I just purchased a 2003 gs 300 , previous owner was a smoker. Everytime I turn the ac on ,I get a very funky musty smell that wont go away .The car has 59,000k miles on it and I just changed my Cabin filter . Please help

 

There's nothing you can really do besides buy deodorizers.

 

DId you change the A/C filter.. Get the carpets shampooed and leather cleaned.. That smoke is in beded in everything...

 

where is this ac filter located?

 

Its located in the glove compartment. There's a panal that comes off and the filter is in a plastic tray.. Its probably dirty as hell and needs to be changed.. You can make one out of a regular home A/C filter.. Just cut to size.. It will cost you 6 bucks.. GL..

 

Oh you talkin about the cabin filter, i changed that allready, anythin else i can do

 

u can buy a car freshner ( tree) and put it inbetween the cabin filter, and where the filter sits and every time u turn on ur ac it will smell pretty good, or maybe wash the surroudings. Im sure there is more things that u can do but cant think of any right know.

 

You need an air conditioning evaporator treatment. I had it done, it helped with the odor, but didn't take it away completely. I have just learned to live with it. Do a search on the net for evaporator treatment...

 

mine was the same way when i got it a smokers car, i smoke but not in my ride. I got the carpet and seats clean'd put a new cabin filter in, but b4 i put the filter in i sprayed it down with fabreze air effects till it was damp to touch. put it in and ran the car with the windows up and ac on full blast for bout 30 min. then i cut off the car roll the windows down for alittle while let it air out. had to do this dout 4 times to get all the musty smell out, but it does work. if you do this make sure that you have the ac on recirc and not fresh. let me know if this works for you. it the fabreze isnt strong enough, you can buy deodorizing concentrate at any place you can buy home cleaning supplies. carefull with the concentrate it easy to use to much and if you use to much youll be ridin wid your head out the window!!!

 

I purchased an air freshner and spayed my cabin filter with lysol then with the air freshner and left the fresh vent on for several weeks and that helped a great deal.

 

Here is the problem solver.. Last filter you will ever purchase as it is washable/reusable. The Blitz Cabin Filter from Carson.. Excellent filter

http://www.l-tunedparts.com/product/?id=1892

 

Its an excellent idea to change the cabin filter and the one DASHOCKER recommended seems to be a good quality one.

However you will need to do one more thing to get rid of the musty stale odour as it is not all just in the cabin filter.

Some of the musty stale odour is in the AC piping itself as the AC promotes the breeding of bacteria, micro-organisms, mold and fungi, just behind the dash panel on the evaporator causing some very unpleasant odors. Some even claim this can result in headaches and flu like symptom sometimes referred to as “sick car syndrome.”

This problem can be solved by using an anti-bacterial treatment that destroys the bacteria growth and leaves your car smelling fresh again.


I have personally used this method in my 99 GS400 (once every year) with great success.

Turn on the AC and set the temperature to the highest setting (yes that is not a typo - you want to turn up the heat), set the fan speed to the highest setting, open the windows and drive around your neighbourhood for as long as you can tolerate the heat (a good solid 15 mins or more is what I do).

I repeat this procedure a couple of times the same day or on consecutive days. Doing this time of the year is best as the weather is not too hot and you can drive around like that with the windows open and not suffer from heat stroke.

This effectively burns up and cleans out the microsopic bacteria in your AC system.

I have done this for the last three years in the spring and it never fails to work very well.

The best part? It does not cost you a cent.

I have not tried using any anti-bacterial treatment in my car yet as the above procedure seems to work just fine for once a year. Perhaps the anti-bacterial treatment will last longer.

 

thanks guys for your help , i used the lysol method and the heat method aswell .... i would say it got 80% of the smell out. Im gonna try to use "A/C POWER FOAM EVAPORATOR CLEANER" can someone sudgest a good brand and a place where i can purchace it . Plus should i have this done profesionally or do it myself?

 

we should do a group-buy on this.

who's interested?

 

There is a group buy on this product.. https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...t=blitz+hybrid