I have a 2002 Tacoma V6 4x4 and when I start it and the A/C is off, air still blows out and there is a really strong musty smell coming out of the vents. It just started doing it a couple of weeks ago. Anybody else have this problem? Thanks.
Some ideas to try on my page:
you have MOLD,,,, have the dealer disinfect it,,, if toyota is clueless,, Dodge dealers have a really good disinfectant.
I had a dead mouse in my ventilation system. It didn't smell very nice. I had to take apart the vent located under the dash of my 89 toy. 4x4. I cheated and cut the plastic grid and removed the dead mouse.
Hey Mike- It's quite possible that your A/C is not draining properly. Our '90 Geo Prisms and now our '96 4Runner had this problem, especially during humid years, and I've heard other Toy owners talk about their stinky A/C's on this newsgroup before. You can check beneath the truck to see if the drain is plugged, (not sure where the drain tube is on Tacos) and try unclogging it somehow. If it doesn't drip when you've run the A/C a while, it's either plugged or you live in a desert climate and don't get condensation. ;)
And you can try this: Take a can of Lysol or other similar disinfectant/anti-mildew aerosol spray (dollar store knock off brands might work ok.) From outside the vehicle, with the a/c on fresh air and full blast, spray into the vents where the air is drawn in (below windshield.) Do the same from inside with it on recirculate, just make sure you don't get a lungful of the stuff. That ought to kill anything that might be growing in the condensation that has built up.
We had to do this several times with our Corolla-cousins (Prism) when we had them, and only once with the 4Runner. It's been too dry here for the problem to repeat, and I don't really use the A/C as much.
If someone else already posted this fix, sorry for the repeat. I didn't get the beginning of this thread for some reason. Dee ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ '96 4Runner 2.7 liter 4Cyl., 5 speed, 2wd but nimble enough for me. Just try and take her from me, I dare you!
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