Weird AC smell on a brand new Tacoma, help.

So I just bought a brand new 2020 Tacoma but in the past couple of days I have been noticing a weird smell coming from the AC.

its sort of difficult to describe the smell, it smells like some sort of sweet chemical. Its not disgusting but it’s also not nice. It kind of resembles isopropyl alcohol smell.

I have been trying to narrow down when the smell comes though and I believe the whiffs get stronger when I rev up the engine a bit when I’m driving.

has anyone experience this on a brand new car? What can possibly be?

is it because it’s new and some plastic parts in the engine need to be burn off?

please help. It kind of puts a damn on the whole new truck enjoyment part when I smell this stuff.

thanks y’all!

 

Welcome aboard. edit: this is the welcome new member area. You should post this in 3rd gen forum.

 

Welcome to TW...Have you taken it back to the dealership to see what they say?

 

Welcome!

Here’s the 3rd gen forum, you can search it or post a question regarding your issue

https://www.tacomaworld.com/forums/3rd-gen-tacomas-2016.186/

 

Welcome to TW! Strong plasticky smells are common in new vehicles but an alcohol smell is pretty weird. Since you think it might be coming from the AC you could check the cabin air filter to make sure nothing else is in there that isn't supposed to be. Aside from that definitely see what the dealership says.

 

Any time I hear "sweet" to describe a smell from a vehicle, coolant is my #1 thought.

 

Yes. I think sweet is the closest thing to the smell even though it’s not exactly sweet, it’s more chemical like. Perhaps a bit close to rubbing alcohol.

from what I have researched on the internet it says it could be a fluid leak in the heater core.

 

Welcome!

My truck did have a smell for the first week or so when running the heat. I recall it being a sort of burnt organic/rubber/plastic/glue/solvent ish smell.

It shouldn't last long. You could try Kilma cleaner.

P.S. In summer when your running AC on hot humid days remember to turn off the AC and run the fan for a few to dry the condensation in the system otherwise you'll develop mildew which you will smell every time you run the fan/heat/ac/defroster. Then you'll need to invest in Kilma cleaner.

 

my smell it’s not so much like plastic or Burnt, more so of a vapor of a chemical.

today it didn’t do it at all. Maybe it will just go away .

I’m taking it to the dealer tomorrow regardless.

 

I would probably go with above post about it being new first. If there's a leak in the heater core of your brand new 2020, I'm not saying its totally impossible, but I would hope it's not that.

 

Same difference. Call the dealer but they're gonna tell you it's normal, assuming your truck still has very low miles.