Foul smell - please help!
Discussion
My Exige has developed a bad case of a foul smell. Getting into the car after it's been left for a while (it lives outdoors), I'm greeted by a rank smell from the cockpit.
My initial thoughts were that it was dog poo. It didn't smell three weeks ago, and that weekend I had to pick up a parcel from a City Link depot, which was right next door to Lipscomb Lotus so I popped in to say hi to Parky and ask about my creaking rear suspension. He took it out for a test drive to hear the creaking noise, brought it back to the workshop and had some spray grease put on the anti-roll-bar. Great service. However I thought that maybe some poo may have been stepped in, since the smell has started from about then.
I checked the carpets, the footwells, the pedals, all clean as usual. There's nothing obvious, no Parky is exonerated!
I'd have thought that any excrement sufficient enough to make a smell would be visible if trodden into carpets.
I've now removed the carpets from the car, leaving *very* little that any driver or passenger could transfer onto from their shoes. The smell still persists.
So I'm now thinking it's not excrement at all, but some mould of some sort. As mentioned, I've removed the carpets so damp carpet mould is not the answer. The seats are dry and don't smell. The smell is just in the 'air'.
I'm clutching at straws now, but could the air-con collect mould and produce this kind of smell? Turning the fans on full doesn't reduce the smell that much - it takes a decent length drive and I can still detect the smell (usually, your nose acclimatises to the smell and you stop noticing it).
It's a 2006 Exige S and whilst it lives outdoors, it doesn't have a leakage problem and is dry inside. The pedals are clean, the carpets are clean (and now not even in the car) and I'm lost as to what the problem may be.
So two questions really (since I've got a trackday on Weds and the instructor is going to enjoy it if he gets into a rancid-smelling car (plus it makes me look awful because he may think *I* smell, not the car...
):
1. Is there any effective car deodorising product that doesn't just try to mask the smell with a stronger 'pleasant' smell? I can't stand the combination of malodorous stinks and strong perfumes. Magic Trees etc. are out of the question;
2. If my hunch about air conditioning is anywhere near possible, what's the procedure to kill any stench-causing fungi / bacteria in the system?
Also, has anyone else experienced this? As I said, my first reaction was 'dog poo' but that's increasingly untenable since there isn't any part of the interior that has any visible dirt on it. Also, it's three weeks since I first noticed it and the smell isn't getting *any* weaker - with dog turd it'd have dried out and the smell started to wane by now. I'm starting to think that it could be a 'mould' like smell. And if it is bacteria / fungi living in the air conditioning, then since I've heard that some species generate toxins that are harmful to humans, I'm getting a bit worried.
Bottom line is that I don't like my beautiful car smelling foul. Any top tips welcome!
No, I haven't frightened any passengers enough to make them poo their pants. Neither have I shat in my car, and I've not transported any animals in the Exige. It's a relatively recent phenomenon
My initial thoughts were that it was dog poo. It didn't smell three weeks ago, and that weekend I had to pick up a parcel from a City Link depot, which was right next door to Lipscomb Lotus so I popped in to say hi to Parky and ask about my creaking rear suspension. He took it out for a test drive to hear the creaking noise, brought it back to the workshop and had some spray grease put on the anti-roll-bar. Great service. However I thought that maybe some poo may have been stepped in, since the smell has started from about then.
I checked the carpets, the footwells, the pedals, all clean as usual. There's nothing obvious, no Parky is exonerated!
I'd have thought that any excrement sufficient enough to make a smell would be visible if trodden into carpets.I've now removed the carpets from the car, leaving *very* little that any driver or passenger could transfer onto from their shoes. The smell still persists.
So I'm now thinking it's not excrement at all, but some mould of some sort. As mentioned, I've removed the carpets so damp carpet mould is not the answer. The seats are dry and don't smell. The smell is just in the 'air'.
I'm clutching at straws now, but could the air-con collect mould and produce this kind of smell? Turning the fans on full doesn't reduce the smell that much - it takes a decent length drive and I can still detect the smell (usually, your nose acclimatises to the smell and you stop noticing it).
It's a 2006 Exige S and whilst it lives outdoors, it doesn't have a leakage problem and is dry inside. The pedals are clean, the carpets are clean (and now not even in the car) and I'm lost as to what the problem may be.
So two questions really (since I've got a trackday on Weds and the instructor is going to enjoy it if he gets into a rancid-smelling car (plus it makes me look awful because he may think *I* smell, not the car...
):1. Is there any effective car deodorising product that doesn't just try to mask the smell with a stronger 'pleasant' smell? I can't stand the combination of malodorous stinks and strong perfumes. Magic Trees etc. are out of the question;
2. If my hunch about air conditioning is anywhere near possible, what's the procedure to kill any stench-causing fungi / bacteria in the system?
Also, has anyone else experienced this? As I said, my first reaction was 'dog poo' but that's increasingly untenable since there isn't any part of the interior that has any visible dirt on it. Also, it's three weeks since I first noticed it and the smell isn't getting *any* weaker - with dog turd it'd have dried out and the smell started to wane by now. I'm starting to think that it could be a 'mould' like smell. And if it is bacteria / fungi living in the air conditioning, then since I've heard that some species generate toxins that are harmful to humans, I'm getting a bit worried.
Bottom line is that I don't like my beautiful car smelling foul. Any top tips welcome!
No, I haven't frightened any passengers enough to make them poo their pants. Neither have I shat in my car, and I've not transported any animals in the Exige. It's a relatively recent phenomenon
cyberface said:
...
I'm clutching at straws now, but could the air-con collect mould and produce this kind of smell? Turning the fans on full doesn't reduce the smell that much - it takes a decent length drive and I can still detect the smell (usually, your nose acclimatises to the smell and you stop noticing it).
...
1. Is there any effective car deodorising product that doesn't just try to mask the smell with a stronger 'pleasant' smell? I can't stand the combination of malodorous stinks and strong perfumes. Magic Trees etc. are out of the question;
2. If my hunch about air conditioning is anywhere near possible, what's the procedure to kill any stench-causing fungi / bacteria in the system?
Yes and - get a can of aircon cleaner ( http://www.commaoil.com/product%20Pages/Maintenanc... ) from your local motor factor - it works wonders and takes about 10 minutes to sort out the system. Then make sure you use your aircon for at least 10 minutes every week to keep it fresh.I'm clutching at straws now, but could the air-con collect mould and produce this kind of smell? Turning the fans on full doesn't reduce the smell that much - it takes a decent length drive and I can still detect the smell (usually, your nose acclimatises to the smell and you stop noticing it).
...
1. Is there any effective car deodorising product that doesn't just try to mask the smell with a stronger 'pleasant' smell? I can't stand the combination of malodorous stinks and strong perfumes. Magic Trees etc. are out of the question;
2. If my hunch about air conditioning is anywhere near possible, what's the procedure to kill any stench-causing fungi / bacteria in the system?
Don't know about the air con issue, but there are domestic air fresheners which claim to work by absorbing the smells rather than masking then with perfume. Perhaps worth trying those in the car? If that doesn't help then even if you don't like the smell of a conventional air freshener it might make a better impression on your instructor than being greeted by the smell of dog poo.
marshalla said:
cyberface said:
...
I'm clutching at straws now, but could the air-con collect mould and produce this kind of smell? Turning the fans on full doesn't reduce the smell that much - it takes a decent length drive and I can still detect the smell (usually, your nose acclimatises to the smell and you stop noticing it).
...
1. Is there any effective car deodorising product that doesn't just try to mask the smell with a stronger 'pleasant' smell? I can't stand the combination of malodorous stinks and strong perfumes. Magic Trees etc. are out of the question;
2. If my hunch about air conditioning is anywhere near possible, what's the procedure to kill any stench-causing fungi / bacteria in the system?
Yes and - get a can of aircon cleaner ( http://www.commaoil.com/product%20Pages/Maintenanc... ) from your local motor factor - it works wonders and takes about 10 minutes to sort out the system. Then make sure you use your aircon for at least 10 minutes every week to keep it fresh.I'm clutching at straws now, but could the air-con collect mould and produce this kind of smell? Turning the fans on full doesn't reduce the smell that much - it takes a decent length drive and I can still detect the smell (usually, your nose acclimatises to the smell and you stop noticing it).
...
1. Is there any effective car deodorising product that doesn't just try to mask the smell with a stronger 'pleasant' smell? I can't stand the combination of malodorous stinks and strong perfumes. Magic Trees etc. are out of the question;
2. If my hunch about air conditioning is anywhere near possible, what's the procedure to kill any stench-causing fungi / bacteria in the system?
Ever used it in an Exige? The instructions say place on the floor behind the passenger seat... not going to work in an Exige - seems to need the largest area to spray into, so perhaps wedged between the seats behind the handbrake?
This won't stain or ruin the alcantara on the seats will it? I will be needing to sell them at some point to get seats with harness holes...
Yeah it could be the aircon... bear in mind it could also be something has gotten in the front of the car and worked its way into the cabin ventilation.... something like a dead mouse?
Also I'm assuming it doesn't smell like cat's piss? If cats get into my garage they piss all around the area where the nose of the car is. Hasn't been a problem in the last couple years, but with my old Elise they used to piss in the car's "mouth" which would reek through the ventilation.... every time it happened, it was all-but a clam-off job to get in there enough to clean it out properly.
Also I'm assuming it doesn't smell like cat's piss? If cats get into my garage they piss all around the area where the nose of the car is. Hasn't been a problem in the last couple years, but with my old Elise they used to piss in the car's "mouth" which would reek through the ventilation.... every time it happened, it was all-but a clam-off job to get in there enough to clean it out properly.
Dead animals would presumably smell a LOT more unpleasant than that... and no, it's not cat piss. I used to live with 7 cats and whilst I don't have any at the moment (both the GF and myself work in London, no time to bring kittens up properly) we'd love some cats. And I'm very aware of what cat piss smells like (though there've been no cats in the car, and it's an Exige so I'm not sure how cat piss could get *in* the car...
(that reminds me of when I had the Noble - trying to work out where the 4 parallel scratch marks were coming from around the back of the car - turned out that one of the local cats had decided that the engine cover was a warm place to curl up
)
I'll double check the front of the car for dead animals but it'd have to be something small - I'd have noticed hitting a rabbit or similar (don't like killing animals for no reason, and hitting a bunny at 70 mph isn't the best way to prepare it for a nice belgian rabbit stew).
It could be mould in the air con, though I do use the air con on a frequent basis either to keep the car cool or to demist the screen. Seems odd that it isn't a common issue in Exiges.
Could this be due to vandalism? Is there any way that some scum could put something on the outside of the car that'd make its way inside to cause a smell?
I'll see if I can get one of those Comma aircon cleaners tomorrow from Halfrauds or wherever and give it a shot.
(that reminds me of when I had the Noble - trying to work out where the 4 parallel scratch marks were coming from around the back of the car - turned out that one of the local cats had decided that the engine cover was a warm place to curl up
)I'll double check the front of the car for dead animals but it'd have to be something small - I'd have noticed hitting a rabbit or similar (don't like killing animals for no reason, and hitting a bunny at 70 mph isn't the best way to prepare it for a nice belgian rabbit stew).
It could be mould in the air con, though I do use the air con on a frequent basis either to keep the car cool or to demist the screen. Seems odd that it isn't a common issue in Exiges.
Could this be due to vandalism? Is there any way that some scum could put something on the outside of the car that'd make its way inside to cause a smell?
I'll see if I can get one of those Comma aircon cleaners tomorrow from Halfrauds or wherever and give it a shot.
Yeah well basically the cabin air gets drawn from the front crash structure so theoretically anything that ends up hitting the nose could conceivably end up with a nasty smell coming through the vents. It COULD be vandalism, but I'd doubt it.
Easy way is to pull the front grille off and have a good sniff round inside the "mouth" of the car... if there's anything smelly in there, get rid of it.
But yeah, some aircon destinkifier should be the first port of call, if that doesn't end up working then it requires further investigation
Easy way is to pull the front grille off and have a good sniff round inside the "mouth" of the car... if there's anything smelly in there, get rid of it.
But yeah, some aircon destinkifier should be the first port of call, if that doesn't end up working then it requires further investigation
It is common for bacteria to grow in the pipework, similar to you hear with building aircon systems, & some people react by complaining of headaches or nausea after traveling in the car......so it may not be your driving
There should be a cabin filter, I am not familiar with the Exige as to where it is hidden, which stops pollen, dust etc. getting into the vents. As the filter gets full you can end up with a rotting crust which can give off an odour & spread the bacteria.
Most manufactures recommend chemically treating the vent pipework at the time of renewing the cabin filter.
Bodders
There should be a cabin filter, I am not familiar with the Exige as to where it is hidden, which stops pollen, dust etc. getting into the vents. As the filter gets full you can end up with a rotting crust which can give off an odour & spread the bacteria.
Most manufactures recommend chemically treating the vent pipework at the time of renewing the cabin filter.
Bodders
Is there a smiley for MWHAHAHAAAHHAHAHAAAA followed by utter nausea?
I've sorted the problem, and it was bizarre as hell (one of the reasons I didn't buy the 'air con' argument, otherwise loads of other Exige owners with older cars than me would have come across it).
I got a can of Comma aircon cleaner. Also some Auto Glym odour neutraliser. Opened the car up, decided to liberally spray the remaining carpets (the two footwell floor carpets had already been removed, as I mentioned, but since it's a soft southern Exige it's got carpets on the side of the tub - I love it ) with the 'odour neutraliser' as it couldn't do any harm. Also sprayed the headlining (the car will probably be damp as hell inside when I get in it Weds morning for the Brands trackday...).
I then did a good search about to find a location for the Comma spraycan. It was when I was lying in the passenger footwell with my feet in the air that I noticed that foul smell again. Twisting round, I saw something under the passenger seat..... something that *really* shouldn't be there.... and then the penny dropped.
Now it's hard to get the passenger seat out in an Exige. It's hard enough to get anything under it FFS. So how a pack of Sainsbury's king prawns both (a) fell out of the shopping bag that was on the seat without me noticing, and (b) slid down under the seat, negotiating both the rail under the seat and the ridge in the floorpan, is well beyond me. But yes, a pack of prawns had managed to get under the passenger seat.
The prawns were 'packed in a protective atmosphere' and sealed, but what must have happened is that the prawns started to putrefy, and the anaerobic bacteria doing the do gave off some gas. The gas pressure inside the pack grew and grew, until the film cover lifted enough at one corner to let some of the gas out. Fortunately it didn't fail catastrophically and spray rotten prawns all over the carpet (again, nice comfy luxury Exiges have carpet *under* the seats where you can't get to it).
I managed to get my hands down there and pull the plastic package out, without squeezing the foul contents onto carpet or seat. It looked (and smelt) utterly repulsive and I'm seriously running out of extreme adjectives to describe the sickening, revolting mess.
So here's a picture to say a thousand words:
All I can say is 'thank f
k' that the packet didn't split, that none of the vile contents made its way onto the carpet. I felt all around the area under the passenger seat that I could reach, and my fingers didn't come back covered in decomposed slime, so instead of attempting to remove the seat I just sprayed the area underneath as liberally as I could with Auto Glym odour neutraliser.
To be honest, once the prawns were out of the car, there wasn't any lingering smell left in the car. We will know for sure tomorrow. I used the Comma aircon cleaner anyway - belt-n-braces and all that, but I'm pretty sure that the smell was those damn prawns. If the smell persists then I'll be removing the passenger seat next weekend and removing the carpet underneath, but the prawn pack didn't appear to have lost any contents so I'm being optimistic.
A bit embarrassing for this to happen, of course, but I'm still at a loss as to how the hell the prawns got there in the first place - it took a fair amount of wiggling to get the pack out, there's no way they'd just 'fall' into that gap. It wouldn't have been a practical joke - hardly anyone else goes in my car with me apart from close friends / family (in general) and all of them know that ruining my car would result in massive, megadeath retaliation I *do* go shopping in the Exige (why not, it's a great car) so I can only imagine that some time in late July / early August I drove it to Sainsbury's and bunged some stuff in the passenger seat. It'd have to have involved an emergency stop / racing start or equivalent violent manoeuvres caused by avoiding other cars to get out of the shopping bag and under the seat though.
So, all's well that ends well... assuming 'essence of putrefying prawn' hasn't soaked into the carpet, and that Auto Glym's finest can kill any remaining odour. If not, well once I've got the seat out, replacing the carpet can't be an expensive or hard job. Since I need seats with harness holes at some point, it's even an excuse to get that done more quickly.....
I've sorted the problem, and it was bizarre as hell (one of the reasons I didn't buy the 'air con' argument, otherwise loads of other Exige owners with older cars than me would have come across it).
I got a can of Comma aircon cleaner. Also some Auto Glym odour neutraliser. Opened the car up, decided to liberally spray the remaining carpets (the two footwell floor carpets had already been removed, as I mentioned, but since it's a soft southern Exige it's got carpets on the side of the tub - I love it
) with the 'odour neutraliser' as it couldn't do any harm. Also sprayed the headlining (the car will probably be damp as hell inside when I get in it Weds morning for the Brands trackday...).I then did a good search about to find a location for the Comma spraycan. It was when I was lying in the passenger footwell with my feet in the air that I noticed that foul smell again. Twisting round, I saw something under the passenger seat..... something that *really* shouldn't be there.... and then the penny dropped.
Now it's hard to get the passenger seat out in an Exige. It's hard enough to get anything under it FFS. So how a pack of Sainsbury's king prawns both (a) fell out of the shopping bag that was on the seat without me noticing, and (b) slid down under the seat, negotiating both the rail under the seat and the ridge in the floorpan, is well beyond me. But yes, a pack of prawns had managed to get under the passenger seat.
The prawns were 'packed in a protective atmosphere' and sealed, but what must have happened is that the prawns started to putrefy, and the anaerobic bacteria doing the do gave off some gas. The gas pressure inside the pack grew and grew, until the film cover lifted enough at one corner to let some of the gas out. Fortunately it didn't fail catastrophically and spray rotten prawns all over the carpet (again, nice comfy luxury Exiges have carpet *under* the seats where you can't get to it).
I managed to get my hands down there and pull the plastic package out, without squeezing the foul contents onto carpet or seat. It looked (and smelt) utterly repulsive and I'm seriously running out of extreme adjectives to describe the sickening, revolting mess.
So here's a picture to say a thousand words:
All I can say is 'thank f
k' that the packet didn't split, that none of the vile contents made its way onto the carpet. I felt all around the area under the passenger seat that I could reach, and my fingers didn't come back covered in decomposed slime, so instead of attempting to remove the seat I just sprayed the area underneath as liberally as I could with Auto Glym odour neutraliser.To be honest, once the prawns were out of the car, there wasn't any lingering smell left in the car. We will know for sure tomorrow. I used the Comma aircon cleaner anyway - belt-n-braces and all that, but I'm pretty sure that the smell was those damn prawns. If the smell persists then I'll be removing the passenger seat next weekend and removing the carpet underneath, but the prawn pack didn't appear to have lost any contents so I'm being optimistic.
A bit embarrassing for this to happen, of course, but I'm still at a loss as to how the hell the prawns got there in the first place - it took a fair amount of wiggling to get the pack out, there's no way they'd just 'fall' into that gap. It wouldn't have been a practical joke - hardly anyone else goes in my car with me apart from close friends / family (in general) and all of them know that ruining my car would result in massive, megadeath retaliation
I *do* go shopping in the Exige (why not, it's a great car) so I can only imagine that some time in late July / early August I drove it to Sainsbury's and bunged some stuff in the passenger seat. It'd have to have involved an emergency stop / racing start or equivalent violent manoeuvres caused by avoiding other cars to get out of the shopping bag and under the seat though.So, all's well that ends well... assuming 'essence of putrefying prawn' hasn't soaked into the carpet, and that Auto Glym's finest can kill any remaining odour. If not, well once I've got the seat out, replacing the carpet can't be an expensive or hard job. Since I need seats with harness holes at some point, it's even an excuse to get that done more quickly.....
Haha I'd have tracked that right away if I'd been able to have a sniff..... we work with seafood at my work so I'm WELL familiar with what off seafood smells like
Good job though... had a similar problem in my old Mitsubishi, when it started to reek last winter. I dismissed it as a failing window/door seal letting water on the carpet as it was just that damp old-car smell..... turns out it was a head of broccoli that had found its way under the drivers seat..... going nicely festered!
Good job though... had a similar problem in my old Mitsubishi, when it started to reek last winter. I dismissed it as a failing window/door seal letting water on the carpet as it was just that damp old-car smell..... turns out it was a head of broccoli that had found its way under the drivers seat..... going nicely festered!
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