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Taking a Stand on 2007 Prius AC Mold Problem!

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Walk_the_walk, Jun 25, 2008.

?
  1. Yes

    6 vote(s)
    19.4%
  2. No

    12 vote(s)
    38.7%
  3. Maybe

    5 vote(s)
    16.1%
  4. Dont think it will help one damn bit

    8 vote(s)
    25.8%
  1. Walk_the_walk

    Walk_the_walk Junior Member

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    Excellent posts from everyone, which I very much appreciate. To address some questions/ issues, let me offer this:

    1. I put the poll up there to get a sense of whether other Prius owners would be willing to contact Toyota corporate about this issue, which I believe is a valid warranty problem for many Prius (and other model) owners. I also wanted to try out the poll feature, too.

    2. The dealer charged us $59.95 for the evaporator cleaning procedure, with little details on what that constitutes, and my wife told me today (48 hours later) that now that the cleaner smell has gone away, the mold smell is still present, albeit not as strong as before. She says she noticed that her Prius defaults to outside air recirculation on power up, and she immediately smelled mold coming in via the fresh air intake and switched it back to recirculated (cabin) air.

    Even though our Prius only has 20K miles on it, we bought a replacement cabin filter today, and will change that out, too (the dealer wanted an outrageous $40 for the privilege of changing a $20 filter). Will also check to see if I can access the fresh air intake and clean it (even though the dealer was supposed to have done this!).

    3. We did not have a dead rodent in our car. My wife would have had a cow, if we did. The car is garage kept.

    4. I would certainly welcome any of these other practical suggestions that others have tried that got rid of this problem.

    5. It seems many Toyota dealerships are not familiar enough, or not taking ownership of this issue. This is another reason why I am asking those who have this problem to report it to Toyota, so that they can no longer say that "this is the first we have heard of this problem", or "we have not had any reports of that problem". If you do report the problem to Toyota, please post that here, as I think that together, there is strength in numbers.

    6. It sounds like folks who live in low humidity areas like Colorado or Death Valley, do not experience this problem. Good for you, but hey, at least we don't spin out or slide backwards on ice in Florida...

    7. Toyota Corporate Customer Care has yet to call me back on the case number, as promised. I will call them again on Monday, if I do not hear back from them by then, but I have asked for escalation of this issue and I want to see what they will do. Hopefully, option 4 in the poll will not be the ultimate outcome...

    Again, if anyone has this problem, or wants to share their thoughts on it, please post here.
     
  2. skruse

    skruse Senior Member

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    I live in a semiarid climate. I rarely run the AC. I have an EBH for early morning warm-ups before driving.
     
  3. Walk_the_walk

    Walk_the_walk Junior Member

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    Thanks, skruse, but EBH does not compute. It is an unknown TLA to me, sorry. Please select appropriate definition for your three letter acronym:

    English Boot House
    Equivalent Baseline Hours
    Electronic Business Hub
    Ethernet Back Haul
    Emotional Backage Handler
    Evidence Based Health
    Engine Block Heater
     
  4. fstickel

    fstickel Junior Member

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    Hey Folks,

    Just got off the phone to the Toyota help desk and lodged a complaint about the mold/smell problem.
    Nice people working there. Talk English too.
    Please, take the time to make a quick call about the problem, and talk to a customer service manager and within 24 hrs on a working day they will call you back,- let them know your concerns. It's worth a few minutes to get some help and maybe get the problem corrected for good. If we all make the attempt we WILL get some action.

    Tired of Sweat Sox smell,

    Flintlock
     
  5. Walk_the_walk

    Walk_the_walk Junior Member

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    Thanks Fstickel. I got my call-back from Toyota's Corporate Customer Care today. Had a nice chat with the rep. She offered to reimburse us for the cost of the evap coil cleaning this week at the dealership.

    While she said that there is no TSB on this issue, or special service bulletin either, I told her that there are plenty of people having this problem and that she, or the engineers could just check this forum and see what is going on with so many Priuses.

    She did not commit to anything from a corporate standpoint, so I mentioned to her that customers with this problem WILL BE CALLING THEM and letting them know that this is a REAL and VALID WARRANTY ISSUE - (a product defect in my opinion, since it has never occurred in any of our other cars).

    I harped a bit about the need for the Toyota service engineers to research this problem and find a real solution that does not involve getting your coil cleaned every few weeks at the dealership.

    Lucky are those who do not have this problem. Hopefully those who do will call and report it, so Toyota can get busy on finding the solution.
     
  6. Bear68

    Bear68 Member

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    The cleaner they used is most likely the same one we have at the dealer where I work, it is sprayed into the evaporator drain hose and is an expanding foam (think Foam O Fill) It will fill the entire case and hopefully clean up the core and then drain out as it liquifies. The second part of the treatment is to spray a disinfectant into the fresh air intake with the A/C set to fresh.

    (Pulling a mask over my head to try to remain anonymous) It doesn't work as well as I would like. On the average car, it is a good idea as a mantenance item to help remove dust and dirt and clean out the case. It will NOT cure the mold issues that Toyotas are experiancing lately. Yes, other models are having the same issue. Mostly Prius and Camry.

    When a customer reports this issue, we first try using the evap cleaner. (Usually trying to get it covered under warranty) If the condition comes back (most do) we contact TAS (Tech Assist in Jacksonville) and ask for authorization to replace the ENTIRE evaporator case. So far this seems to solve the issue. Although the part number is still the same and I am not aware of any change in the design or materials, we have not had any reports ofmold coming back on cars which have had the case replaced.

    In defense of my beloved Toyoa Motor Sales Corporation, I would hope the engineers are working on a true and permanent fix for this and are simply still gatherng information and working on a proper fix.

    (sneaks away adjusting my indentity-hiding paper bag):spy:
     
  7. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Thanks for the post...do you know the name of the product you inject into the e-vap drain hole please?
     
  8. greentea39

    greentea39 New Member

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    I live in Dallas, TX and have exactly the same problem as yours. I don't drive everyday and the car is in the underground garage. I think this problem started when the car was just 9 months old. I will go to the dealership tomorrow for the oil change so I am going to try to ask them to fix the problem under the warranty.
     
  9. Bear68

    Bear68 Member

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    The product we use is from a company called Service Rite and should be available over the counter from most dealers, especially in SET.
     
  10. fstickel

    fstickel Junior Member

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    Walk the Walk

    Just got a call from a Toyota service manager about 10 minutes ago, told her of the problem and she was very non commital. I have to take my 2007 in for the 12k tire/oil change so I will let my dealership know of the problem then. She did say that if they wanted to charge me anything for them to call her direct so I would not be charged like you were, and gave me her phone # and extensions to reach her. (Wonder if she works on Sat.?) We'll find out next week.

    Come On People, - make some noise and we WILL get results. Toyota cannot ignore a few million owners with a common problem. It's just not good business sense, especially after outselling GM ( or was it Ford?) this past quarter.

    Getting used to old sweat sox smell,

    Flintlock;)
     
  11. Walk_the_walk

    Walk_the_walk Junior Member

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    Bear: Are you saying that in some cases in FLA, that when the problem comes back, you have had to replace the "evaporator case" and the problem goes away? Did I understand you correctly? What is the evaporator case? Is it the Evap coil, coil and a plastic housing, or just some piece of plastic housing that acts as a shroud to the evap coil itself? Can you please clarify and maybe even share a part number or service bulletin if you have such?

    I must point out that I have been told by my corporate Toyota rep that "there is no service bulletin or TSB or service procedure for this". Perhaps she is misinformed?

    Please clear this up... and thanks a million for your post. WE ALL want to get to the stinky bottom of this problem.
     
  12. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Yeah this is the first I have heard of this too. How does replacing the evaporator housing which I assume means the whole shebang...e-coil etc fix the problem? Are you saying the replacement part is different or there is a factory failure going on here that a new working e-coil fixes? Thats excellent! That would explain why some people have the problem and some don't.At work there's 3 Prius's. We all bought them the same month. 2 of us have the problem the other person does not. We all use AC non stop. Wacky!
    How come my dealer knows nothing about this and there standard fix is to fog the cabin and spray some sh*t on the intake filter. Please help us out and explain.Please.Thank you!!
     
  13. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Finally got a nice day to tackle the stinky ac. Big props to Jayman for his time and inspiration and help on this. I owe you a big one jayman.Thanks to Patrick too!
    Armed with lots of alcohol and the false bravado of the clueless I attempt the latest assault on the e-coil. Today I chose the simpler route....through the firewall as drilling a hole in the e-box still gives me the willies.
    As mentioned earlier by another poster I am trying for the passenger side ac hi/lo line entry through the firewall. I took off the air cleaner top and then removed the oil fill spout. Covered it all with towels and found I can grab the rubber grommet that air tights where those hi/lo lines enter the firewall by laying my arm on the valve cover and reaching back in there. That big seal pulls right off. I bought a new bug sprayer and filled it with E-Coil cleaner. Pumped it up and carefully inserted it in the hole shared by the ac pipes. Squirted quite a bit of cleaner in there an trying hopefully to be aiming at where I thought the e-coil resides.
    After letting it sit for a few hours when i first got in and turned the ac on I was very happy indeed to not smell the dreaded stinky sock. Just pleasant fresh cleaner.We'll see how long it lasts but it is working so far.:p And now I will try the putting the blower on high with a little heat on at the end of the trip as everyone suggests too!
     
  14. Bear68

    Bear68 Member

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    To clarify a couple of points:

    The part we are replacing is the evap case, with the evap core and heater core, the entire unit as a whole.

    So far, each car that has had a new case installed has not returned with an odor complaint. This does not mean they are guaranteed solved, simply that so far the problem has not returned. We are basing our solution on the recommendations of the Tech Assist engineers in Jacksonville.

    There is no "official" stance on the proper repair for this condition. No TSB. No bulletin. All we have to go on is the word from TAS in Jax. We techs are as in the dark as everyone else is at the moment.

    We cannot replace evap cases without approval from TAS. Their approval is given on a case by case basis. I DO believe that Toyota is aware and working on a proper fix. (Perhaps just blind loyalty on my part, but I think it's true) My best recommendation for anyone experiancing this condition is polite persistance. Keep on squeaking and politely working your way up the chain of command asking for a real fix. Toyota will respond. If your particular dealer seems unable to do anything, ask to speak to the district rep from TMMC. (Toyota Motor Manufacturing Corp)

    BTW.... if you should receive a survey from Toyota after having work done on your car, be honest. Toyota tracks those surveys VERY closely. Dealers who get low scores get scrutiny from Toyota like you wouldn't believe.

    Remember also that I am no one with authority. I am simply a tech who tries to help out where I can. Anything you hear from me is simply what I have observed in my own dealership and with my own experiance. Good Luck!!:spy:
     
  15. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Hi Bear68:

    Have you noticed any 2004 or 2005 2G with this problem? The 2004 New Car Features manual indicates that the evaporator core is coated with an antibacterial coating. I am wondering if an engineering change (or maybe a mfg problem) happened where some cores on newer production 2G had not been coated.
     
  16. hill

    hill High Fiber Member

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    Ok I'm a broken record, as I've mentioned it before. We've sprayed this anti-bacterial aerosol into our evap core area the best we can, and into the AC ports, and on the cabin air filter. Only need to do it once a year. They sell this in Europe & Australia. Haven't found a U.S. dealer yet. It works, that's all I know.

    [​IMG]
     
  17. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Thanks very much for your help.
     
  18. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Hi Patrick,
    Nice one. That could be the whole thing right there. There's def. a bacterial thing going on here. Maybe this anti-bac feature is only on certain packages.
    The lady at work with an 07 with this problem has the same pack as I do #2. I wonder if there using the coated e-coils as replacements for the complaining customers. This is probably the issue. If so Toy will do all it can to keep this quiet as a TSB for this problem would be really expensive for them. In the millions I bet. Squeeky wheel.
     
  19. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    I called the Toyota customer assist line Walk the Walk posted. They said the dealer I bought it from will contact me. They'll probably want me to to go through the all day cabin de-fog. :flock:Waste of time. I asked about the District Rep and was told they don't talk to the public they only talk to the dealer. PITA.:mad:
     
  20. ScottY

    ScottY New Member

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    Patrick,

    I have a 2005 Prius, and have this problem. During last year's summer, I always put on recirculate when I'm using the AC. And it STINKS! The way I resolve this issue is already mentioned in this thread. Leave it on fresh air 10 min before shutting off the car. I haven't notice any smell this year.