Musty smell from a/c system

I would "contact your local Toyota dealership for a thorough evaluation of the condition." If the car is under warranty, why not see what they have to say?

 

It's incredibly easy to kill the moldy smell.

Open both doors (for ventilation) and turn on your A/C to full blast with fresh air.

Feel the exterior base of the windshield for suction near the cowl. Once you find the suction, spray liberally with Lysol or other household disinfectant into the suction hole. This will draw the disinfectant across the evaporator core and kill the mold. The A/C filter may block some of the Lysol, but it should still do the job. If you've got the time and know-how, remove the filter for best results.

 

Question: do you ever turn off the A/C and allow non air-conditioned air to pass through the vents as you exit the car for the day? This is a habit I've had for as long as I can remember: as I approach my destination, I shut off the A/C and allow normal air to blow through. I think this helps to decrease condensation? Unfortunately the unconditioned air passing through stinks as well. It's just a different kind of stink- see my other post about this if you want http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-main-forum/46220-inside-air-circulation-malfunction.html

 

Wow. I don't use my A/c that often, but when I do there is a smell. I've been blaming the feral cats that like to spray cars. I'll have to try the lysol.

 

This one will . . .
Air Conditioning Odor

 

A black thingy visible under the hood and just in front of the windshield, which covers the rear portion of the drive (engine) compartment.

 

get Frigi-Clean and Frigi-Fresh found this suggestion in many other forums. It works! found it at: ac-evaporator-cleaner.com

 

Below is a paste of a post I made a while ago concerning this very issue. My car stunk bad & I don't smoke but down here in Florida I have the air on always. Windows never down. You must leave the the circulation button on fresh air when you park and that opens a vent to the outside air and allows the wet coil to dry. If you don't and leave that swicth in re-circ it never vents to outside and the coil never dries and becomes fungal. As my post states once your stinking nothing will help except a good cleaning which the dealer will do for free if your under 5,000 miles. I wasn't so I bought the 2 cans of cleaner like my post states. They worked good and diligent adjustment of the fresh air switch has kept me mold free.
The very best way is to select fresh air a few miles before you park and that allows the coils to dry really good. Do not spray Lysol and or alcohol in the cowl as that will just make the car stink and not do anything. You must bathe the e-coil in cleaner. Good luck and there is a fix for this. Here's my old post:


A few months after I bought my 07 new the AC started to stink. Bad. A bunch of posters suggested after driving for a while on re-circulate right before stopping switch to fresh air and that will allow the evap coil to dry out preventing fungus growth. I tried that but it did not help. They were all very right about that but what I didn't realize is nothing helps if there is mold to begin with. You must eradicate the mold and then follow a strict setting adjustment everytime you end your trip. Especially always make sure the switch is always in fresh air when you park.

I took jaymans recommendation a year ago and used a bug sprayer bottle and pumped in coil cleaner directly into the evap housing through a grommet in the firewall. That and the correct switch setting and I have been mold free ever since. Thanks Jay.

When I complained to the dealer a year ago they said they have a treatment for it and offer it free for the first 5000 miles but I was at 10,000 miles. They wanted to charge me $100. I asked if I could buy the "treatment" outright and they sold me a can of coil cleaner with a special hose and a can of freshener for $28.

Today I happened to have the car up on jacks for another reason so thought I would use the cans I bought like a year ago.

With the car jacked up you can reach the rubber e-coil weep hose from the pass side. This special hose that comes with the one can of spray cleaner attaches to that weep tube and you spray the entire contents of the can back up that hose flooding the e-coil case with foam cleaner. Worked great. The contents of that can drip back out cleaning the drip tube also. Then you spray the freshener in the front cowl vents by the windshield wipers. Smells really nice but very very strong. Unable to drive the car for a few minutes. But the ac smells really nice now. I do not smoke btw.

So if you are diligent about your AC switch settings you car does not need to stink. My car has been mold free for almost a year now. But once its stinking even a little you must get it cleaned. No switch setting can fix that. Plus the mold will continue to get worse.