amcdonal86

Hi, I'm experiencing some smelly musty sour air coming out of the vents when I first start the A/C. I cleaned out the air filter and it didn't seem to help (there was not much trapped in it anyway). Is there anywhere else to look? Perhaps any place to check for clogged A/C drains?

sam12345

iTrader: (1)

There is a rubber hose that points to the ground under the car. When the air conditioner is on you should see water drip out of it (especially on a humid day) if not your drain is clogged

steveski

I bought an air conditioner spray that kills mold, mildew, etc. I spray it in the inlet under the hood, etc. every 3 months. You could probably find it at your hardware store or maybe even a discount store.

willhickey

iTrader: (1)

they got it at autozone and advance

KMinAF

During my short tenure working at the local Toyota stealership as a service advisor, I was told to sell the A/C service for $35.00. The service consisted of lifting the hood for access to the heater air intake and spraying a liberal amount of Lysol disinfectant spray directly into the the cowl vents while the heater fan was running on high.
This was done to to kill the mildew that sometimes builds up inside the evaporator case.
Another bit of advise is to run the A/C in the fresh air mode as much as possible as this keeps moisture from accumulating on the evap coils.

amcdonal86

Well, sure enough there is no water dripping from my car with the A/C on. I saw what appears to be the drain for that near the exhaust system in the front of the car. I used a little pipe cleaner (actually that $10 one on the infomercials) and could not get it to drip water.

Is there another way to get to it? Or perhaps this is the wrong drain?

LiCelsior

iTrader: (32)

change ur cabin filter.

amcdonal86

Changing the cabin filter will not fix the fact that there is no water dripping under the car when there should be. Checking the cabin filter was the first thing I did, and it looks relatively free of debris, although it could probably be changed.

97CE LS400

Do have a pics where these cowl vents are. I had a musty smell to...but since I had just had my coolant flush it's not as bad

amcdonal86

They are on the passenger side right under the windshield wiper/bottom edge of windshield, I believe.

steveski

The spray is maybe $5 at a parts store - spray it into the inlets under the hood by wipers with A/C on max. - you will see that smell will be gone. I would also spray the cabin filter as it will kill the mold spores, etc. Cheap fix

amcdonal86

Does anyone have a diagram of the A/C system?

steveski

I have factory repair manuals but can't make a copy to scan until tonight - unless somebody else posts one (BTW it is for 95).

amcdonal86

Thanks steveski. I really appreciate that. '95 should be the same as my '97.

steveski

I will make copy of main page showing diagram and scan - I may do more than one page to make sure you get what you need.