Mildew smell in cabin - LC250 1958

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pv488

Joined
Oct 27, 2025
Threads
2
Messages
6
Location
New York
Hi everyone,

First and foremost, I am glad to be part of this community. I am active on LC forum as well under the same username. Wanted to check and see if anyone else has been having issues with their LC with regards to a mildew smell being present inside the car? I had tried several DIY remedies mentioned but non seem to resolve this issue.

I left my car in service center this past Friday with their master technician as he tried to diagnose the issue. He ended up having to submit a service ticket with Toyota and he heard back just this morning from Toyota Corporate. Their recommendation was changing the cabin filter with a carbon filter. They also mentioned they would not be covering this meaning I would have to pay out of pocket for the part.

Has anyone used the carbon filter?
 
Mildew smell may indicate a water leak somewhere. If it is leaking, a carbon filter will just help for a little while. However it's also possible that some other water got in the car (window down in the rain, spilled drink) that got it wet. If so, I'd suggest treating the interior of the car with some Safrax chlorine dioxide tablets. When mixed with water in a small dish, they will create make chlorine dioxide gas that will wipe out almost any odor. You'd need to use the tablets in the evening and then keep the car shut until the next morning, in a relatively warm area (like a garage), as the chlorine gas is toxic for several hours. In the morning the inside of the rig will have a slight bleach smell that will dissipate over a few days.
 
pv488 said:
Hi everyone,

First and foremost, I am glad to be part of this community. I am active on LC forum as well under the same username. Wanted to check and see if anyone else has been having issues with their LC with regards to a mildew smell being present inside the car? I had tried several DIY remedies mentioned but non seem to resolve this issue.

I left my car in service center this past Friday with their master technician as he tried to diagnose the issue. He ended up having to submit a service ticket with Toyota and he heard back just this morning from Toyota Corporate. Their recommendation was changing the cabin filter with a carbon filter. They also mentioned they would not be covering this meaning I would have to pay out of pocket for the part.

Has anyone used the carbon filter?
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I know this isn't super relevant to your situation, but in my brand new ford truck with 11k miles I'm having the same issues, so you aren't alone. This seems to be a common complaint across the net in brand new cars and seems to be tied to the way that climate control systems change modes during remote start and/or auto on/off event at stoplights. I find it such an absolute disappointment that manufacturers seem to continue to regress on quality on things that haven't been a problem in the past. In 25 years of vehicle ownership, have never had a vehicle smell like this.....

It is a known issue in the Ford truck world, at least for my model. The solution for us seems to be a lysol spray to kill whatever is causing the smell in what is assumed to be the evaporator coils of the AC system, and then change your habits for how the climate control system is operated. In my specific case, I only smell the mildew smell if I remote start the truck, or it goes into the auto-off mode at a stop light. Something about how the climate control system operates during these modes has caused an accumulation of moisture and allowed growth of a mildew (I assume). As soon as the truck restarts or as soon as I enter the truck and turn it "on" from a remote start situation, the smell immediately goes away. The truck does not smell inside the cab if the HVAC is operating normal or the truck is sitting completely shut off, the smell is only present in these two modes. My situation is 100% not tied to a water intrusion issue as some knuckleheads on the internet try to assert, if it was, the smell would be constant.

The lysol spray is done with climate control system in "outside" air mode, not recirc. Lysol is sprayed into the outside air intake at the cowl and is supposed to kill the mildew. I have yet to perform this cleansing/disinfecting though.

Good luck finding a resolution for your situation. I suspect your issue is in the climate control/HVAC system and how it is used, pay attention to when you smell it and what the climate control settings are when you do.
 
FWIW, running the Safrax chlorine treatment with the engine running and AC on recirculate for a couple of hours will probably kill the mildew as well. Or if not, really knock it back. It will also knock out the vast majority of bacteria and any viruses in the rig. You're basically giving the inside of the rig a WWI-era chlorine gas treatment.

Ozone generators can do the same thing, but IMO chlorine gas is much more effective.
 
Thanks for all the tips! I finally got my car back today, and they put in the new cabin filter.

I'm going to check first thing tomorrow morning to see if that charcoal filter actually does the trick. The smell is always worst after the car has been sitting for a long time, so that will be the real test.

On a side note, this whole smell thing has been rough. My two-year-old has been coughing a lot when I buckle him into his car seat in the mornings. It's really noticeable.

The service guys have actually been great, though—they even brought up the idea of lemon laws if I can't get this problem sorted out for good."
 
ive changed the cabin filter a few times in my old tundra and it was clogged with leaves and debris and started to mold.... should be changed every 6 months or so
 
pv488 said:
Thanks for all the tips! I finally got my car back today, and they put in the new cabin filter.

I'm going to check first thing tomorrow morning to see if that charcoal filter actually does the trick. The smell is always worst after the car has been sitting for a long time, so that will be the real test.

On a side note, this whole smell thing has been rough. My two-year-old has been coughing a lot when I buckle him into his car seat in the mornings. It's really noticeable.

The service guys have actually been great, though—they even brought up the idea of lemon laws if I can't get this problem sorted out for good."
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I feel for ya.

You should open your own ticket/claim with Toyota and explain the case. They’ll contact the dealer to get their side also, but that’s the likely the route to take before Lemon Law.
 
just did my new tundra cabin filter today:vomit:
should of done it last year :bang:
 
Wanted to post an update:

Toyota Corporate is offering to buy back my car (lemon law) or possibly give me a new vehicle. They asked for all receipts for all expenses incurred on parts or non service center related expenses. Lets see that they come back with.
 
pv488 said:
Wanted to post an update:

Toyota Corporate is offering to buy back my car (lemon law) or possibly give me a new vehicle. They asked for all receipts for all expenses incurred on parts or non service center related expenses. Lets see that they come back with.
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Far better than the $350 Ford wanted to charge me yesterday to change the cabin air filter and clean the AC evaporator after verifying my truck does indeed smell like mildew, caused by "excessive moisture buildup" in the AC evaporator per their tech. Good luck!
 
pv488 said:
Wanted to post an update:

Toyota Corporate is offering to buy back my car (lemon law) or possibly give me a new vehicle. They asked for all receipts for all expenses incurred on parts or non service center related expenses. Lets see that they come back with.
Click to expand...

Insane. Do they know the source? This has got to be one of the first Land Cruiser buy back scenarios in the history of the brand, or no?
 
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Blackford Oakes said:
Insane. Do they know the source? This has got to be one of the first Land Cruiser buy back scenarios in the history of the brand, or no?
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No source on issue. Given they service center has already had my vehicle checked out twice they are probably deeming it irreparable for all i know
 
When I sat in one for the first time I was definitely put off by the strong plastic smell, but I don't recall smelling mildew. Very weird. Do you think it could have been a sunroof leak? Bad roof rack install?
 
EWheeler said:
Far better than the $350 Ford wanted to charge me yesterday to change the cabin air filter and clean the AC evaporator after verifying my truck does indeed smell like mildew, caused by "excessive moisture buildup" in the AC evaporator per their tech. Good luck!
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Which model Ford? My '23 Super Duty does this from time to time.
 
Tex68w said:
Which model Ford? My '23 Super Duty does this from time to time.
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'24 F150. Had a '14, '17 and '19 prior to this, also drove a '17 F250 for 75k miles for work at a previous employer. Never once had a musty smell from the HVAC system. Pretty disappointing.
 
EWheeler said:
'24 F150. Had a '14, '17 and '19 prior to this, also drove a '17 F250 for 75k miles for work at a previous employer. Never once had a musty smell from the HVAC system. Pretty disappointing.
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This is my fifth Super Duty since 2011, no issues with previous models either.
 
Posting an update as I had the FTS inspection yesterday:

FTS said they found no issue and that my car is operating as expected. He attributed the smell to either the plastic materials used during construction or the glue/adhesive agent used to bind pieces together inside the HVAC system ...lol.

I will have to follow up with Corporate again and see what options, if any I have now.
 
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