MFC

Hi,

I live in Austin TX, and around April this year, my ES started developing a really foul smell. It seemed to be worse in the trunk area, so I pulled everything and noticed some stagnant water in the spare wheel area, which had gone inside through some chassis holes covered by rubber pieces. I cleaned it thoroughly, sprayed some febreze, added some air sanitizers in my car. It got better, but it came back. Now, regularly, particularly on humid/wet days, I have this foul smell in my car. I think it smells like cat pee, but my wife doesn't agree, though she immediately notices the bad smell too.

Last weekend, on my drive to Galveston, same odor again. This time, I switched the A/C from recirculate to fresh air, and immediately the situation improved. So, now, I'm suspecting an A/C issue. I read this thread at https://www.carcomplaints.com/news/2...-lawsuit.shtml and wonder if other ES owners have this issue on this forum, and what you have done to solve it.

Lexus of Austin says that unless they can smell it, they won't cover a cleanup process, which they say costs $200. They would flush the A/C system and clean it somehow. So I'm stuck with having to be able to drop the car off as soon as the problem happens again, which is annoying because it's transient and you are not always 5 minutes away from your Lexus dealer...

Any advice?

lesz

The AC system on the ES defaults to the re-circulate mode whenever the outside temperature is in the mid 70s or higher. In other threads on CL, people have reported stale or otherwise unpleasant odor and have also reported that there was improvement when they got into the habit of switching to the fresh air mode.

Toyota sells a 2-part kit that is supposed to clean up the AC system. One part cleans the evaporator core. It is a foam-like substance that you use by sending the product through the AC system's condensate drain tube under the car. The second part cleans the duct system and is used by spraying the product through the air intake vents in front of the windshield. Here is a link to the kit.


It is the same product that the Lexus dealer would be using and charging $200.

ES350mark

The OP may want to read this thread. FWIW, my wife's 2015 ES 350 UL w/29K is beginning to experience the awful smell from the HVAC upon start up in the summer. It's pretty embarrassing when we use her car for double dates, etc. Further, if the Ventilated seats are being used, the odor comes out from the perforated areas as well.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es-...and-trunk.html

Warm Regards,
Mark

zes

I have had this problem with my 2014 ESh as well. I do not use the AC during short trips (~10 mins). Whenever I use the AC I use the fresh air mode. I turn off the compressor 5 mins before the end of the trip and run the fan with fresh air at full blast to dry out the evaporator.

It is a pain in the neck.

zes

Thank you! Just ordered it.

zes

I am surprised the Toyota people are stumped by this. An easy solution would be a software update that would:
1) Always put the AC in fresh air mode unless recirc is specifically selected by the driver
2) When the ignition is shut off the blower would turn on full for 20 mins with fresh air to dry out the evaporator.

This would eliminate 90% of the problems.

lesz

Having the AC system default to the recirculate mode (when the outside temperature is 75 or warmer) is a relatively recent change made by Lexus/Toyota with regard to how the system works. Older Lexus and Toyota vehicles that I've owned, including the 2005 GX that I still own, did not work that way. With my GX, it switches to recirculate mode only when the outside temperature is extremely high (around 95 degrees).

I believe that the decision to have the system default to recirculate mode was made because, on hot days, after the cabin has cooled off, recirculate mode is somewhat more efficient, and that results in some very minor fuel efficiency gains. But doing it this way is, for fuel efficiency purposes, a misguided decision because, on very hot days when the car has been parked in the sun, the cabin temperature can rise to 125 degrees or higher. When the car is started and the AC is using the recirculate mode, it actually takes longer to cool down the cabin than it would take to do so if the system was bringing in fresh air because, even on very hot days, that fresh air is still going to be several dozen degrees cooler than the air that was inside the car before it was started. So, any (very minor) fuel efficiency gains that are realized once the cabin has cooled off are offset (or more) by the fact that the AC system has to work harder and longer to cool the car down after it has been parked for a while.

I drove a 2013 ES for 3 1/2 years, and I've now had my 2017 ES for 2 1/2 years. I've found that, in recirculate mode, after a while, the cabin air quality starts to be a bit stale, and I've gotten into the habit, after starting the car, of reaching down and manually switching the system to the fresh air mode.

When you get ready to use the cleaning system, make sure that you are carefully following the directions for using both parts of the system. When you are using the part that cleans the ducts, you need to to make sure that you are following the directions with regard to when you have the AC system set to send air to the dash vents and floor vents, how long to keep the car running, airing out the car at the end of the process, etc. There are videos available on the internet that explain the procedure quite well.

zes

Thank you. I will follow the instructions. I think if one uses this cleaning kit once a year, the mold should not appear. The dealer had told me that their 'treatment' which is probably this cleaner once a year will prevent the smell from coming back. I paid a fortune to the dealer the first time because the smell was horrible. At present I get a whiff of stale smell every now and then, so want to treat it before the smell is back.

zes

Well, I did the AC evaporator cleanup today. I am attaching pictures for anybody contemplating this job.

• I have attached pictures of the cleaner and the label.
• I have a set of home made ramps that are about 6" high, so drove the car up those. Please do not even THINK ABOUT DOING THIS USING A JACK only. You will have to get underneath and the car will crush you if the jack fails.
• The drain is on the right of the cat converter, so there is better access from the passenger side.
• Just shove the conical dispenser nozzle in the drain. I used Gorilla tape to make sure the nozzle did not pop off, but that was a mistake. Had to really fight taking it out.
• Instructions said to just discharge the entire can into the inlet in front of the windshield.
• Car smelled weird for a while and then daughter drove off. I hope the smell is gone.

This job is easy enough to repeat once a year and hopefully this will keep the car from smelling bad. Will report on how effective this is.

websurfer

Did this work to get rid of the smell?