I've owned my Highlander Hybrid for about a year and have been very happywith the SUV.

Recently, there has been a rancid smell coming from the air conditioner.

The dealer says leaves are getting into vents under the hood; and into the air conditioning bay. They say the smell is coming from the leaves rotting, along with water sitting inside the air conditioner area.

The dealer says this is not covered under warranty.

To me, this doesn't sound right to me.

If this rancid smell is caused from leaves getting in the air conditioner area; isn't that a faulty design?

With a lot of going back and forth; the dealer spoke to their corporate rep and are taking care of this as a good will warranty fix.

I should log in a complaint with Toyota Corporate about the design.

Could I get some points of view? I'm trying to gauge wether I'm being unreasonable.

Thanks in advance.

At least the dealer is taking care of you.

Since the dealer gave in and decided to fix it for you for free, I will just leave it like that. I won't go any further than that.

Does it smell like mold or does it smell like something crawled up in there and died? If it's the latter, I'd try and trace the smell and find out what is causing it first before going Postal at the $tealer.

Okay, if leaves are getting in there on their own then there is really some kind of defect in the design. Nothing should be allowed to get up in that area freely. If it can then something wasn't done correctly. I say you are in the right here.. Something should be done. I am glad they are fixing it for you though.

Sorry to have to tell you this but there is a MAJOR problem with the air conditioning design in the highlander and a few other models. I have a 2003 and have been complaining since 2005. My dashboard now is falling off, the duct work under the drivers side fell out onto my passenger' feet and there is a screw rolling around inside the console under the air conditioner vent.

I am a Realtor and took a client out yesterday who just happened to have worked in the parts dept. of a Toyota dealer inColorado. He told me that Toyota has known about the problem since 1999 and fails to admit to it to clients. They try to make you think that you are the only person in the world with this problem He told me that the complaint is that is smells like "dirty feet" which hit me very hard as that is the exact complaint I have told several dealers. He said that the Dealter in Colorado was giving a sanitizing kit away for free and billing under warranty, but I have been put off so long that they won't offer that any longer. I spray alcohol and water at the vents outside near the windshield and put the fan on high to try to kill the bacteria that has built up. Evidently there line and drain pan aren't located in a place that gravity can work so we are stuck with this. Where they do sanitize, it is a chemical that we now inhale. When we all die of Cancer from this chemicl iin 20-30 years from now, I hope our families can become wealthy at least. I am keeping a very detailed file on this.

I have recently purchased a brand new '08 Toyota highlander and i am having trouble believing that there is a moldy smell coming form the a/c every time it's turned on and its not covered under warranty. This car is less than 5 month and 5000 miles. I have taken it to the dealer twice in the last two weeks and they act as though its just my car with the problem and that all they can do is put in a deodorizer spray i don't have a problem with that but within a day the odor was back and worse than ever. I am appalled that this is happening and they can't even fess up to it. If this has been such a reoccurring problem why haven't they done anything to fix it whether its the placement of the evaporating pan or the design this shouldn't be happening. We are gonna take this as far as possible so this can't happen to any expecting buyers please be informed before buying a vehicle
concerned,
Toyota Customer
ps-
please reply with any similar occurrence of this within your vehicle

Even though you have very low mile on your car - I recommend replacing your interior filter. It is probably located under the dash on the passenger side.

Do you frequently park in a carport - under large shade trees?

I own a 2007 Camry. I am having problems with smelly A/C. For the first year I had no problems. Then, after the a/c was serviced, and filters changed, I began to have problems with a sour smell during the first few minutes of using the ventilation system. It didn't necessarily matter if A/C was on or it was fresh air. Eventually complained and Toyota cleaned and deoderized system. It worked well for a couple of months, but is now back to smelling.

I was told to not leave the recirculate on when I turn off the car so as to open the system, let the water evaporate, etc. I have been doing this, but frequently, the next time I start the car, the recirculate is on automatically. Sometimes I leave the A/C on, sometimes not, sometimes I even turn the fan off, but still find the recirculate turning on by itself.

Is this a recirculate problem or is it supposed to act like this?
Anyone with suggestions about the smell?

Highlander smell

I have a 2008 Highlander Hybrid, and the rancid smell started a couple of weeks after I got my car and continues to get very bad. I have spent a lot of time investigating, washing, changing the air filter behind the glove box (I'm on my 4th one). My current theory is that it is caused by outgassing from the insulating foam attached to the hood. This outgassing can be very, very strong. My nose is much more able to detect it than other people. Others have described the smell as rancid, or like a mouse, or musty. I think it smells more like uric acid. I originally thought I had a mouse, and flushed everything I could get access too, but there are no signs anywhere of a mouse, and having had mouse troubles in the past with another vehicle, I know what to look for. If you open your hood on a hot day and smell the underside of your hood, see if that's what you smell. The inlet to the AC is just below your windshield, near where water from the windshield drains off. Some times I will get a good whif of this smell from outside the car, depending on the air direction. I'm still not 100% sure it's the hood lining. It's also possible that something else in the engine compartment is outgassing and that the odor is permeating the hood lining.

Someone else where I work got the exact same car as me (2008 HH), and on the way in to work yesterday I stopped and smelled the area between the hood and the windshield (I hope they weren't looking out the window wondering what I was doing smelling their car :-), and I smelled EXACTLY the same smell. So I know it's not unique to my vehicle.

This smell is weird, because it can vary from day to day in what it smells like, but it is a very unique smell - not a plasticy smell, and not a new-car smell. It's also nothing like air conditioner mold or dust. My daughter cannot smell it at all, and one of my friends can clearly smell it, but she doesn't smell it nearly as strong as I do - so your milage may vary.

If anyone else can figure out the cause and a solution - let us know!!!

UPDATE 8/19/2008: I took my Highlander into the dealer today and they took the whole A/C apart and found nothing. They do not know what is causing the smell. I have been experimenting for months, and have found the following algorithm:

1. When the car starts, there may or may not be a smell.
2. If I turn on the Air Conditioner, the smell goes away while the A/C is running.
3. If I turn the A/C off, the smell returns after 2-10 minutes. But it doesn't last forever. It can last 5 to 20 minutes, then fades away.
4. Items (2) and (3) also apply if I have the air on recirculate. I don't know if recirculate stops all external air, but if it does, this should narrow down the problem.

HELP! The only theory I can think of right now is if the A/C has a damper that opens and closes, and there is one of those piston-like things to open the damper, and there is some sort of rancid oil inside the piston, and when the AC goes off, the damper moves from position A to position B, and exposes the shaft of the piston which is covered in rancid oil that I smell. Another possible explanation is that while the A/C is on, water drips off the condensors and flushes whatever smells down the small drain tube. When the A/C goes off and the water dries up, a small up-draft through the tube is causing a rancid smell inside the drain tube to blow into the A/C. I might be able to test this theory by plugging the drain tube, or extending it in a way that air can never be blowing in to it, but would blow past it. I can crawl under the car and see the drain tube.

-Andy

Have the same problem with my 2007 Rav4. Changing the cabin filter did not help. I purchased my Toyota in New York, maybe same dealer?

My 08 Highlander had the same issue. The dealer hooked it up to the ozone machine to, "take care of it", which only gave me a different smell for a while, then the nasty, moldy funk was back. I have read about this happening with many other models and manufacturers, although my 06 Camry and my 07 Avalon have no problem with it. Solutions vary from purchasing the chemical foam from http://www.ultrashield.com/, to turning off the AC about 2 minutes before stopping the car and letting fresh air circulate to dry the system. I have tried the fresh air and it does not help, although I am in Houston and the air is very humid, which may contribute to the moisture and reduce the drying effect. Another post suggested opening the windows, running the car with the heat on full blast for about 10 minutes to dry the system for 10 to 15 minutes. I have not tried that one, but will if the chemical I just ordered does not work. I have changed to cabin filter. It may have lightened to scent somewhat but by no means did it remove it. It seems to me that the problem is in the vent system not the filter, and my dealer has not been willing to do more than hook it to an ozone machine.
I'll let you know about the chemical treatment. The other poster, on a different site ,claimed it foamed through the vent system and killed the mold which cured the problem. Has to be at least as good a Lysol, Febreze, Glade, and the rest. For $15.95 and shipping I am willing to give it a chance.

Hi I'm from the Philippines, and it seems that I have the same problem with my 2008 Corolla Altis which I purchased last May. The smell was ok for the first 2 months and then it turned into a sour chemical smell or sometimes it smelled like smelly socks when I initially turn on the A/C. I brought it back to the dealer and they mentioned that this is problem also with the Fortuners that were imported from Thailand. They cleaned it and "sanitized" but in less than a week the smell was back. Does anyone have the solution to this problem? I'm already tempted to write a complaint letter to Toyota Philippines and demanding a replacement of my unit. I'm scheduled back at my dealer next week and they're bringing in a team from the plant to diagnose the problem.