1999 VZJ95 Prado Cabin air/AC Maintenance

[Nikita95]

Hey everyone,

I have been searching high and low for an answer on this topic but cant find anything at all so maybe there is an expert out there or someone who's gone through the same struggle and could help me out. I have a 1999 J95 Prado and whenever I turn on the AC after not using it for a bit, it smells super dusty. I thought maybe a cabin air filter but apparently this year doesnt have one, or atleast thats what the internet says. I did the same check as the other years where you take apart the glove box to check for a filter slot but nothing was there except the duct coming from the heater. After taking that apart i saw what looked like a filter cloth in in area. Then looking down the duct towards the center of the cabine behind the radio was another place with a cloth.

My question is: does this year just not come with a cabin filter? And if yes do I have to replace those 25 year old dusty foam “filters” as my cabin air cleanliness maintenance.

hopefully that made sense, see pics for context.