2014 Prius moldy air conditioner

You have to be kidding...............

 

There have been several threads on the AC smell. Additionally, if you do a broader search you will find this is not unique to the Prius nor Toyota. You can take it into the Toyota dealer to see if they will clean your system. They will probably say this is normal...

Anyway, here's the standard reco:
1) When getting close to where you will be stopping, turn off the ac, put the mode in fresh air and turn up the fan speed. This will help dry out the evaporator so it doesn't develop funk.
2) If the funk smell doesn't go away, you need to clean your evaporator. If you are moderately handy it is fairly easy to do yourself. I did it on mine using: Kool-It-Evaporator-Cleaner. You are supposed to insert the tube into the AC drain tube underneath the car. However, if I were to do it again, I would do it from inside the car as it should be easier to get the tube further into the evaporator. The drain tub runs behind the passenger side carpet.

 

try some baking soda in your cabin filter, or a charcoal filter.

 

I am a big fan of the charcoal filter. They are a little more expensive but I get them on Amazon. Also I find that changing them frequently helps to curb the smell from building up. Also I turn off my A/C about a block away from my destination and let the fresh air in.

 

you got the O without the B.

 

Did the cleaning spray work?

 

Yes, it worked pretty well. There was a slight odor remaining afterward, but I think this is because I did the cleaning from under the car. From what I can tell the evaporator is in the center of the car. Because of this the tube and spray have a long way to go before reaching the evaporator and it probably didn't do a full cleaning. Hence, my reco of spraying from inside the car (plus you get more visibility of what you are doing.

I did the cleaning back in May and have not had any more funk smell come back. Even if I did, a $10 annual diy evap clean isn't too bad. The nice thing about the product I linked to is that it doesn't add a permanent scent. I have read complaints about other products, including what the dealers use, leaving an awful strong scent.