I've looked in the manual and can't find this info. When I turn on the air conditioning I get a musty odor coming from it. I assume I have leaves, dirt and dead animals down there and the drain is clogged. Where is the air conditioning drain on this vehicle? Is it inside or in the engine compartment. Any suggestions for cleaning this out?

 

you sure your not smelling gas? seems to be everyones 3rd gen problem around winter time..

 

You still want that crap I've been holding onto for like 4 months?

 

What crap?

 

No, I know what raw gas smells like. This smell is like a washcloth that's sat in the sink for too long (moldy).

 

you have mildew in the bottom of the a/c evaporator box. It gows there because of the moisture that stays in the bottom from when the a/c is running. Toyot's used to be really bad about that, newer ones have an anti-fungal coating on the evaorator core.

 

We have what's called an A/C refesher kit/service that toyota uses to get rid of the funk. I'm not sure if nissan has something like that, of if anything is avail. aftmkt.

Basically it's bleachy type foam that is sprayed/injected into the evaporator box via the a/c water drain hose on the bottom of the car. the foam sits in there for a bit, then collapses back to liqiud and drains out. then you spray some anti-funky spray through the cowl vents into the car (while blower on, fresh not rec.) that kinda lysol's the vents and evaporator, and prevents future funk formation.

it really knocks that mildew smell out, only drawback is that the vents smell kinda chemical-y for a day or two.

 

oh and maybe take and blow out the tube with air. it may be on the firewall, not under the car, i fergit, i'll have to look later.

 

there are aftermarket sprays to do the same thing no clue how they work

 

probably the same way. Southeast Toyota, the region i work in, is a privately owned distributorship, so they sometimes take good aftermarket stuff and relabel it as toyota type stuff, or just sell it as accessories thru the dealers. alot of it is really good. Like Enkei wheels for example, S.E.T. and Enkei both have enormous facilities in Jacksonville FL, right across the street from each other! It's that way for a reason, let's just say that enkei's are a pretty popular option down here.

 

Thanks for the information. I'll look into this cleaner. I found a good writeup on this on another site. It shows the AC drain in it's natural habitat. It looks like it's behind the steering rack boot on the passengers side.
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/748507/7

 

sounds about right

 

lets look at the really important issue here.....its december and you are using the a/c?

 

our cars use the A/C with the defogger

 

You should run the a/c once a month all year round to circulate the refrigerant through the dryer and to circulate lube to the seals (keeps them from shrinking and cracking). But also, I have it in the garage to do some other work so I thought I'd clean out the nests in there also.

 

ookay i see, i've heard that but never really thought about doing it, it just doesn't come to mind when its below freezing when i get in the car.