I have a 2015 Prius. when I operate the ventilation system without using the AC, and the air on by-pass I get a rear bad smell. With 6500 mile I should not be needing to spray disinfectants etc into the ac system.
View 19 RepliesThe other day I was driving a rather long distance and stopped to take a nap inside the car with everything off. The solar ventilation system started to do its magic, but it only seemed to operate in bursts, i.e. no air flow, 20 seconds delay, slowly increasing airflow to what seems like a max flow for about 5-10 seconds, then no flow at all again for maybe a minute or so. It seemed odd, and not very efficient at all as opposed to just keep the fans going (in plain sun that shouldn't be a problem).
View 12 Replies'05 1.8T with 30K miles: Sometimes, when the car is stopped and idling, an oil burning kind of smell comes in through the ventilation system. I can also smell it outside. I had the dealer (a good one) check it out. Couldn't find anything. No sign of leakage anywhere. Where I or they should be looking? When I open the hood during these smell events, I can't see any smoke or tell exactly where it's coming from. It seems to be around the driver's side of the engine, but all the heat is on the other side around the exhaust and turbo. Weird. It's really starting to annoy me.
View 3 RepliesI recently picked up a really clean 2011 F150. Once thing I notice is the brief smell of manure at startup. I bought a ventilation cleaning kit which has a hose to snake up the drain hose. Little did I know how much of a PITA this was going to be. Best I can see, the drain is behind the heat mat on the firewall and not easy to get to.
Questions - Is there another way into the system? Since there isn't a cabin filter (first odd discovery for a modern vehicle), can I get in through the intake side?
Usually in the OBS 7.3 but a buddy of mine with a 2003 6.0 is having some issues. When he romps on the pedal but when he does so he claims he can smell exhaust in the ventilation system. I rode with him and smelt it as well. So I inspected all exhaust clamps and piping as best I could and did not notice any soot or leaks while running. I don't know if it pertains to it or not but his heater only works on defrost.
View 4 RepliesIn the last week or so I have noticed a faint gasoline smell when I pull my 2010 Prius (with 70,000 miles) into the garage and shut it down. I've looked under the hood and not seen anything obvious and there aren't any leaks onto the floor.
View 19 RepliesOK, I've been reading a lot about this problem occurring in the pre 2010 prius where there is a crack around the hatch that fills the 12V battery well with water. About a month ago, I started getting a whiff of something rotting. A mix of the dead smell and rotting fruit. I was certain one of my kids left some food in the car or something got in the HVAC vent. As time has gone by, the odor has changed to more of a rotting leaves kind of smell.
I got out my shopvac and a snake camera. I went through the HVAC system and found that the filter was pulled back a bit. I replaced it on the spot. I found a few leaves and dust and that was it. The air coming from the vents from the outside smells clean. There were lots of wet leaves in the engine bay, but it wasn't the problem.
I started tearing apart the trunk because sometimes stuff spills into the tire well. I found the spare tire had turned brown on the tread.
I opened the battery compartment and found about an inch of standing milky white water. The kicker here is that the water didn't seem to smell that bad! I dried it all up and bleached the metal to kill any mold that might be in the residue...but the odor remains. The car smells awful!
I have torn apart the back of the car but I cannot find the source of the leak. I actually think it was from the car wash or going through a puddle and water got in the rear vent. The battery fender vent vanes were flapping with gusts of wind today, but even after a heavy rainstorm no new water has gotten in.
The car was hit in the parking lot and the rear fender moved about an 1/8th of an inch from the bumper, but there are no obvious signs of water entry anywhere... in fact, I was even suspicious that it might have come from the battery itself, but I didn't touch it (used paper towels on a snake to dry it up under there). I didn't think to try baking soda to see if it was an acid, which makes bleach pretty stupid to use...but I didn't see any foaming.
TL;DR Found water in my 12V battery compartment. My car smells bad. Cleaning out water did not improve smell. Nothing in HVAC system, it is only clean air source in car. No signs of water ingress above 12v battery well. After rainstorm, no additional water found in battery well. Fender vent flaps in gusty wind, but still no new water.
I have a 2010 Prius and it has developed a very strong mold smell/odor. It is strongest when the car has been sitting with the windows up. I have tried many of the tips in the forum regarding not using the recirc mode. I've clean the car inside and out, mats, carpeting, every compartment.
I have talked to the dealer parts counter and replaced the cabin air filter with the carbon filter and used the 2 can treatment that Toyota sells (one in the a/c drain x2 and the other in the air intake.). No joy.
I took it to the service department they did the same thing - again, no joy.
They have asked me to bring it back for, and I quote, "exploratory surgery." I asked if this the covered under the Toyota Certified Warranty. He could not confirm that it would be covered.
So I used to have my phone holder clipped to the vents to the left of the steering wheel. Key words, used to. One day, one of the clips snapped as I was putting my phone into the holder, sending a piece of plastic about 2 inches long into the vent. At first I could see it, but since I was driving, I couldn't fish it out. Sure enough, on a turn, it disappeared completely into the dark void that is the ventilation system. Now, on every turn, I can hear the little sucker careening back and forth. Sounds like I'm gonna have to disassemble the dash to into the pipes, but maybe there's a more harmless way.
View 6 RepliesTwo weeks ago a large, industrial truck dropped a piece of bent steel pipe on the interstate in front of my 2010, 50k miles, Prius and (sadly) I was forced to hit or swerve into rush hour traffic and cause an accident. It tore up a good part of the cooling system and did some body damage. Of course I didn't know this at the time, but it began to overheat, so I pulled off the freeway and had it towed to a body shop. After about ten days, I got my Prius back.
View 13 RepliesMy 08 B6 wagon has a very foul odor emanating from the HVAC system. It started after my wife washed the windshield with vinegar to get rid of some scaling from the bizarre water we have here. She thought the smell was from some of the vinegar running off the windshield. Well, that was several months ago and the smell is no better. Just recently, the temps have been down enough to turn off the AC switch and the smell is even worse.
View 4 RepliesI've noticed that if the fresh/recirc is set to fresh so that outside air is being drawn in, even without the fan or AC on, there's a mildew like smell in the car. I picked the car up about 10 days ago, but it's a 2013 with 13K miles. Is this a matter of cleaning or replacing the cabin air filter? DIY?
View 14 RepliesI have leased a new Hyundai Elantra Limited 2012. We have noticed a very strong odor in the trunk. We have removed all the trunk mats and spare tire insulation trying to air them out and the smell still persists. It smells like something is burning or has burnt near the wheel wells or the back fold down seats. How to get rid of it?
View 5 RepliesEvery morning, just as I get into my car and right before I press start engine, I have to hold my breath for a few seconds because there is odor coming from my vents. It lasts for a few seconds. 2013 RX ...
View 13 RepliesI just bought a used 2012 Toyota Prius iTech from a country town 3 hours away. About an hour into the drive home, the display informed me to "Check Hybrid System" and then "Check PCS System". The car continued to function for a little while, then eventually lost acceleration, so I pulled over. I turned it off and on again; the warning light remained but the car started and continued to work, but soon after I lost acceleration again. This happened one more time.
Then I Googled the problem and discovered that you could "turn it off and on again three times to reset the computer". I did this and the problem disappeared and did not resurface for the remainder of the trip, and has not happened again since.
My GX460 (2000 miles) has an odor after driving it from the rear. Smells like burnt rubber. Normal? I notice it mostly when I pull into the garage.
View 5 RepliesI've just purchased a 2010 F-150 scab 4x4 with the 4.6 3v. When I have the air conditioning on drawing air from outside I get a strong gas odor in the cab. Originally I thought it was natural gas, but then my wife mentioned she too smelled gas, gasoline. If I use the recirculated air the smell goes away, almost instantly. Additionally, there is a faint odor of gasoline outside of the truck as well, but not nearly as strong as in the cab. There also is a ticking sound coming from the top of the engine, I believe the egr solenoid. Could these two issues be related? Either way, what are the possible causes of this smell? What are the fixes to these possible causes?
View 2 Repliesmy 2010 Prius III was working fine yesterday, but today when I try to start it it did not start. no green or abmer light on the push-start button. I tried few times, but no luck. I got the key from my pocket and got it closer to the push start button and I start hear the normal noise that happen when I opn the door, but the noise was very low and the internal light was very dimmed as if the battery dying. after few attempt to start, the car start at last, but the hubird screen where show the system on the dashboard was off. I try to change the display of the hybrid system but nothing start. the GPS screen display "no DVD MAP inserted" and seem frozen and not allow me to turn off the screen or press any other button.
View 12 RepliesI heard that you could place a flat screwdriver between the upper radiator hose and the end of radiator. Is this procedure really work?
View 10 RepliesI have a 2010 Prius V with adv tech pkg.
I just purchased a T-Mobile my touch 4g phone. I set up the bluetooth okay, but am unable to transfer the contacts. I keep getting 'unable to transfer.
1-week owner of 2010 Prius III with Nav system. Still trying to absorb all the user manual stuff.
My question: can I customize the audio menu to a shorthand list of commands? Example, instead of verbalizing "dial by name" make the verbal menu choice say, "name".