Interior Smell

L

landshark

New member
Hi All,

I need some help. My wife's car, a 2004 Toyota Echo 5-Door is our/her baby. We take good care of it (it gets an annual claying, full exterior treatment). The inside is immaculate, but...last summer the interior developed a rather rancid smell. In my wife's words "the car smells like pee!" :rofl

Okay, it's not that funny. I drove the car the other day and it was, indeed, nasty. On cool, cloudy days, or in winter, it isn't noticeable.

We went through this last year. It seems to be the worst when the car is closed-up and parked in the sun. At that point, we removed all of the seats and both the upholstery, carpet, door panels, rear cargo cover and mat received a shampoo/extraction with an Oxy Clean/APC mixture. The carpets and seats smell/look great. Our Little Green Machine pulled out a lot of grime...I thought for sure that was the source.

Five days later and our pee smell is back. We don't have any pets, haven't spilled any food or fluids in the car. My only guess is something like mold or mildew is growing the in heater/evaporator case, vents...I'm at a loss. How do you folks tackle an unknown stinky smell?

TIA!
 
Sometimes I'll turn the blower on low or medium mix and blast steam in the cowl near the wiper blades. This usually blows the steam through the vent system and will at least aid in removing odors. Another option is finding someone close to you that has an ozone generator they would let you borrow over night...that would for sure kill it. Other than that, sniffing it down is about your only option. Have you checked the headliner? You'd be surprised what kind of funky stuff gets trapped up there.
 
Wow a pee smell usually means you have rodent/s in the car under the floor padding or somewhere. But you said you pulled out all the seats, right ? Did you pull out all the carpets and padding too? See any little rodent poops?

Totally on board with CA Detail Chick - you have to use your nose to find the source. It is in there somewhere.

If you think its in the A/C unit coming through the vents, about the only thing I have found that works great is Einszett Klima-Cleaner, a Spray (foam) that you put through your center A/C vents, let it set for a few minutes, (no longer than 30) and then turn on your A/C to Max through the center vents to dry it out. This product will get down to the condenser and kill any mold, etc., growing on it if and leave the unit smelling great. It is not a cover-up smell, it is a cleaner for the A/C condenser, and the smell comes with the territory but goes away in a couple days or so..
I have used this on a bunch of BMW's, Honda, and others, all smelled way better after the treatment.

If you do something like this, then be sure to change out your inside cabin filter if you have one inside or outside, at the same time, cause it may also be holding that bad smell in it.

But you have to be able to find the source of the smell ! It cant be all over, (unless rodents have complete control of the underfloor /carpeted areas and are running a Rodent-Tel-6 or something. :) I hope not..

Good luck with this !
Dan F
 
If I can find the name of the fogger kit i used to remove a smell from a clients Lexus I'll post it up.

He had a crazy woman he was dating/seeing, she got mad at him and sprayed deer urine on/in the back seat of his Lexus. You want to talk about a bad smell? It was so bad it would literally burn your eyes/nose, it was not a fun trip from when I picked it up and took it to my house.

I found it:
Big D Industries

We sprayed it in the cabin filter, air vents then i emptied the whole can in the car. Let it sit overnight and just fog. Next day I had him start the car, put on circulate and let it sit there running for about an hour or so. After that the smell got much better.
 
To me sounds like some type of mold or mildew is growing the in heater or the evaporator areas or just maybe the inside air filter has not been replace at all?
 
I would replace the cabin filter and Ozone machine all the time and it'll take the smell of a dead body out of the car. Make sure you have the car AC on set to recirculate crack one of the windows enough to let the cord through Ozone for an hour and almost certainly will be gone. I don't know what state your in but you can rent these machines their usually used for clearing out smells in apts after people move out and what not. Or if you happen to be in the CA Bay area you can use mine.
 
Lot's of great advice.

You have to find the source, if it is in the padding under the carpet, then it will be to be replaced.

Cleaning the carpets (shampoo) was a great first step. I would shampoo them again using the same solution, then shampoo them one more time using just water to remove any residues.

Next scrub every square inch of the interior with an all purpose cleaner and a brush, wipe, and repeat using water (again picking up any trace residues).

Next, replace the air cabin filter (as suggested) and run 1Z Einszett Klima-Cleaner Air Conditioner Odor Remover through the air conditioning vents.

Finally use a Detailer's: Pro Series professional odor eliminator bomb: It is available in many scents, so pic the one that works best. Detailer's Pro Series Dual Action Odor Eliminator

This will systematically remove the smell from any exposed interior pieces. Past that it likely the smell is either coming from under the hood (and being sucked into the cabin, although in the case of a urine smell it is highly unlikely) or it is something that has leeched into the matting under the carpet.

Also clean the trunk in a similar fashion.
 
I have owned two german cars, Jetta and A3 with int smell issues. The prob was a moldy substance growing in the a/c because of moisture. To combat this I made sure that I ran the a/c with the outside air open from time to time. This helped dry it out. I also parked the car with the vent open. Also, the pollen filter in those cars was carbon, which helped filter scent. I replaced them often, they are really cheap on ebay. Lastly, I found a fogger that is chlorine based which really helped. It killed the mold. The fogger is called autovaccine. I recommend it.
 
As Todd said, great suggestions...thank you everyone! My wife used her nose today, as the smell was quite prominent, and she thinks that she tracked the smell down to the driver's seat...maybe.

I'm considering the following options:

1. Shampoo the seats again using a stronger solution of APC and Oxy Clean and follow that up with numerous extractions with clean water.

2. I can rent an ozone generator fairly cheap. Thanks to Jsmooth for the offer, but I'm in Michigan.

3. Use one of the HVAC duct cleaner/interior bomb combos available at Autopia.

The car, oddly enough, doesn't have A/C but I know that it's still possible for stuff to grown in/around the heater core and what would be the evaporator case on a car equipped with A/C. The cabin filter gets changed as needed so I don't think that's an issue.

Still though, great suggestions and thank you again to everyone. I'll attack this using the simplest method first, then work my way up to the tougher options. I'll post back on my progress and hopefully, a solution!
 
landshark said:
As Todd said, great suggestions...thank you everyone! My wife used her nose today, as the smell was quite prominent, and she thinks that she tracked the smell down to the driver's seat...maybe.

I'm considering the following options:

1. Shampoo the seats again using a stronger solution of APC and Oxy Clean and follow that up with numerous extractions with clean water.

2. I can rent an ozone generator fairly cheap. Thanks to Jsmooth for the offer, but I'm in Michigan.

3. Use one of the HVAC duct cleaner/interior bomb combos available at Autopia.

The car, oddly enough, doesn't have A/C but I know that it's still possible for stuff to grown in/around the heater core and what would be the evaporator case on a car equipped with A/C. The cabin filter gets changed as needed so I don't think that's an issue.

Still though, great suggestions and thank you again to everyone. I'll attack this using the simplest method first, then work my way up to the tougher options. I'll post back on my progress and hopefully, a solution!
Click to expand...
Hey Just incase it goes to Ozone for the car make sure you air it out for couple hours after your done because it's bad for your health to breath that stuff.
 
landshark said:
As Todd said, great suggestions...thank you everyone! My wife used her nose today, as the smell was quite prominent, and she thinks that she tracked the smell down to the driver's seat...maybe.

I'm considering the following options:

1. Shampoo the seats again using a stronger solution of APC and Oxy Clean and follow that up with numerous extractions with clean water.

2. I can rent an ozone generator fairly cheap. Thanks to Jsmooth for the offer, but I'm in Michigan.

3. Use one of the HVAC duct cleaner/interior bomb combos available at Autopia.

The car, oddly enough, doesn't have A/C but I know that it's still possible for stuff to grown in/around the heater core and what would be the evaporator case on a car equipped with A/C. The cabin filter gets changed as needed so I don't think that's an issue.

Still though, great suggestions and thank you again to everyone. I'll attack this using the simplest method first, then work my way up to the tougher options. I'll post back on my progress and hopefully, a solution!
Click to expand...

Please let us know when you tackle this problem! Best of luck and keep us updated.
 
Re: Interior Smell - Getting Closer!

I attacked the seats one more time with my LGM and hot water with about an ounce of Meg's D101 APC. I rinsed twice with hot water and the LGM. My wife reports that the interior smells much better, but the "aroma" still persists. I'm going to attack it once more, with just clean water, and see if that helps.

The extracted water seemed really clean on this second go around. I might even hit the floor mats once more too.

I really like the D101...when diluted, it cleans really well and leaves a nice, clean scent behind. How does it compare to the D103?
 
ca.detailchick said:
White Vinegar gets rid of nasty smells and urine .Just make sure to rinse well .

Sounds like your almost there!
Click to expand...

Would this method be used in an extractor? Say, clean water with a few drops of vinegar? Just wondering how I'd go about this.

Yesterday: one more clean, hot-water extraction with the LGM. My wife said that it smelled better before :wall

I also scrubbed all the headrests with APC/hot water, then rinsed/extracted again. I'll leave the car out in the sun while I work on the Sonata. If it still stinks, I'll push it off a cliff :rofl

Thanks again for the suggestions. I'm just kidding about the cliff...still have a few more options but I think I've narrowed the smell down to the back seat area, which is strange, since I think only four people have sat back there since 2004 ;)

I'm also not convinced that the smell isn't coming from the floor mats. The OEM floor mats have always been covered by rubber, all weather mats. They look great, but I wonder if they got a little funky with some gunk getting trapped between the layers. Oh yay! I'm gonna wear that little Bissel out on my own car!
 
landshark said:
Would this method be used in an extractor? Say, clean water with a few drops of vinegar? Just wondering how I'd go about this.

Yesterday: one more clean, hot-water extraction with the LGM. My wife said that it smelled better before :wall

I also scrubbed all the headrests with APC/hot water, then rinsed/extracted again. I'll leave the car out in the sun while I work on the Sonata. If it still stinks, I'll push it off a cliff :rofl

Thanks again for the suggestions. I'm just kidding about the cliff...still have a few more options but I think I've narrowed the smell down to the back seat area, which is strange, since I think only four people have sat back there since 2004 ;)

I'm also not convinced that the smell isn't coming from the floor mats. The OEM floor mats have always been covered by rubber, all weather mats. They look great, but I wonder if they got a little funky with some gunk getting trapped between the layers. Oh yay! I'm gonna wear that little Bissel out on my own car!
Click to expand...
Did you try mixxing a nutralizer in your extractor mix? Something like frebreeze? I dont know what else it would be I use Zap It air nutralizer and it works well I think its similair to frebreeze I think. Research it a little might come up with something
 
use something with enzymes, most likely its an organic substance causing the smell so if you use something with enzymes it will attack the odors/substance on a microscopic level. i usually spray enzyme cleaner and let it soak for while while i tend to other stuff then extract.
 
landshark said:
Would this method be used in an extractor? Say, clean water with a few drops of vinegar? Just wondering how I'd go about this.

Yesterday: one more clean, hot-water extraction with the LGM. My wife said that it smelled better before :wall

I also scrubbed all the headrests with APC/hot water, then rinsed/extracted again. I'll leave the car out in the sun while I work on the Sonata. If it still stinks, I'll push it off a cliff :rofl

Thanks again for the suggestions. I'm just kidding about the cliff...still have a few more options but I think I've narrowed the smell down to the back seat area, which is strange, since I think only four people have sat back there since 2004 ;)

I'm also not convinced that the smell isn't coming from the floor mats. The OEM floor mats have always been covered by rubber, all weather mats. They look great, but I wonder if they got a little funky with some gunk getting trapped between the layers. Oh yay! I'm gonna wear that little Bissel out on my own car!
Click to expand...
I use 50/50 water to vinegar and I dont see why you couldnt use it with an extracter.

I prefer the soak and blot method myself because the foam in seats can allow the problem to go very deep into the foam.

Trouble with vinegar is it has its own funky sour smell but it does dissipate in a couple days.

Opies idea to use enzyme is maybe a better option if you find vinegar smell too offensive. "Oil eater" is an enzyme cleaner found otc in auto parts stores . Very cheap and effective also.

You are a good husband!:D
 
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