What is this smell??? And how do I destroy it??

I bought a used car recently that has an odor that is unidentifiable and STRONG. It isn't smoke. We had the fan looked at and they found some moldy leaves and pecans in there but no sign of a dead animal. We had it detailed and treated with an ozone machine but the smell was only temporarily relieved. Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this smell? It is musky and seems to linger in the air vents. Help please!! We are almost to the point of reselling the car because we don't know what else to do!!!

Alot of times, mold and mildew can accumulate on the airconditioner core. There are sprays sold specifically for this purpose designed to kill this mold. A home remedy you can do is to run the air conditioner on full fan speed, set the control to outside air (not max or recirculate) and spray Lysol into the vent outside at the bottom of the windshield. The fan will suck the chemicle into the core and through the vents and kill the mildew. You may have to repeat this process a couple of times. Hope this helps you.

Are you sure there is not any mold under the carpets in the padding? Could the car have gotten wet on the carpets?

As Bob says you could have heavy mold spores in the entire air conditioning system and the detail who supposedly ozoned the vehicle interior may have:

a. Not turned the ozone machine on when using the system. (if you ask him do not ask a yes or no question, asking what he did but not "did you turn on the a/c" becuase he will say yes.)

b. He may have a low-generating ozone unit, that is, it does not put out sufficient ozone to deodorize your car

c. He may have not left it in the car with the a/c running long enough.


If you are convinced it is coming from the air conditioning system you need to have the car treated with a quality ozone machine with the air conditioner on.

Where you located?

Regards
Bud Abraham

There could be many reasons for the odor you are smelling in the automobile..but you need to be a bit more specific...
Does the vehicle smell ONLY when you turn on the A/C?
Does the vehicle smell when you open the door after being locked up for awhile?
Is there a specific area it smells more than another... or does the entire vehicle smell?
If you had to identify one odor that immediately comes to mind... what would that odor be?

What is the make, model and year of vehicle?
.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/19/2010 11:48PM by concoursgarage.

Gina, "very good Grasshopper, you have learned well."

Just kidding, you have known the diagonistic ways for years, much as I taught at our AI PrepExcellence School for many years.

"Don't guess, don't assume, do your detective work, find out all the information, seek it out, don't do anything until you have gathered ALL the facts regarding the concern you are seeking to correct."

I could sit back, read what the poster has posted and make some "evaluations with recommendations" sort of advice.

And, I could be very, very incorrect with what I advised, since I am not able to "hands on" the concern.


Great, Gina, really great advice.

Ketch

Ron:

You are so correct.... jumping to conclusions is the biggest problem so many make.. you have to really query the customer...and do some diagnostic work, either with tools, your nose, or pulling apart parts of the vehicle. Odor removal is not a hit or miss game... you really have to have some experience, tools, chemicals, and equipment.... stick in an ozone machine and somehow it will magically clean and remove odors is never going to work...

I know I will get a lot of flack ... but I do not care what the so called experts say.. you will NEVER permanently remove an odor with an ozone machine!.. suggesting the machine is no good ... you did not keep in for a long time... I am not buying it... the problem is bacteria and you must find, fix and remove the source... with a few exceptions like VW and some Mercedes where the odor is as a result of the materials used in the manufacturing process.

Gina

In case you are making reference to my comments, let me clarify that anyone who uses an ozone generator and reads the instruction book knows that in order for the ozone generator to properly remove odors "you must remove the source of the odor first."

The ozone gas simply kills the bacteria that causes the odor,

Again, just to clarify

Bud Abraham

What no one here has mentioned is how the car was detailed inside. If a carpet
extractor was used, then I feel the carpets or cloth seats were not cleaned well
enough to remove the problem odor.<br>

What I have tried to explain to others here is that high suction with a lite spray
of hot water will not clean the carpet in all cases.Dirt, body oils,and sand will work down into the carpet and the cloth fabric.The extractor will only clean
the top part, but not the lower part.<br>

If you want a real solution to your problem.Send me a private message.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/22/2010 03:26PM by billd55.

Bill: When you have an odor or a smell... do you think it is important to find the specific cause of the odor before you start to clean?

Bill

Odor is caused by bacteria. You kill the bacteria you eliminate the odor.

In the cause of feces (poop); urine (pee) or vomit (barf) you must first remove all the foreign material.

Unfortunately just cleaning the area that was offended by the foreign material will not kill the bacteria. In fact, water often activates the bacteria, allows it to grow.

You have to kill the bacteria. You do this with ozone gas or a chemical. With the chemical it has to come in contact with the bacteria to kill it.

These are not my opinions, Gina's opinions or Ron Ketcham's opinions they are documented remedies that are used in the janitorial and carpet and upholstery cleaning industries which have far more extensive research done on their products, chemicals and methods than we do in the detail industry.

Knowledgeable detailers like Gina and knowledgeable suppliers research in other "like" industries to get the information we pass on.

I know for a fact that Gina does extensive research and that Ron Ketcham has done extensive research and I can tell you that I do too.

Regards
Bud Abraham

I would concur with Bud with a few exceptions..cleaning a car and a building are two different animals (I have done both) and the odors you find in cars are more magnified due to the absorbant materials and confined space. When I speak here I do not just give opinions but rather state facts... I believe I am among a handful of detailers/odor removal specialists across the country who actually specialize in the remediation of odors in cars and I guarantee the removal of ANY ODOR! (so far I have had a good track record)

This is a different side of the industry that requires quite a bit of experience, skill, knowledge of chemicals,equipment and the cars you are dealing with. ...and you come to this knowledge not only from research but from actual in the field daily experience of cleaning these vehicles.. To give an example of this weeks vehicles in house - only for odor removal
(1) Honda - used as a kennel - maggots and odors so extreme the dead could run away...
(2) Mazda Miata - mold/mildew water damage
(3) Suburban - mold mildew water damage
(4) Honda - Mold/mildew water damage
(5) Honda Civic - vandalism blood
(6) Ford Show - Dead Rodents - horrific odor
(7) Honda Civic - water damage - mold mildew
(8) Toyota - vomit Odor
(9) Mercury Marquis - Perfume odor
(10) Toyota TR6 - odor -
(11) Honda - element front seat - dog diarrhea 0 horrific odor

All of these cars are being cleaned without the use of an ozone machine..with excellent results (in fact we use 3rd party (Environmental Hygenists) testing to sign off on some of our work and we have never failed a test.

Gina

Thanks for your most comprehensive dissertation on odor removal, it shows that detailers can learn the skills they need to be professionals in their field.

As for ozone, let me say, on the record that I do not advocate ozone as the "only" method of odor removal, there are others which you obviously use.

Their are chemical methods of removing odors, biological odor eliminators applied by spray, by hand or by fogger. I am sure that is what you have used in your various odor removing projects.

It behoves a detailer to do the research you have done to find the solutions.

In fact, I believe I wrote an article on becoming a "odor removing specialist" for Professional Carwashing & Detailing magazine a few years back. One can check their archives to find it. As I recall it was a most comprehensive article that I had research for with experts in the field.

Regards
Bud Abraham

Gina,
You may also add early thru late 90's Chrysler products.
For an example, the Intrepid,(many brand names of this chassis) early to mid 90's had a tendency to allow water to enter around the C pillar, at the trunk line.
It would go down and set in the inner cavatity panels, creating corossion and odors.

Many Sebring convertibles have a similar concern.

Ketch

Bud: You are correct it behoves detailers to do the research, develop good cleaning protocals and more importantly use the correct chemicals in the way the are designed to be used. It is also necessary to have an array of chemicals in our tool chest because sometimes different chemicals work better.