[Dave00]

Have you found a solution yet? if so please share. I am located in Sydney Aus, and in the heat the odour is getting worse. I have the 5th gen rav hybrid and worried i ll cook the electronics if I take the foam cleaner from inside the car. I have tried all of the below steps and that lasted for probably a week with the good smell and in the Aussie heat, the odour is back with a vengeance! This is what I have done so far and still doesnt help. - Removed the cabin air filter, bought a new charcoal /carbon one to replace after the following - Cleaned using the CRC foam cleaner - up the drain pipe from outside the Rav - sprayed the aircon refresh odour eliminator by valvoline - let all this dry as per the instructions on both products - changed the aircon cabin filter - Put in that tiny aircon perfume on the aircon vent - Chucked in armorall charcoal bag under the car seat (closest to the aircon duct). What I think I need to do is the below to get to the evaporator core but unsure of the risk involved. Use the CRC foam cleaner from inside the car into the aircon ducts. If anyone has done this, please do share. Thank you.

Hello i am also in Sydney and have the exact same model Rav 4 and have the same problem with the terrible smell coming from the AC (especially stronger when first running).
Did you manage to fix this?
I purchased a can of CRC Auto AC Pro Cleaner Foam yesterday and plan on trying this tomorrow. The smell we are smelling is mould and bacteria, which i am pretty sure is likely coming from the Aircon evaporator.

Id like to add that March last year i told toyota about this smell during its annual service and they told me for a hundred bucks they would use a spray that would fix this smell. Within 2 days the smell was back so i do not advise opting for this option if Toyota offers it to anyone.

 

[Dave00]

Wow that's good to know.

I tried this but it does not get to the evaporator core:

So I am thinking I have to try the crc cleaner through the air con vents from inside the car itself. But a lil nervous to try it for fear that it may cause an electrical issue.

You can also see the aircon fan when you take the glove box off so if the crc cleaner gets there and the car is completely off it should be okay.

Please do let me know how you go. Thank you.

Located in Alexandria, NSW

After further investigation today i think i will apply the AC foam cleaner into the white plastic pipe where i removed the rubber drain away pipe from. I think this is the closest i can get to the evaporator unless i was to remove the fan blower, but i don't have a guide on how to do that. If anyone has any thoughts on this let me know.

 

[Dave00]

Hi, thanks for that video, it was just what i was looking for. I have now removed the blower motor it was easy and only took 5 minutes.

I am attaching a photo which is numbered with two arrows. I am hoping if someone can tell me if number 1 is pointing at the evaporator?
Number 2 is where the blower motor was, i plan to insert the tube into this opening and spray the foam cleaner, am hopeful this will coat the evaporator and kill/remove the mould and bacteria.
My air con has now got to a point where it smells so bad it’s unusable, really hoping this cures this and means i won’t need to see an air con mechanic which will likely cost a small fortune.

 

[Dave00]

Thanks for the Replies, yes here in Australia we are RHD i have flipped the images and will post so they make more sense to the LHD community.
I will give the drain hose a good clean out too, i don't believe theres any blockage in there as yet or smell but i have a drain snake tool which will push down there nicely and then flush it out.

 

[Dave00]

About to open up Cowl so i can also clean inside this part of the intake. Can anyone advise if these plugs are one time use only? Have tried removing with flat head screwdriver feels like they going to snap though.