iMike

Thanks for your reply. Can you recommend any good air con bombs? I bought this one before but I think the smell is too strong and I haven’t used it yet: STP GST23150EN Cleaner-Clean Refresh and Disinfects Air Con System https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B010UYB676/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_KJRDVM0VEQEST7X96M42?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 Regarding the pollen filter, I had it replaced as well (it’s the cabin filter isn’t it?).

Hello I’m a happy owner of a GS300 2008 since March 2021 and everything’s great apart from that strange smell in the cabin that I cannot find the source of. It’s not a smell of fresh petrol or even fumes, it doesn’t smell like burnt oil or cooling liquid. It doesn’t smell like the air con needs cleaning (I’ve read that the system is covered in nano antibacterial layer and lexus doesn’t recommend cleaning the air circulation system). It doesn’t smell of rotten eggs (someone in this forum had that issue and it turned out to be an overheating battery). It’s difficult to describe that smell, it’s kind of like something overheated a bit (not burnt and it’s not an electrical smell), maybe it smells a bit like grease? Anyway I can’t smell it anywhere around the car outside, it’s not coming from the exhaust and I can’t smell it under the hood. I serviced the car in March, replaced all the air filters, oil and the oil filter. The car seems to be dry inside and it’s not a smell of mould either. It seems to be coming out from the air system but not all the time. I might be wrong but I think it was stronger when I was stationary in the car park with the engine running for about 5 minutes. I dove a bit today with the air recirculation on and I think the smell is pretty much gone. But I cannot find a pattern, sometimes the smell is gone, sometimes it’s moderate and other times it’s a bit stronger… Does anyone have any suggestions on what to check or what it might be? Also I’m not sure if that’s relevant but one time when I was getting petrol from Morrisons the gas pump would shut off as soon as I pressed the nozzle, I went to Shell instead and it was fine. Then a few weeks ago I got a full tank from Costco with no issues. Today I went to get petrol from Costco again and the gas pump was shutting off, so in the end I had to pull the nozzle out a bit and press the nozzle only about ⅓ way, otherwise it would shut off. This makes me think that maybe it’s a bad Charcoal Canister as I’ve read one of the symptoms is fuel smell (although the smell in my car is not petrol), issues filling up gas tank and getting fewer miles per gallon (last time on full tank I made 270 miles, that’s 120 miles on the motorway and 150 in the city). Thanks in advance!

Hello Did you ever find the source of the smell? I've got a GS300 for about 5 months and there's a strange smell in the cabin, sometimes it's stronger, sometimes it's not there at all... It's not too bad but just annoying...

Sorry for late update and thank you for your input. I thought I’ll be able to fix the leaking valves cheap only with the new fitting kits (£9) but none of the valves would unscrew and had to be cut. In the end I paid £70 per wheel to fix the leak and got all new 4 TPMS’. One of the valves was strange, snapped and glued in (see picture attached). The second picture is the new sensor. The mechanic checked all 4 wheels under water and they seems to be fine now👍🏻

Hello I just found out that I’ve got a tiny leak from around the valve in all four wheels and I’m just thinking if should I try buying the fitting kit rather than the whole TPMS? Also if it comes to replacing the TPMS, should I get a genuine one or would a cheaper replacement be fine? Thanks in advance.