To all those with stinky AC - new method to clean evap

My 2015 has had a stinky evap since I purchased it (used). Last year I treated it with a Subaru AC refresher kit (the same as Toyota but cheaper and was available on Amazon) which helped the smell until a few months ago. Being curious I decided to check out my evap with an endoscope to see if I could visibly see anything. I pulled the blower fan and sent the camera inside. To my surprise there was a collection of small leaves and debris packed into the end of the evap channel



I used a mini vacuum accessory kit attached to my shop vac that I taped to the camera. I used a cut up wire coat hanger to then scoop the leaves and suck them up.



The leaves and everything underneath was pretty nasty. I'm hoping this was the main source of my stink smell. I'd imagine they get wet every time I run my AC

However most importantly I wanted to test the Toyota recommended method of cleaning the evap coil through the drain tube. I squirted about half a can of FJC 5914 foaming cleaner up the evap tube while watching the evap coil from the inside with my camera and I did not see any foam hit the evap coil. I found this very surprising. At this point I taped the foaming cleaner tube, the endoscope and the coat hanger together so I could guide and aim the foam directly onto the evap coil. I attached a video of the application below

https://photos.app.goo.gl/suTkoCYSMQ4Ln3V4A

I'd recommend anyone applying a foaming cleaner to use this method - pull the blower fan/motor and apply the foam directly to the coil.

I collected the cleaning agent into a drain pan and it looked pretty nasty



I'm hoping this helps with my stinky AC problem. I try not to run recirc and I turn the AC off about a mile from my house but lately the sink has been pretty bad. I'll report my results as time goes on

 

Here another tip. Never just turn off the a/c, prior to gettin to your destination turn off a/c put the on fresh air instead of recirculate put blower on high and let run till air is at ambient temp. If you do this every time it seldom will smell musty.

 

Nice. I run my A/C pretty much 24/7 from Spring until Fall with no issues

 

Good job gutting that stuff out of there.

 

I learned a very long time ago to never run Toyota AC on recirc.

 

Why?

 

It gets extremely musty and unpleasant to the senses when you run it on recirc. Keep it on fresh air and all is good. It cools just fine on fresh air, so no need to use recirc anyway.

 

unless it feels like 120* outside....
Then we recirculate!

 

Truth, when it's 110 in Phoenix recirc is necessary

 

This works really well for musty AC smell. Easy to use and cleans the coils:

$17 nextzett 96110515 Klima-Cleaner Air Conditioner Cleaner - 10 fl oz

https://www.amazon.com/nextzett-96110515-Klima-Cleaner-Conditioner-Cleaner/dp/B0002Z2MKO

 

That was next to try in my list, some of the reviews recommended the FJC over Klima

Does anyone know where to buy this now? That Amazon link says it ships in 1 to 3 months lol

 

Last year, I took out my cabin filter, turned the air on high and sprayed Lysol into the opening for about a minute. Then, I let it run for a few minutes. It's been fine ever since. I did have to clean the inside of my windshield a few times after that though.

 

I bought my 2014 about two years ago and the A/C always had this funky musty smell for a minute after it was turned on. I finally couldn’t take it any more last week and ordered a bottle of the Klima cleaner. I ended up removing the blower motor to get the tube deep into the evaporator then unloaded the contents of the bottle. For the first time since I have owned the rig the A/C smells normal. This was definitely worth $13.

 

Its 110 pretty much everyday where Im from