So the rx's ac system has a crucial flaw, the recirculate air will automatically turn on with the ac on, thus after you turn off the car, leaving the ac evaporator wet after a long drive which can build up moisture which can lead to odors even with a correctly working drain line. In this diy it will show you how the dealership "says" there going to clean the system. I had a clogged drain line that forced water onto my passenger floor and the dealership ensured me they cleaned the evaporator cooler and hvac system but after doing it myself I now know they clearly lied about the work they did because of the smell that lingers on for about a day. This will use all OEM "parts" or products. This will be done on a 2019 rx350 f sport.

So this diy will fix
-weak air flow (clogged cabin filter)
-ac odors
-if your ac drain line is clogged
-water building up on passenger floor

YOU NEED TO DO THIS OUTSIDE, NOT IN A GARAGE the fumes are very strong
Difficulty: 3/10
Time needed: 1 hour
Cost: under 50 dollars

Tools needed
-trim remover (you can you a flat head but a trim remover makes sure of no damage)
-vacuum
-towels
-compressed air
-new cabin air filter
-Ac evaporator cleaner (oem) part number 00053-00008

Links to products
note: you will receive green bottles, I did at toyota and people on amazon stated green bottles now as well. The new nipple included perfectly fits the rx350's ac drain line so you can buy with confidence. Funny how my local toyota had the refresh kit but not a cabin air filter which I had to buy on amazon which was actually a good thing. The stealership wanted 46 dollars for one cabin air filter when amazon has three for 15 bucks with honestly better quality imo.

Videos to watch first.

To start remove this one trim clip



You can then pull the panel back far enough where you can see the works of the ac system. Note I did not remove the entire panel, just the one clip and it gave me enough access to work, removing the entire piece can lead to rattles in the future and clips are easy to break and not see. Also place a rag down because were going to remove the drain line to check if its clogged and you dont want gross water on your floor.



So in my case the drain line isnt clogged, but will run some compressed air through it just to make sure. I used the computer canned air and shot a couple quick blasts through it as space is limited and I didnt want to fight the compressor hose today.



Now that we know the drain line is cleared, leave the body panel like that for now and time to work on the other parts, which is clearing tree leaves. I used a vacuum and a detail brush to get most of the leaves caught in the tray out.

IMPORTANT: Now that you crushed up and vacuumed the leaves from the tray start the car, turn off recirculate and turn the fan on high switching through the modes from feet to face, to windsheild, the vacuum couldnt catch all the leaves and some made it to the filter so were starting the car to let the airflow pull the leaves onto the filter. If you dont do this, in the steps ahead the leaves will be sucked into the blower and then get stuck in the evap coil causing more odors so this is very important.

Remove the cabin air filter now but careful not to drop leaves into the blower below the filter. I vacuumed most of the leaves off before i removed it.


Now this might be confusing but lexus dictates their oem filter placement with vertical orientation and not air flow. So when you remove the old filter pad just take note of how the filter sits in the housing with the pleats orientation. Most aftermarket filters dictate by air flow.


After market will be installed with arrow facing DOWN as the airflow comes from the top to bottom. Look at the last filter pleat and that is how you tell. The last one will make a V like the oem one. If it makes a /\ then its upside down.


Leave it out for now and head under the car and locate the drain line. Insert this nipple into the drain tube under the car


as such, you dont even need to jack the car up, i just drove on a 2x6 and that gave me enough room, ac drain line is located behind the passenger wheel in start of the transmission tunnel above the catalytic converter. Sounds tricky to find but once your under there theres only one tube not connected so its easy to find.



Make sure to put lots of towels everywhere cause its going to get messy and wet inside the passenger foot well. Then unload the whole bottle and LEAVE EVERYTHING CONNECTED


Wait for 10 mins and then remove the nipple under the car, the product will slowly turn from foam into liquid and make its way to the drain line. I waited an additional 10 mins and it was still foaming so I gave it probably 25 mins in total. I did not put half the can, wait and then do the other half. The manufacture now recommends the whole can at once.


Now onto the second smaller can, the AC odor treatment. You will have roughly 25 seconds worth of spray so ignore the videos instruction of how long to spray. You will be spraying it in the large vent where you brushed off the leaves. Here


Make sure the cabin air filter is removed, but install the cover to the cabin air filter. Turn the car on, and make sure recirculate is off. Turn the ac on and fan to high and facing the front as in the setting it usually is in, to the "face" or "upper body" setting as this is most used setting which will normally have most of the odor when using the ac. Spray it into the vent compartment where we cleaned the leaves for 10 seconds, then switch it to the floor setting and spray for 5 seconds , then select front windshield and another 5 second spray. Then change the setting back to face otherwise known as upper body, and remove the air cabin filter cover and spray the rest directly into the filter compartment. This will directly spray onto the blower and make better contact to the vents most used. Let it run for 3-4 mins and then shut the car off.

I cannot stress enough that this has to be done outside as both of the cleaners are alcohol based and the fumes are so strong that inside the cabin they will create "fume waves". I kept both doors and open for the entire hour. In a garage with the door open will not suffice, must be done outdoors.

Remove all towels, make sure the drain line is still secured, and then reinstall the one body clip we removed and also floor mats and your done. If you did get some cleaner foam on the carpets dont worry, its all alcohol based and has no sent.


And were done, I like this oem cleaner because its basically scent free. The first can that foams you put through the drain line has no scent. The smaller ac odor treatment has the tiniest smell of lemon which I honestly could just be imagining as the fumes got me a few times. Regardless of if it has a scent, it goes away in a day just leaving a clean ac system. Do not use other cleaners as people have complained about not being able to get the sent of "mint" or "clean fresh" out of their ac system, my 2 cents.


I personally didnt have a ac odor or a clog at the time of doing this. This is more of a maintenance for me. When I had the car in for service, the dealership noted they wanted to do a evap cleaning for 300, for a odor which I never had and it got a bit complicating. They then refused to clean it and went back and forth them yielding saying they'll clean it for free. I had a suspicion they didnt clean it as the car was ready within an hour of them saying they will clean the entire system and also wet vac the floor. When I picked it up it smelled like no cleaner and they never even brought up the cabin air filter which clearly needed to be changed. So I decided to do it myself as it seemed easy. Doing this once a year seems like a good idea to have clean crisp ac and keep the system in good shape. One thing to note is that ill be changing the cabin air filter every 5k as it seems to get dirty quite fast in my environment.