Cabin air filter/air-con stink surprise

[ateo15]

Hi guys,

So wife's Yaris 06 YRX 1.5L VVT-i air-conditioning has been non-existent for awhile, she hates spending money on cars so I take it to the local air-con/radiator bloke to have a look. He reckons evaporator has a leak somewhere but not 100% sure, so re-gassed it for now to see how long it lasts. Ok great, air-con is back and bloody cold.

New issue, it's beautifully cold but at times it bloody stinks (like urine). It had it's smells before but now it's alot more frequent. So I'm guessing definitely a chemical leak somewhere so will have to get that addressed but thought, hey I'll replace the cabin air filter as well. So open up the glove box and compartment and I'm greeted with... nothing.

Am I missing more than just the air filter though? Seems like something above it is missing. I've searched through the service manual but couldn't find a straightforward answer.

Thanks

[CoryM]

If it smells more like dirty feet, get a can of "frigi-fresh" or similar. Should kill your smell. If it smells acrid and sharp (kind of like what you describe), it's probably refrigerant/dye. If so, your evaporator is likely leaking; which would explain the low refrigerant.

If that is what it looks like when you found it, you are also missing the little door over the cab filter. The large hole above there is where the air goes in when you have it on "recirculate". You should not have it on recirc for most conditions btw, you fresh air flow.

Flip the HVAC control off of recirc and to fresh, and you will see that flap close.

Cheers.

[SirDigby]

I would say you might have a plugged up drain for the evaporator (or a rodents nest) and the moisture from the evaporator is pooling up and causing a bacterial swamp. see if you can search the manual to see where the drain is. (i'm not sure it's location) usually R134a has a chemical smell, usually.

[Tapokata]

You're missing the filter door cover, and SirDigby is correct the drain may also be plugged- I had that happen when the condensate backed up enough that the fan started to sound like an outboard motor propellor. A bit of wire up through the dain line snaked it free. That, along with a filter change out, took care of the issue in my 09 HB