car smell?

cary · 07-16-01, 09:45

hello all. as most of you know, i have a brand new car that is almost 10 months old. there has never been any food or drink in it, the interior is in pristine condition. but recently, when entering my car i have noticed that the air smells or feels musky (that is the best way i can explain it). i may be crazy, this may be nothing, and it could be due to the hot, dry summer we are having here in allentown, pa. but is there anything i can do to freshen up the air inside my car? i really am not looking for scented tree's and things like that.

07-16-01, 10:04

You might have some mold in your air conditioning vents. Wurths sells a product that will neutralize this.

I like Ozium's "New Car Scent" spray to remove any noxious smells from my interior.

tom p. · 07-17-01, 06:29

do you have a recirculate button on your climate control system?

That can be the culprit leading to a stinky interior.

geotexZ71 · 07-17-01, 11:47

DO NOT bother with the Ozium products or most others for that matter! They are nothing more than scents. You need a product to rid the source of the odor from the car. There is a product called Atmosklear used to do this. It is the very same product used by auto manufacturers for customers who have had leak/flood damage causing mold and mildew to grow. It's GM only factory authorized product for this and is the most popular choice for boats too (ever been in an older cabin cruiser - UGH). Anyway, the stuff is easy to use and is available to the general public at http://atmosklear.com/sitemap.html they also have great stuff for home use if you have bad allergies like I do. This should do the trick for you, although you might need to mist treatment if it's really bad, but the little 4oz bottles will work wonders so try it that way first! Good luck!

cary · 07-17-01, 12:33

tom, i do have a recirculate button but it is never on.

Koyaanisqatsi · 07-17-01, 01:22

Are you talking about the air conditioning? Quite a few autos today have a drain on their air conditioning box against the firewall. This drain has a rubber nipple on it that is often clogged or the hole in the end is too small. GM actually slits it and the slit becomes closed and the water does not drain fast enough. The standing water get a little "MUSTY" The solution is to make the drain evacuate a little faster by enlarging the hole. The purpose of the thing is to not let stuff in while letting it drain so don't go overboard. My 01 Ranger had a very similar problem. I am in allentown too so it's solely the weather's fault. Check this out. You can find the hole by watching under your car afer running the AC for a little while and watching from where it drips. Good luck. If you can't or don't want to mess with it take it to the dealer and tell them the prob they will open it for you. I saw one service manager pull the nipple off a dodge and throw it in the trash.

Brad4rdHay · 07-17-01, 02:02

gotex, i have found Ozium to do what it claims...given it is mostly scent but it will reduce bad oders by like %50. I am intersted in that stuff you talked about but do you need to use that fogger? -Brad

geotexZ71 · 07-17-01, 03:13

Nope! They have aerosal and a trigger pump versions too! The fogger is only needed when you have really, really bad odors. A chain smoking traveling salesman might give you the correct vision, or maybe the guy's Porsche in Mystic Pizza after the fish barrels! 8-)

Seriously though, the stuff is amazing IMHO, and I've tried lots of them until my RV dealer turned me onto the stuff. My camper tends to get very musty from camping in the hot, humid weather and long term storage - it's a big aluminum box after all. One thorough treatment with Atmosklear at the start of each camping season keeps the camper fresh! Give it a shot! You won't be dissapointed

ZV · 07-17-01, 06:31

of your fav disinfectant or something called 'Kid 'n Pets
odor/stain removal' and it should work. Normally Lysol sprayed into the cabin intake vents (right under your windshield window, normally) works great. Just turn your A/C
on full to 3/4 blast and spray about 1/2 a can of the stuff and it will migrate to most of your ventilation systems and
destroy the mold, and leave a nice scent to boot! The url for the Kid's 'n Pet stuff is: http://instantbrand.com/faq.htm

Brad4rdHay · 07-17-01, 08:25

Thanks. I plan on using that folowed by a shot of ozium (sory BradB) but i and my customers like the light convincing scent. -Bradford H

YoSteve · 07-17-01, 08:26

aside from basically having to clean it by one of the methods others have used, I believe you have a VW and I would bring it up to my stealer I mean dealer (your car is new). I don't really like them but it might be covered somewhere, you might be surpised what they will do.

On my car (I'm not sure about yours) there's a filter for the climate control. It might be worth replacing, but again it sounds like it might be a job for your stealer.