White Powder Coming From Air Vents

[Mooly]

So, it looks like it is the evaporator then. I suppose the good news is you have got a contribution to the repair costs...... still a lot of outlay on top of what you have paid already.

I don't know if this is worth pursing or whether all dealers have the same conditions but I looked on my local dealers website and they still advertise that the price quoted for a repair is the price you pay. You took it in, they diagnosed it and you paid for the repair, which failed because it was a misdiagnosis. I would certainly try and recover the costs.

I'm sure all will be fine once its done and thanks for keeping us updated.

[chiefchappers]

Frostyballs,

Indeed, thank you for your contributions. I have also been pursuing the Evaporator unit for many months, but it has taken this long for it to be recognised by Toyota as possibly at fault.

[chiefchappers]

Mooly,

Thank you for your continued interest in this thread.

I take your point about fixed price repairs. However, I think I would be pushing my luck to try and seek further discount. Recently, they have been very helpful and rather generous. The car is seven years old. I will just be happy to have it fixed for good (hopefully).

At least this thread will remain for those who may experience the same symptoms in the future. Might save a few people from the long journey I've had!

[Mooly]

Its been interesting following it all. And just a thought... I was going to say it might be interesting to see the old part when its removed and what has happened to it, although I suspect they will have been asked to return it for investigation.

Keep us updated :)

[dc71]

My auris is having the same white dust from air vents , it might be aluminium hydroxide ( anti fungal coating ) on the evaporator ,

Likely possibility , seriously it's a pure toyota brand problem , rubbish quality crapy cars , never had any problem in bmw ever ,

Accelerator pedal getting stuck after recall , not good at all , max mileage on auris petrol combined is 30-33 .

[FROSTYBALLS]

Welcome to Toyota Owners Club.

This issue affects other manufacturers - including BMW - not just Toyota. There are links to examples at post 24 of this topic.

[chiefchappers]

Well, after all this time the issue still doesn't seem resolved. It's not as bed as it was, although I haven't been using the Air/Con on full power during the winter months.

I still get very small deposits over time of the white power. Although, it looks more like grit now.

Anyone else had further dealings with this issue since my last post?

[Mooly]

I had been wondering how you had been getting along. Can't believe its 12 months since. I still get the odd flecks of this stuff but never have the blower on more than the first or second steps normally. They are the consistency of ash, as soon as you touch one it just disappears into a smear.

[Mike169]

Hi.

I am reading this post with interest, apart from the white powder does the air coming from the vents smell like a gents toilet in a pub at all?

Mike

[Madtom78]

Mine had this when I bought it. It was quite bad too. I noted it very bad when I parked it two weeks and started it for the first time. A few puffs of dust came out. Had me worried at but. It's nearly stop now but I am not sure if it's general dust or the power.

[TomdeGuerre]

I was just wondering the same as Mike but I was going to be more diplomatic and use the Dirty Socks Syndrome.

I've wasted a lot of time today googling antibacterial coatings on air cycle equipment and it's fascinating the stuff that's out there like Environ-X photocatalyst coating or the nanotech stuff that's being developed. I wonder if Toyota's supplier(s) used a water-based coating that's caused corrosion to the evaporator fins in the long term.

Here's my rush to judgment:

Retrofit HEPA filters to the aircon ducts of cars presently affected with the Volcanic Ash Syndrome.

Fix up some UV lighting deep in the innards of the aircon system; that's supposed to be good for controlling mould growth etc.

Start using a pure silver coating on the evaporator outer surface, that'll make sure they can't develop their little mould reservoirs. .

[Mike169]

Hi Tom.

I have cured my Rav 4. I bought it 2nd hand with less than 3000 miles on the clock at 12 months old, what i am saying is the vehicle was little used. It ends up bacteria builds up in the air con. systen pipes etc and unless you often run the system at 20oC or more on a regular basis and have the air con led on it will return.

To start with a bought a couple of antispsetic 'time bombs' purely designed for getting the growth from the heater/air con system, from Halfords or similar, you seal up the car (Wind up he windows etc) put the heater controls on recirculate, i removed the air con filter filter set off the antiseptic bombs and let he car tick over for 20 mins recirculating the contents of the product. Note once you press the aerosol you cannot stop it. Well i wiped up a few wet spots from the dash etc, fitted a new cabin filter but after a week or so the smell started to return.

In the supermarket i noticed some Dettol antisepitc aerosol spray so i literally sealed up the car again, put the controls on re-circ. and sprayed the product in the vents under the bonnet , removed the air cabin filter, sprayed loads of antiseptic spray in there, did it several times and now i find almost 2 years later as long as you allow warm air to go through the system on a regular basis then it if just fine with no smell at all. I have sprayed the Dettol spray a couple of times since just in the air vents under the bonnet just because it is healthy and smells clean and nice but all cured now.

So lots of antiseptic spray in what ever form, new cabin filter after treatment as it needs to be kept dry (But not every time, too expensive).

Now my procedure stopped the unpleasant smell, i did not have the white powder problem but it's worth a go as the Dettol from the supermarket which worked best was the cheapest and it might cure the white powder problem too?

Regards Mike.

[chiefchappers]

Hi,

The car has no perceivable smell, just a build up of the powder/grit over time. I let the Climate control do its own thing, but generally the fan speed stays below level 2. I am tempted to exit my car and crank up the fan to full speed to see if it worsens. I've contacted Toyota again expressing concern for my health. They really should be able to tell me what the powder is through process of elimination - They made the car after all!!

I've attached two recent images which show the deposits. Not as bad as it used to be (so far) but still a concern.

Trouble is, the car is maybe worth £3k, but could cost half that to fix! I can't really afford to sell it and replace it with something of equal 'quality'.

[SamuelOwen]

HI all, 

 

Sorry for bumping a very old thread but we have just bought a second hand Yaris from a toyota dealership, and it has the white powder. When we picked it up the dealer said it was left over from cleaning. However 2 weeks later it is still coming out of the vents and i am concerned. So i found this thread. 

Did anyone ever get a satisfactory explanation? I found this video on youtube: (its for a BMW but looks similar)

Anyone else still experiencing this?

 

Thanks

 

Sam 

 

 

 

[Dr asim]

Hi 

 We had the problem with our Toyota auris 2008 , it never stopped , sold the car 

found if keep Aircon cold or warm all the time it was considerably less 

 Best thing is to get a small flexible camera buy off eBay and attach to ure laptop to find it out , Toyota asks for 1500 pounds to open the heater matrix and possibly repair

Check Aircon drain, check water pump and coolant levels

could be leaking water pump , heater matrix or evaporater coating deteriorating 

check ure Aircon filter too , stick camera into the vent and take pics 

it was very frustrating, have the dust analysed , if it's aluminium based then it's quiet harmful, some Lexus cars had this  problem and were sued in America 

hope it helps 

 

[SamuelOwen]

Cheers for that.

Car is still under warranty and we only bought it a few weeks ago from one of their flagship dealerships, so to say i am miffed is putting it mildly, as I cant believe they didn't know about the problem when they sold us the car. 

I called them up today but the correct department wasn't in, so ill be ringing back in the week. As its under warranty and only had it a few weeks they had better do it for us and not charge us. Does anyone know if changing the evaporator actually worked long term? Is it a fault with the evaporator, or is it that some poor quality chemical has been used to clean the system?

 

Cheers

Sam

[FROSTYBALLS]

Evaporator issues in the UK seem to be a lot less prevalent than in the US, and affect more manufacturers than just Toyota or Lexus.

I don't know of any dealer, Toyota or otherwise, where the service department is open on Sunday.

As the car is under warranty there should be no charge for the investigation and any subsequent repair. 

If you're not happy with the response from service, write to the dealer principal, and outline the situation and your concerns.

 

[chiefchappers]

Hello

I was the guy who started this post and I very much appreciated the advise from everyone. I sold my Auris 1 year ago and will never buy another Toyota! I think replacing the Evaporator did essentially fix the white powder problem, but I was sick and tired of other reoccurring issues such as EGR, SCV, injectors, power steering units, head gasket etc. I'd spent a fortune on my car over the years!

[SamuelOwen]

Cheers for that, will re-post when i hear. Hopefully they will just agree and fix it rather than fob me off. 

 

[+Steve]

also maybe check to make sure the cars airbag has never been deployed. Airbags contain talc inside.

 

 

[wastedagen]

Hi, could this be one of those 'small batches affected off the assembly line?' Ive done just under 200,000 and no white dust. I do get the AC system serviced every 2 years without fail, and it is always on Auto or On.....Never switch it off. Had the car since 2009.

[Madtom78]

I had this problem in my Avensis 2010 T4. Posted earlier in this thread on it too. It was at the worst when I bought the car, SH BTW, and a few weeks after that we went on holidays, after the car parked up for two weeks at the airport I started it to be blasted by the white power. It continued for a mth or two and eventually stopped. 

[Konrad C]

If to do a general search on the 'net', you will find it happens with other cars, not just Toyota. 

There are lots of possible causes, and one could be old cleaning products, something has got past the filter (think of spider webs that breakdown with age), any foam gaskets again breaking down due to age and deterioration or a chemical reaction causes a build up of substance.

Here is a video of on of the causes: - 

So it could be remnants of cleaning products as the video suggests. 

[jgodfrey]

Sorry to bump an old thread but my car has in the last 6 weeks started to emit quite a large amount of white dust from the vents.

Did anyone get this resolved, and was it considered to be the evaporator in the end?

My car had a full dealer ac service in August so I'm wondering if it's linked in any way?

Thanks

[jgodfrey]

As an update. Since the car is still under extended warranty I took my it to the dealership and they had a look at it. They acknowledged there was a problem with the powder coming out of the vents and that there was a TSB covering the issue. They explained that it was a coating breaking down on the evaporator and that it needed to be replaced under warranty otherwise it would get worse.

Should be able to get it booked in sometime in January, hopefully this will fix the problem!