I know this is massively OT, but I think something died in my car, probably a mouse. I’ve cleaned out all the trash, looked under all the seats, etc. and still it remains. The smell does not seem to be coming from the air vents, though I will check the air filter when I can see (it’s dark out). It’s so bad I was gagging when I got in this morning, worse this evening, and I was driving around with the windows open to clear it out. What worries me is, what if I can’t find the culprit? What do I do then? I was wondering if it is an antifreeze smell, but it really does smell like a dead animal.
Helllllpppppp!!! By the way, today is my 40th birthday; theoretically someone could have sprayed Eau de Dead Rat in there as a practical joke, but I don’t think I have any friends/enemies who are that cruel!!!
Well I can tell you as it has happend to me, French Fries if they get under a seat or mushed anywhere they rot and will cause the worst smell in the world. I have detailed and will tell you if there is a chance this happend search your car.
I had a similar experience, but my smell was a rotting Easter egg that had rolled out of my son’s basket and up under the seat. The smell would bring tears to your eyes. Once I had removed the egg, eeewww, I left the windows down in the driveway for 24 hours. I then shampooed the carpets, upholstery, and headliner. I cleaned all the vinyl, used half a bottle of “New Car Scent” and bought the little insertable air fresheners for the vents. That took care of it. Hope that helps.
My friend Rachel’s Father prided himself as a maker of gefilte fish, and would proudly make up a batch and deliver some to his friends and relations.
One year he had a spill in the back of the station wagon. NOTHING would get that smell out of the car. Nothing. They steam cleaned, they detailed, they took all the upholstery out of the back and cleaned it.
So, he finally waited until the coldest, freezingest january day he could find, and then carefully drove it to the dealership and traded it in.
Oh my–my stinky car had actual mouse nests in the compartment air system and the little b*ggers got chopped up by the fan, which also blew all the nest fluff up where it was hard to clean out.
And the problem recurred because they smelled the path back in. Against all good sense they also built nests in the door panels and on the heat shield. In self defense I keep the air system on “recirculate.” The mechanic said that would block their entry–at least into the passenger compartment.
I learned recently that mice don’t have bladders. When they leave “scent trails” (of urine), they aren’t deliberate markings like dogs and cats leave, but … well … scent trails.
I know how to pull the heater/ac fan now. No experience is wasted, I guess.
By the way, they suggested getting a can of “Fridgi Fresh” and spraying it into the air intakes on the hood while the air conditioner was running and the setting was on “fresh air.” It really did damp down the stink and smelled pleasant by itself.
Good luck. At least it isn’t July, as it was in my adventure.
Ewwwww…now there’s a thought! But, it DOES smell like July in there…
And thanks, Carol! It has been a great birthday so far, my husband got me a CD player and an “ecosphere”, which is an enclosed glass sphere with some rocks, algae, a twig and some SHRIMP! They swim around in there and actually live! It’s a totally self-contained ecosystem–there are no outside openings. It’s the damndest thing I’ve ever seen. My son wants to go buy more presents tomorrow…
My husband wants me to check the wheel wells tomorrow…GAHHAGGHAHAH! Since he was the one driving it yesterday, I’m dreading to find what may have gotten run over…
Robin
P.S. I’m thinking mice because they’ve been chewing like banshees in our walls the last couple of nights, since the ice storm. We have bait set out all over the basement and they eat it like candy. That’s what you get when you have a fieldstone foundation!
Emmline, that sounds interesting. Never seen anything like that, but…interesting. Since it snowed all day today, we never went and did a thorough scrub-down of the car. Hubby promises me he will do a thorough once-over tomorrow. Ain’t men grand? I’m just afraid we’ll find pieces of someone’s cat glued into the undercarriage by the ice! I can even smell it when I’m walking past the car, windows open. And the weather is supposed to go above freezing this week! AAAAHHHHH!!!
First time I read this I thought I had stumbled into an episode of Seinfeld!
Seriously, there’s an air freshener spray out called “Pure Citrus” that works real well on cat box odors. I use the orange scent. That might knock the odor down enough so you could look for the reason without needing a gas mask. In the store I shop in it’s on the same shelf with the Lysol and Glade sprays.
This sounds like the kind of call that Tom and Ray at Car Talk would enjoy. You might also want to search their site (www.cartalk.com) and see if this has been raised in their bulletin boards/columns/etc.
Other than that, maybe you need a cat.
Here’s a related story–a few years ago, my boss’ brother hit a deer with the front of his car. A couple months later, he took the car to a car wash run by the local high school. When the grill was being washed, a few bits of deer fell out. Gross, yet interesting.
Brewster
P.S. Happy 40th to fellow Bay Stater. I hit mine last February.
Give the guy a call. He’s a genius and will probably have a solution for your situation. You’re not the first one to have this problem.
These products were recommended by a friend in the mobile home business. I haven’t had an odor situation yet that I couldn’t solve, but if one comes up, I’ll use these products. When I heard about them, I called the guy and had a long conversation. He knows his stuff.
After removing a number of items from the rear of the wagon and disposing of them (including some bags of clothes and boots I was going to take to the consignment shop), a large portion of the odor has gone; although our garbage can now reeks. The remainder seems to be concentrated in the pad under the rug in the hatchback. It seems that something seeped down into it, perhaps “juices” from the things I removed… I’m going to try saturating it with some dog odor neutralizer we have from when we had dogs and see what happens; I also have some orange cleaner stuff. Otherwise, maybe I can get a fresh pad from a dealer or somewhere. I have a feeling that this has been a multiphasic problem with contributions from many “sources”.
Thanks for all the helpful suggestions! I drove the car today and didn’t pass out, so that is definitely an improvement!
You know how stinky refrigerators and freezers can be when they’re turned off? When we were moving one time, one of the movers said that a cloth bag full of unused coffee grounds would soak up the smell. However, I didn’t get a chance to try it out.
Maybe you could fill the trunk with coffee grounds and baking soda…
As a fan of “Click and Clack” the Car Talk guys, I can tell you he did the only thing left. They once had a caller who had spilt fresh caught fish in his new mini-cooper. They told him the same thing- nothing would get out the smell.
