Outside smoke smell entering Innova's cabin through back aircon

[dr. d]

i do not think we can completely close the swiss cheese holes in the innova's (or for that matter, any car's) body.
the vents sometimes don't close 100% sealed, unlike a diver's watch.
there are many holes on the front bulk head up front, the body below, and the rear wall, for wirings, cables, and pedals.
then the various rubber weather strips aren't perfect, and the double wall doors with imperfect seals, etc.
and there's the transmission thingees on the middle spine of the body's floor.
but i see these are blessings in disguise.
imagine what will happen if the car body were indeed 100% perfectly sealed: in a short time, we would be breathing in re-circulated stale air, with increasing levels of carbon dioxide and diminishing levels of oxygen. i imagine, many of us would pass out before we reached our long-distance destination.

considering the above alternative, smelling the outside air pollution may not be so un-acceptably bad.

but yes, i agree with you.
"it would be nice if..."

[Walter]

Here's What Those Secret Rubber Flaps Behind Your Rear Bumper Are For

[oj88]

i do not think we can completely close the swiss cheese holes in the innova's (or for that matter, any car's) body.
the vents sometimes don't close 100% sealed, unlike a diver's watch.
there are many holes on the front bulk head up front, the body below, and the rear wall, for wirings, cables, and pedals.
then the various rubber weather strips aren't perfect, and the double wall doors with imperfect seals, etc.
and there's the transmission thingees on the middle spine of the body's floor.
but i see these are blessings in disguise.
imagine what will happen if the car body were indeed 100% perfectly sealed: in a short time, we would be breathing in re-circulated stale air, with increasing levels of carbon dioxide and diminishing levels of oxygen. i imagine, many of us would pass out before we reached our long-distance destination.

considering the above alternative, smelling the outside air pollution may not be so un-acceptably bad.

but yes, i agree with you.
"it would be nice if..."

No, not implying that a car's body should be hermetically sealed. Some air circulation is necessary.

But the key operator here is "some". My Honda Civic FD didn't have this problem. You can still get a whiff of the outside smell but that's only under extreme cases (ie. following behind a smoke-belching bus). And in the almost 7 years I had the Civic, the interior upholstery remained virtually soot-free and the cabin filter typically lasted at least a year before turning off-white.

Not so with my Innova. There's just too much outside air coming in that it took just 3 months for the cabin filter to become grey with soot to which the Civic took a year to accumulate.... but even then, the Innova's cabin filter looked darker. Despite my Innova having a cabin filter, there's also soot everywhere inside the Innova's cabin.... on the back side of the sun visors, the sunglass compartment, on the surfaces of the interior plastics (what one would call 'libag'), glove box, A/C vents, etc. These were only drastically reduced when I sealed off the air-recirculation duct from the outside.

All that being said, the rear A/C is still sucking in a significant amount of outside air somewhere, even after doing my best to isolate the rear A/C fan intake. For that reason, I seldom use the rear A/C or turn it off if I start to smell something funky. It's just unfortunate that the rear A/C doesn't have a filter.

[dr. d]

from what i understand,
our aircons do not suck in air from the outside.
they suck in warmer air from the underside of their housings inside the passenger cabin, whereupon they are blown thru cooling fins and finally back out into the cabin as cool air.
someone here posted that when he seriously cleaned his car's rugs and such, hindi na gaano dumudumi ang aircon filters niya.

[Papajamba]

Hi good day, kamustahin ko lang po kung nag ok po ang mga remedy na ginawa nyo? Last ecq, almost 5 months hindi nagamit ang innova namin, then nung gagamitin wala ng lamig. Kinargahan lang ng freon and na check sa o-ring lang nag leak. Malamig na sya then nag aamoy usok sa loob kahit naka close ang vent switch dito sa front. K suspect sa likod nanggagaling. And nakita ko nga po itong post ninyo. Thanks

Only after lang ipagawa ang o-ring at freon na pumapasok ang amoy?
Just like what oj88 said, pwedeng hindi naibalik ng maayos yung recirculation flap kaya parati syang open or partially open.
I suggest ibalik mo sa gumawa to check that flap.

Btw, is this the new model one or 1st gen?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[oj88]

from what i understand,
our aircons do not suck in air from the outside.
they suck in warmer air from the underside of their housings inside the passenger cabin, whereupon they are blown thru cooling fins and finally back out into the cabin as cool air.
someone here posted that when he seriously cleaned his car's rugs and such, hindi na gaano dumudumi ang aircon filters niya.

I disagree and I've seen the design flaw with the front A/C ducting first hand.

Out of the factory, it draws a significant amount of outside air even with the recirculation button turned on. I explained the reason at length 5 years ago in this thread (with illustration) - Toyota Innova Owners & Discussions [continued 3]

[dr. d]

I disagree and I've seen the design flaw with the front A/C ducting first hand.

Out of the factory, it draws a significant amount of outside air even with the recirculation button turned on. I explained the reason at length 5 years ago in this thread (with illustration) - Toyota Innova Owners & Discussions [continued 3]

ah so.
the seal is imperfect.
probably dictated by design. it might have proven to be too expensive, if it were made to be more perfect, in my opinion.

also,
tayo rin pala ang nag-usap noon.
heh heh.

[oj88]

ah so.
the seal is imperfect.
probably dictated by design. it might have proven to be too expensive, if it were made to be more perfect, in my opinion.

also,
tayo rin pala ang nag-usap noon.
heh heh.

Diba? Nakalimutan mo na. ;)

[dr. d]

Diba? Nakalimutan mo na. ;)

sorry po.
i have a day job, kasi.
"too many things on my mind."
heh heh.

[LOLZ]

I disagree and I've seen the design flaw with the front A/C ducting first hand.

Out of the factory, it draws a significant amount of outside air even with the recirculation button turned on. I explained the reason at length 5 years ago in this thread (with illustration) - Toyota Innova Owners & Discussions [continued 3]

would sealing the right rear vent shut help with the smell ? maybe the rear blower's proximity to it is forcing the flaps to partially open by sucking the rubber flaps inwards instead of lying flat and sealing against the vent's surface. The Left side vent could probably do double duty for the right vent's part of pressure relief.

[oj88]

would sealing the right rear vent shut help with the smell ? maybe the rear blower's proximity to it is forcing the flaps to partially open by sucking the rubber flaps inwards instead of lying flat and sealing against the vent's surface. The Left side vent could probably do double duty for the right vent's part of pressure relief.

Already tried blocking the RIGHT vent, externally and internally. It helped some but did not totally alleviate the situation. Obviously, the outer wall still have holes exposed to outside air, hidden in nooks and crevices that's virtually difficult to cover up without detailed information of where they are.

Anyway, the vehicle is 5 years old so I've learned to work around the the rear A/C issues.

[LOLZ]

Already tried blocking the RIGHT vent, externally and internally. It helped some but did not totally alleviate the situation. Obviously, the outer wall still have holes exposed to outside air, hidden in nooks and crevices that's virtually difficult to cover up without detailed information of where they are.

Anyway, the vehicle is 5 years old so I've learned to work around the the rear A/C issues.

Not sure if it's still of anyhelp but there is a body repair manual provided with the service manual for the innova: Toyota Service Information

Doesn't look like there's much holes to plug up apart from the welding seams and the taillight assembly though. The rest of the manual may help with non-powertrain maintenance (since its meant for market with only the 2.7 innova).

[yapoy86]

try checking the A-Pillars, minsan may butas dyan na pwede pasukan ng smoke from the fenders..