Bad Air

[Sang]

I seem to have noticed something about my IS200 which seems to annoy me slightly cos it's embarassing. When i turn the air con or heater on the first bits of air that comes out of the vents smell abit... well... not nice... then after a minute or two it seems to clear and the air is ok and doesn't smell of anything... Does anyone else have the same thing in their Lexus? Does anyone know what it could be?

[DINO]

I seem to have noticed something about my IS200 which seems to annoy me slightly cos it's embarassing. When i turn the air con or heater on the first bits of air that comes out of the vents smell abit... well... not nice... then after a minute or two it seems to clear and the air is ok and doesn't smell of anything... Does anyone else have the same thing in their Lexus? Does anyone know what it could be?

Hi,

Its bacteria build up, you can get a spray from Halfords, Toyota or Lexus, which will solve the smell issue by killing the bacteria. The spray comes with a long tube which you just push down each of the vents and spray. Once you have done all the vents, wait 5-10 mins, close them so air will not come out when turned on. Turn them on to get rid of the excess foam, make sure the vents are closed otherwise you will have all the foam spray out everywhere.

[Rob]

I seem to have noticed something about my IS200 which seems to annoy me slightly cos it's embarassing. When i turn the air con or heater on the first bits of air that comes out of the vents smell abit... well... not nice... then after a minute or two it seems to clear and the air is ok and doesn't smell of anything... Does anyone else have the same thing in their Lexus? Does anyone know what it could be?

Hi,

Its bacteria build up, you can get a spray from Halfords, Toyota or Lexus, which will solve the smell issue by killing the bacteria. The spray comes with a long tube which you just push down each of the vents and spray. Once you have done all the vents, wait 5-10 mins, close them so air will not come out when turned on. Turn them on to get rid of the excess foam, make sure the vents are closed otherwise you will have all the foam spray out everywhere.

Using the version with the tube and pushing it down the vents doesnt really achieve anything as the foam doesnt go into the evaporator properly which is the area the bacteria lives in.

you need the version without the tube.

[Einstein]

You probably need to remove part of the heater ducting to get at the evaporator...... then you can spray it directly in there to your heart's content..

John

[Sang]

Thanks for the info guys, i'll pop in Halfords and see what products they have on offer for this kind of thing...

By the way, what/where is this 'evaporator' on the IS200? this is the first time i've heard of such a part.

[Einstein]

One product is called "airco fresh" or similar...

The evaporator will be somewhere under the dash, inside the heating ducts... sort of an aluminium squarish box that has fins and pipes running through it..

John

[Sang]

thanks for that.