AC smell

May 10

About 10 months ago I treated my AC for fungal smells, it's back again now so I will treat it again. Is this normal on the Corolla, I had an Avensis for about 15 yes and never had any smells problems

May 10

There is a thread about this 'live' at the moment on the Yaris forum. I know because I have been posting on it... Starts with question about whether a/c service is necessary after 2 years.

You may find it worth a read although it's more about prevention than cure. The only thing that I will repeat from there is that I am sure that I have read, probably on the HJ website, that running the heating at max heat, high fan speed, for 15 mins is as effective as a sanitiser spray in killing the bacteria that cause the smell. I have never tried it so I can't say if it works, but I can see some sense in it.

May 11

I have been doing high heat bacteria cleaning in my cars since a decade ago. You can also add a little spray of dettol through the air intake near Wiper Blades gutter and replace cabin filter after that and do so every 10k miles. Set the havc in auto mode with ac on permanently and only change the temperature if ever needed., the rest the car will take care off and you won’t have any issues. Smelly hvac systems usual happens when ac been used from time to time, and or when no heating been used during winter, anything less than 20C° or havc been off and you use the car .

May 23

Hello all.

Bumping, not to start a new topic.

After owning a Corolla from new for 3 years now, I can tell that the smell persists. My A/C is operating exactly like you are describing @TonyHSD but I can not get rid of it. It is ON 99% of the time. I've booked a "preventive" A/C cleaning at the dealer last year, it was OK for the next 6 months or so.

I always request the dealer to replace the filter on regular service (15k km/10k miles). I take the car for a nice long drive at least once every two weeks, just to be sure that all systems work continuously for 2 hours or so. The worst sensation is right after I start the car, when the first wave of air hits you, then the smell dissipates.

Not to rain on everyone's parade, but from 3 years of ownership I am almost certain that the design is a bit flawed.

I will try the high heat method, but I have my doubts. My next idea is an Ozone generator.

May 23

12 minutes ago, kisslee said:

Hello all.

Bumping, not to start a new topic.

After owning a Corolla from new for 3 years now, I can tell that the smell persists. My A/C is operating exactly like you are describing @TonyHSD but I can not get rid of it. It is ON 99% of the time. I've booked a "preventive" A/C cleaning at the dealer last year, it was OK for the next 6 months or so.

I always request the dealer to replace the filter on regular service (15k km/10k miles). I take the car for a nice long drive at least once every two weeks, just to be sure that all systems work continuously for 2 hours or so. The worst sensation is right after I start the car, when the first wave of air hits you, then the smell dissipates.

Not to rain on everyone's parade, but from 3 years of ownership I am almost certain that the design is a bit flawed.

I will try the high heat method, but I have my doubts. My next idea is an Ozone generator.

Hi,

if the heat method doesn’t work then physical check and possible intervention are necessary.
The cleaning aerosols or foams sprayed into air ducts can cause more trouble then help. The problem is that these trouble often comes after some time. If anyone agreed to dealers offers for ac clean then likely to have bad smells in the future.
You have requested dealer to change your cabin filter with each service, but did they actually did it or just promised is the question here.
Another important step is to check your draining pipe located behind passenger floor carpet. Here on Auris which will be very similar to all Toyota cars.

I haven’t used any ac cleaning aerosols for over 10 years and before that when I used some they had made things even worse, and I did exactly as per the instructions.
You can check and replace cabin filter by yourself.
Run a heat treatment without AC on.
Check draining pipe for free water flow.
Use your ac always and hvac set in auto mode without any eco or fuel saving functions.
Tell us how you did.
Good luck

May 23

We use an Ozone cleaner, kills everything, gets rid of nasty niffs, but does not smell particularly nice, a bit like chlorine

May 23

Dear all.

I appreciate the inputs.

The draining pipe is working, as I see puddles every time the car stays still. To answer the hint about whether I'm sure the dealer changed the filter - if I'm paying for a service, I expect it to be done. In the past I have checked the engine oil and cabin filters, both were changed.

But if I have to check it every time, then it's better for me to do it myself. I respect the level of commitment seen here on the forum but a car is a tool for me, a tool which we use and pay for the required maintenance. If anything goes awry, I expect the service provider to be held in full responsibility.

I do not want to cause any bad blood here, it's just my opinion.

May 25

I set the climate control system to a temperature then largely leave it in Auto to do what it wants. I've never had an issue with smells.

The only change I make is that during summer I bump the temperature up a couple of degrees because I'm typically wearing fewer clothes.

May 25

I've just done a de-gunk on my air conditioning / ventilation.

I checked the cabin air filters on both cars and they were as clean as a whistle.

Then I bought a couple of cans of AC Sanitizer from Halfords £5.99 each.

You push the front seats and backs as far forward as they will go, put the ventilation on recirculate , Start the car and put fan on fast speed. Place the can on the floor behind the front seats and press the button (you don't need to hold it). then leave it for 10 minutes. Job done.

May 26

I've never used any products or special procedures and never had a problem. My approch to operating it is old-school: I use it only as and when needed and, when I do, I make sure to turn it off a few minutes before reaching the destination to ensure the vents are left dry and purged of cold air. This practice isn't strictly necessary on modern systems, becuase they take care of that automatically (or should do). But old habits die hard.

May 26

I've never used any products or special procedures before either, but treating both cars for £12 was worth a go.

I was expecting someone to say it's a rubbish product which does no good at all 😂

Maybe it is, but do I care ? No, not really 😊

June 7

On 5/23/2024 at 1:45 PM, Parts-King said:

We use an Ozone cleaner, kills everything, gets rid of nasty niffs, but does not smell particularly nice, a bit like chlorine

My son has a car detailing business and has an ozone generator which I am going to try.

Apparently it's toxic when operating and must not be breathed un

June 7

10 hours ago, Roker said:

My son has a car detailing business and has an ozone generator which I am going to try.

Apparently it's toxic when operating and must not be breathed un

Ozone generator?

June 8

8 hours ago, Roker said:

My son has a car detailing business and has an ozone generator which I am going to try.

Apparently it's toxic when operating and must not be breathed un

I’ve used an ozone generator before, you have to completely ventilate the car for maybe half an hour afterwards to get rid of the ozone.

They can damage seals apparently and they can affect plastics so shouldn’t be used that often.

June 8

10 hours ago, Roker said:

My son has a car detailing business and has an ozone generator which I am going to try.

Apparently it's toxic when operating and must not be breathed un

Well I don't think it's toxic per se, but you must leave doors/windows open for an hour when it has finished it's cycle, you must not breath it in, it has to be well ventilated after use

June 8

Anything used to clean an hvac ducts and vents or ac core can have adverse effect and cause more problems later. If you clean physically and able to wipe any residue then it is ok to use some cleaning solutions but other than just use your ac , auto mode on hvac and temperature, 22C° is the optimum settings for all seasons. Never switch off your ac before arriving your destination, don’t play with it on or off often, chose either on or off. Change cabin filter every year or with everything service if you drive more than 10k miles and you will not have problems, and if you do have smelly system with the time the system will dry, and the smell will go away.

June 8

6 hours ago, Parts-King said:

Well I don't think it's toxic per se, but you must leave doors/windows open for an hour when it has finished it's cycle, you must not breath it in, it has to be well ventilated after use

Ozone is toxic to humans.

June 8

Ozone is 3 oxygens stuck together and it really doesn't want to be like that (Normal free-oxygen is just 2 of them) and is desperate to react with anything suitable to off-load the "3rd wheel", which is where its toxicity comes from, as it will erode cell membranes, eg. in the lungs, but short term limited exposure is not super harmful as the body can recover from it pretty easily.

Repeated long term exposure and concentrated exposure is not great though as cells can't recover quickly enough, but that's why it's good for killing off bacteria.

It's an issue in modern life as things like photocopiers and laser printers generate ozone, as does anything that produces an electrical arc like lightning strikes, train pantographs and rails, welding etc.. (Albeit all in very small amounts)

If we only had a way of gathering up all the low-level ozone and sticking it up in the atmosphere where it's needed!!!

June 8

1 hour ago, Cyker said:

Ozone is 3 oxygens stuck together and it really doesn't want to be like that (Normal free-oxygen is just 2 of them) and is desperate to react with anything suitable to off-load the "3rd wheel", which is where its toxicity comes from, as it will erode cell membranes, eg. in the lungs, but short term limited exposure is not super harmful as the body can recover from it pretty easily.

Repeated long term exposure and concentrated exposure is not great though as cells can't recover quickly enough, but that's why it's good for killing off bacteria.

It's an issue in modern life as things like photocopiers and laser printers generate ozone, as does anything that produces an electrical arc like lightning strikes, train pantographs and rails, welding etc.. (Albeit all in very small amounts)

If we only had a way of gathering up all the low-level ozone and sticking it up in the atmosphere where it's needed!!!

O3 also carries a positive charge and the element is naturally unstable so the free radical “spare” O molecule actively seeks out bonding with other elements, particularly carbon hydrogen chains…

(sorry i thought we were going deep on molecular bonding)