Strong Acetone smell in my Car

Not Hand Sanitiser?

 

I would approach this as a warranty concern. Maybe try another Toyota dealer? Call their corporate hotline? There is an odd odor in my new car, not really acetone but acetone-like. Difficult to describe but chemical in nature. Sometimes my nose tells me it is a formaldehyde kind of odor, which certainly isn't good. Other days, now that the weather is turning hot, I can't smell anything. Which is strange. You would expect out-gassing as things heat up. Wonder if, in your case, there might be a small leak in the heater core. I'm not aware of any odor associated with the pink Toyota SLLC (super long life coolant) but there might be. Have a dealer service tech take an endoscopic look at the heater core maybe. Keep after it though. Toyota wants you to be completely satisfied with your vehicle.

 

Not necessarily. We actually need more information about this situation. We have to know if this scent/smell was a result of a deep interior cleaning process to rid of smoke smell or other foul odor prior to sale to the OP. Acetone is used as nail polish remover. Maybe someone spilled this on the interior. I'd also recommend inspecting the cabin filter to make sure it is not fouled with pet hair or other debris. Perhaps a "detail" shop could identify the smell and suggest a way of ridding.

 

yes, acetone is unhealthy.

in the past when an entire GALLON of milk was spilled in my pickup and left all weekend (rank!!!) to spoil in the Florida sun...

I cleaned the carpet with heavy soaking of water and extraction, then car cleaners, then water extraction. afterwards I put a squirrel cage fan blowing across from drivers to passengers side with the doors open.

the odor was gone after the fan ran for a day.

if chemicals like acetone were spilled, it will evaporate with extra wind across the surfaces

 

+1 on more details.
New?
Used? Miles?

Since we already KNOW how Toyota will treat this problem I would suggest A/C on and windows open enough to ventilate while driving.
Leave the windows partially open while parked if your personal situation permits (crime, weather, etc...)
If the car was bought used and "deep cleaned" some chemical smell may remain.
As mentioned....it should dissipate fairly rapidly.

It may not be dangerous from a health standpoint, but if it bothers you enough to post about it, I would treat it as if there were a potential, albeit minor problem.

 

This is pathetic.
Assuming that your car is still under warranty, INSIST that they FIX the problem regardless of what it is.
And contact Toyota directly if necessary.
And/or contact a lawyer.
Then there is the EPA, NTSB or NHTSA.

Oh......is there any chance that you spilled a bottle of nail polish remover inside the car ??

 

I googled "what can cause an acetone smell?" - and worryingly the first 3 suggested DIABETES? But it wouldn't just be in the car.

Back to the car - have you noticed anything not working correctly - the A/C? Any electrical issues?

 

Hmmm - I'd be contacting TOYOTA Helpline for advice - all those electrical gremlins etc don't sound right. Particularly the headlights - and the door locks.

I had a brake-light switch go faulty (when new) - only faulted once, but it left a marker in the Computer. But it advised me that anything to do with the brakes was potentially faulty - so the cruise control, the safety sense, the gear selector (you have to put a foot on the brake to select), etc - about 8 or 10 warnings. I turned it off and on, and it never played up again - the dealer replaced the switch at next service under warranty.

But the acetone smell is odd.

 

Do you mean "recirculate"? As in no outside air? I happen to have a jug of Toyota SLLC premix, which I uncapped and took a sniff. No detectable odor. It certainly is odd, this acetone odor. Can anyone else confirm the acetone odor?

 

So have you pulled out the cabin air filter? Maybe a rodent has set up housekeeping on top of the filter? I had this happen on my 09. I saw that there was stuff on top of the filter so I slid in a thin piece of cardboard under the filter so the stuff wouldn’t drop into the system. Then pulled out the filter, vac’d out and replaced the filter. Rodent pee can be quite a strong smell? Worth looking?

 

Recirculate does NOT completely block off outside air. Only about 80%.....for safety reasons.

BUT.....that might be a good clue.
The cabin intake that is opened for recirc in most models is VERY close to the glove box.

Has the OP opened the glove box lately ?
Maybe something in there is the source of the odor.

THEN.....I can't really imagine anyone with all these odd problems NOT taking it in to the dealer for warranty service.
Some of the reported failures could be dangerous.

 

ditto on Cabin air filter....our RAV4HV smells like needs filter after 12-months/10k miles

Acetone we used all the time in labs so it is not too bad toxicty, but I suspect you are smelling more like acetic acid/vinegar type sour smell which is what a smelly cabin air filter smells like

 

I’m wondering if someone tried to clean the cabin filter. Our Prius is too new, but various GM and Mercedes models we’ve owned would get mold growth on the cabin filters. It is worst when we lived in Arizona. GM even sold a spray to mitigate the smell. We just ended up replacing the cabin air filter every 6 months.

 

Recently I had just experienced the same issue of the strong acetone smell in my friends 2008 Prius. Just started the car and put the heat on to warm it up on the chilly 35° morning. Instantly the smell was barrelling out of the vents.
So naturally I go to all different forums and searches while my friend plugs the computer into the car. While no codes came up on the computer, I came across an interesting possibility. It wasn't in reference to vehicles, but HVAC in houses. Stating (specifically) that the smell of acetone from your vents is an indication of a leak in the refrigerant system.
Now, I'm by no means an expert...not even amateur on things vehicle or HVAC related. But, it just kinda makes sense being that the issue is the acetone smell coming from vents.
Hope this proves somewhat helpful.
When we do discover the source of the issue, I will post again!

 

Did you ever find the source of this?