Strange interior smell

[JR1]

Our Sport is about 6 months old. No problems yet except the brake squeak in the morning. We have the smell of cat pee inside the truck occasionally. It’s not all of the time but once in a while we get a whiff of it. We have no cats. My question is if anyone else has experienced this?

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[Archer]

Yes, actually we did. It would be random after first startup but go away fairly quickly. I changed my cabin filter and have only had it once since. I'm wondering if they didn't have cats on the transport ships???



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[JR1]

Yes, actually we did. It would be random after first startup but go away fairly quickly. I changed my cabin filter and have only had it once since. I'm wondering if they didn't have cats on the transport ships???



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Didn’t think of that. Going to change today. Thanks

 

[Archer]

Be careful, the retaining clip on the filter cover is fragile, doesn't take much to snap it off. Ask me how I know...lol


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[JR1]

Appreciate that.

 

[JR1]

We were hoping a cat didn’t get closed up in the truck in transport.

 

[chasedstream641]

Our Sport is about 6 months old. No problems yet except the brake squeak in the morning. We have the smell of cat pee inside the truck occasionally. It’s not all of the time but once in a while we get a whiff of it. We have no cats. My question is if anyone else has experienced this?

I just had my dealership fix the break squeal per the TSB and its gone now

 

[bvlaw]

My Trailhunter has the exact same smell. Purchased late April.

 

[s0ar]

I've never smelled it myself but during two separate road-trips, I've had a passenger comment that they got a whiff of a cat pee/ammonia smell.

 

[Joe Dirt]

All, I had that smell as well.

Toyota's in general get that when you have the right conditions met.

Meaning if you drive around with "recirculation on"
And if it's particularly hot and humid outside but that is not necessarily A driving Factor.

Then you park the car with the windows rolled up in a garage.

What happens is your venting system does not air out and dry properly.
The trick to getting rid of that smell is turn off the recirculation mode before you get home and let the air circulate through it and then when you park in a garage or outside leave the windows cracked, so it can air out properly.
The recirculation mode seals the system and traps any condensation, this turns to odor and in extreme cases mold and very bad stuff.
Hope this helps.

 

[AdFour]

Anyone experience it AFTER turning off the AC? No recirculation, just air on at 60.

In all other cases it’s fine. But once your run it for a bit and turn ac off every now and then you get a pretty bad smell

 

[Frank la Banane]

Not specific to 4runner, same issue with my Subaru Outback XT 2022

 

[Lamuncha]

There are some sealants and adhesives that produce pretty bad odors for a while. Used heavily in the hvac system. Not limited to Toyota.
As a side I have been using peppermint spray under the hood and around the spare tire area.
After maybe 3 weeks using it the mice that were crapping on the battery and leaving acorns in various places have not returned.
I apply it once a week.

 

[Joe Dirt]

Anyone experience it AFTER turning off the AC? No recirculation, just air on at 60.

In all other cases it’s fine. But once your run it for a bit and turn ac off every now and then you get a pretty bad smell

That's exactly what happens in Toyota RAV4.

I also had a Subaru that was Notorious for that.

What will eventually happen if you get enough of that mold or whatever it is that builds up in the system you'll have to use a can of HVAC cleaner and inject it from the underside of the car.

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