My AC vents have been producing some bad odors and I had to remove it. I used Lysol to remove the smell. Open the hood, have the engine running and the AC on. Spray the Lysol into the vents under the windshield. As soon as you can smell the Lysol coming through the vents, shut the engine off. Wait ten minutes and start the engine. The smell should be gone. If not try again. You need two people. The person spraying and the person in the car to shut the engine off once they smell Lysol coming through the vents.

 

Did you change the cabin filter located in the glove box secret compartment? I use Lysol linen scent to flush out mine after I change the filter

 

I have changed the filter twice and it still stunk. So I followed instructions I saw on a website.

 

You need to also check around the air intake vents (right below and forward of the wiper blades) to make sure the air intake area is completely clean and totally free of any debris (leaves, muck,etc). particularly in Fall and Spring lots of organic matter collects in the intake area. Also check to see if that area is draining properly - I think there are drain ports or tubes on either side of the area to drain off rain water, etc. If the intake area is dirty or if its not draining in that area you will have stinky musty air vent problems.

 

your drain tubes may be clogged?

 

I tried Lysol several time and the smell always came back (even after I'd sprayed nearly a can in the vents and had liquid draining out on the ground thru the drain vent). This was after I had changed the cabin filter as prescribed.

My Lexus service advisor told me that they used a product called Ozium and just sprayed a few short bursts into the inlet vent. I found and purchased the can (3.5 oz at $5 at local auto supply). The stuff really works and have controlled the odor problem in my car.

 

Here's a product made specifically for this problem...

http://www.detailersdomain.com/1zein...iacleaner.aspx

And a CL thread about it...

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...tioning-3.html

 

A link within this thread that points to this thread? Positively recursive!

 

+1 on the Ozium. Walmart has it for half price compared to Lexus/Toyota dealers. For years this product has been my first line of defense for odor problems. Spray a light mist directly in each vent. Also take out the cabin air filter and make sure it is clean. Spray liberally in the duct work there prior to putting the cabin air filter back in. Turn on your ac/heater blower and circulate some air. If the smell still lingers, as mentioned, check to see that the ac drain tubes have not plugged up.

 

Be careful with any canned "air freshener" you spray in a closed environment like a car vent system - very difficult to remove if you over do it.

NRDC Study
# The Natural Resources Defense Council conducted a study in 2007 of the ingredients of several popular air fresheners. The study was conducted by Sarah Janssen, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H.and Gina Solomon, M.D., M.P.H. The NRDC is a nonprofit group formed in 1970 with a goal to "protect the world's natural resources, public health, and the environment." The study found that Ozium (along with several other brands) had high concentrations of Di-ethyl Phthalate (DEP). DEP has been shown in animal studies to affect growth and food consumption and had adverse reproductive outcomes in human studies. Ozium contained the third highest amount of phthalates in their study, at 360 parts per million (ppm).

Is it Dangerous?
# Certain phthalates are noted by the State of California, Enviromental Protection Agency to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity.They claim that 310ppm of Di-ethyl Phthalate in a day is considered harmful. The NRDC study does not say conclusively that the amount of phthalates within Ozium is enough to injure a person, but they say their findings to show that further study is needed and it is best for consumers to refrain from using such products until more definite proof can be arrived at.


Read more: What Is Ozium? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_5112214_oz...#ixzz18qqDQ4GX

 

Here's the correct link from the IS forum...

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...tioning-3.html

 

My dealer recommended either to spray the deodorizer into the outside air vents near the wiper blades as many of you recommended or crank the heater on high for 5-10 min. This kills the bacteria causing the smell. I tried it and it seems to have worked! Best of all, you can't beat the price!

 

I have used some Lysol or Ozium type spray into the outside vents before with previous cars that developed the musty smell (Hondas and Acuras are notorious for this). It does help but you just have to be careful not to overdo it as all these sprays have some pretty serious chemicals in them. Try 5 seconds max of spray on each side and then live with it for a few days..then do a repeat if necessary. Main thing also is to try to run with the vents open and system on at all times. Running it in recirculate mode tends to make it wet inside. Also be sure to run it open vent for a few minutes before you shut the car down.

Jim Chow's suggestion to run heater full blast for 10 minutes will also help - just be sure to move the vent settings around to top, middle, and bottom vents so the whole system gets the heat treatment.