has been mold free smelling ever since and we shall continue to use fresh air unless it's during a heat wave in the summer where recirculate seems to help...

 

Seems that constantly staying on the recirc setting would exacerbate the problem.
I've always used fresh in all my cars since I started driving except in the deepest, scorching heat of summer to get the cabin cool quickest. I've never had the moldy smell in any of my cars in 40 years of driving. And you can imagine how swampy and humid it gets down heah in Jawja.

Then again, maybe it just smells moldy down here all the time and I don't notice it anymore.

 

I edited my post a little as my issue pertained to my wife's Rav4 (seems like a common issue with the new rav4's!), I've never owned another car that had this issue. Very weird... I've never thought of Turing on off ac/recirculate, and never had that nasty moldy smell with any other car let alone a brand new car... Possibly toyota used a different material for the vent ducts or something to that effect I've read on the rav fourms as possible culprits..

Easy rider, you do make sense re. Shutting down AC as well before you get to where your going and I'll try to remind my wife of that, guess that really only matters in hot humid weather though right? I just really remember them stressing the fresh air setting.

 

Fortunately the dry air here usually takes care of that problem. I don't know the innards of the AC system in the Prius very well, but my experience is that the water is designed to drain out, and sometimes dust/debris can plug the drains, causing water-accumulation problems. As a biologist, I'm not sure mold can develop where there isn't a constant supply of moisture and a medium to grow on, which is usually the dust/debris.

 

The Gen2 ebox holds alot of water., When I pull out of the garage in the morning it leaves a trail all the way out the garage of condensation.

This is not a prius issue...not a Rav 4 issue. Alot of new cars have this issue. Its very common. Been common since they started using cabin filters and you could decide between vent fresh and strict recirc only. Cars up till then always used fresh air.

Its an ongoing maintenance issue. Once every 2 years. Under dash & front condenser. I do the under car one every time I change the trans fluid.
The front it easy.

Just like your house coil in the attic. I do the outside compressor unit also as that gets really nasty & clogged if its not off the ground. You can feel by how much heat the fan is moving in ac mode. If little heat the coils are clogged and that makes the compressor work much harder.

 

Man if you have mold growing on the cabin filter you have some big problems. The car would reek.

 

I agree it should prob be part of yearly or bi yearly maitenance but our Rav4 stunk like a moldy basement / dirty clothes since we drove it of the lot with zero miles on it.

I guess that's not normal as corporate agreed and they did the foam cleanser service and carbon filter for free (a couple hundred bucks at least for these things) which took care of the issue.

 

Any time the AC is functioning, the evaporator is colder than the air flowing across it and water condenses.

If you run more outside air across it, MORE moisture condenses, not less........assuming hot moist summer air.
The only thing that reduces or stops the condensation is to stop the evaporator from being cold.

Bringing in more outside air helps blow out the SMELL but it does nothing to reduce the amount of moisture that is accumulating; if anything it makes more water not less.

 

How do you explain the windows quite often fogging over and/or that stuffy feeling when running recirculate then, even with ac...

Not sure why toyota corporate and the dealership would give me bad info as you suggest.

Anyways I digress and don't care anymore as the issue is taken care of after doing what they suggested.