Tearin' up my stinky car:

Forget all the extra headache

we use this on both stinkies ... the 400h Lexus, and our Prius.



don't mean to sound like a commercial but ... We spray the cabin filter once a year, and it works all year. The downside is we've only found it available in the UK, other EU countries and 'down-unda'. Other than that, you're good to go.

 

Shut the AC system off a few miles before your destination to give the system a chance to dump the condensate. It will really help to control AC odors.

 

So, is the area where the evap cleaner needs to be sprayed approx right in front of where the passenger would sit? I see 2 lines going thru the firewall right there. It looks like if the relay box is loosened that it would not be too digfficult to cut the rubber grommet and get at that area with a long tube. Where does the stuff you spray on the coil drip to? My car stinks like a sewer too and i need to remidy it soon.

 

I'm already at my hobby farm and took the FJ. If I recall, the e-coil tubing enters about the centre of the firewall, so not directly in front of the passenger. I think the lines you see are the heater core lines

After looking it over again, I would no longer recommend drilling into the case. I had some pretty exotic tools - eg fibre optic inspection scope - to see where I was drilling into.

It's easier to cut the rubber grommet where the A/C lines enter through the firewall, as the e-coil is up against the inside of the firewall. You can then spray the disinfectant directly onto the e-coil

Forum member Hobbit has posted many detailed instructions and photos of how to easily remove the cowl to clean out the cowl area, also a potential source of smell. With the cowl off, it's *very* easy to access the A/C lines and the grommet on the firewall

The EvapFresh will both disinfect and clean the e-coil. The excess will drain the same way the condensation does, out the drip tube. NuCalgon does not recommend rinsing the coil after applying EvapFresh

I'm going to attach the diagram again. The orientation is from the passenger seat, looking towards the front of the car

 

keep us posted as to your success.

 

Gotcha, correct. The metal tubing is the A/C piping, it will also have foam pipewrap insulation applied to it. The rubber hoses to the firewall is the heater core hose

 

I'm wishing you luck. I never again want to go through the hassle of drilling a tiny hole into the case, snooping around with a fibre optic inspection scope, and drilling a 1/2 inch hole to insert the spray tube.

In hindsight I should have just gone through the firewall where the tubing enters.

 

Which way does the air flow through the air filter? Does it flow from the cabin side into the evaperator coil area or does it flow from the evaperator coil area into the cabin? I don't see why if the air flowed from the cabin into the evaperator coil area, spraying something like your Total Hygiene wouldn't work. I looked up the product using a Google search and it says that it kills mold and bacteria. Isn't that what needs to be done to get rid of the smell? However if the air flows into the cabin from the air filter, I don't see why the product would work because there would be no kill-off of mold and bacteria on the coil.

 

Dear Ed:

You are a brave one. Be careful not to scrape against the fins on the evap coil - they bend easily and will reduce your airflow if you bend them closed by accident. I am not even really sure how this will work for you, but admire your courage to try.

Jayman- thanks much for the HVAC layout graphic. I can see from it that running the heater coil is NOT going to be a very effective method of mold control. based on the illustration, the heater coil is in FRONT of the EVAP coil at a slight angle and is much smaller, so that even when fully heated, it may not be effective at killing any mold unless it only resided near the bottom front portion of the evap coil, if that makes sense. you can get a feel for the airflow from the graphic by noticing where the temp sensor is located, which is downstream of the air flow and above the heater coil.

Mold is killed by UV light, ammonium chlorides (such as in the EvapFresh spray that Jay recommended, but also found in Scrubbing Bubbles foam cleanser found at any grocery store), by washing soda (sodium carbonate) and by chlorine dioxide, and by 145 deg F temperatures. Getting rid of the moisture will keep the mold away, and eventually kill it off. Vinegar works somewhat, but would stink up the car and might tarnish the coil. Bleach, as someone stated quite well, is a real no-no.

So, using a foam cleanser would work, using a UV light would work (if it will shine on the entire coil), or heating the air up to 145 deg F somehow. The heater that is downstream will not be that much of a help, regrettably.

I wonder if there is a way to send heated air at, say 150 deg F, through the fresh air duct? Would one of those rental unit forced air heaters work for this?

I am suggesting this to keep Ed from ruining his car... but also in the interest of Prius mold abatement science.

See also my new post about reporting this to Toyota Corporate. "I am mad as h#&LL and I am not going to take it anymore!"

 

For almost 2 years we suffered with a nauseating mold/mildew odor coming from the air vents which occurred whenever the AC was off, and sometimes even when the AC was on, presumably as the compressor cycled on and off. At each 5000 mile service, our complaints prompted the dealer to check the drain tube from the evaporator to no avail, and then to spray the system with Ozium. This only masked the mildew odor with the unpleasant odor of Ozium for about a week, after which the original mildew odor would return. Finally, the dealer told us that this was a “normal†condition for the car and there was nothing else that could be done. In desperation, I also tried spraying several cans of Ozium into the ventilation intake vents and ventilation fan (after removing the interior air filter) which worked no better than when the dealer did it. I also repeated this using another product whose name I don’t recall, with similar results.

Finally, I tried Quest AC & Heater Duct Cleaner (4 oz) which I purchased for about $9 at Napa Auto Parts. As with the Ozium, I sprayed it directly into fan after removing the filter, with the system set to hi-fan, fresh air mode. The odor of the product was mild and dissipated quickly. There was an immediate improvement in the mold/mildew odor. Subsequently, on rare occasions, we have briefly detected a barely noticeable mildew odor, but it is an amazing improvement over the original problem. 6 weeks have now passed, and in spite of our using the AC frequently during the San Diego summer, the odor problem has not recurred. I strongly recommend this product to anyone suffering from stinky-Prius syndrome.

 

I bought my 07 repo'ed through a dealer. The second day I had it a nasty smell of (I thought) old tobacco smoke started to assert itself through whatever chemical the jobber had used to mask it, I pulled out all the mats and replaced them. I ground a cup of french roast coffee(TJ's) and knotted it into a clean sock and put it under the driver's seat. I also bought a (plastic) bottle of strong peppermint soap and left it in the door pocket with the cap open.It HAS worked. You have to like the smell of coffee, which is pretty strong to start with.

 

Has anybody tried this (or a similar) product. I guess it is similar to the foam injected through the drain, except it says to inject into the vent, so it can run down and expand in the core.

will this work on the Prius, or will it just clean the heater core?

1Z Einszett Klima-Cleaner Air Conditioner Treatment

 

This is one schematic of the HVAC system



This is an exploded view



It's a good question. Going through the center vents, you may just soak the heater core, as it's downstream of the evaporator coil