Need suggestions to rid a smelly interior.

[crusin93]

This story begins a few years ago when my father purchased a 97' Caddy Deville for his retirement. It was used with about 60,000 on the clock. I had done regular maintence on the car for a year prior to the sale. Don't get me wrong here it was a very nice car. However, for those who don't know, Northstar motors eat headgaskets due to their "unique" cooling system. Anyway, against my recomendation to steer clear, he bought it. He only got about 4,500 mi out of it before the car began to overheat.

Fast forward 2 years. May 10'. I got the crazy idea to fix the car. I own a small performance shop, so I have all the tools and other stuff needed to complete the job. Heed my warning: This one is a doozy guys. Most shops won't touch it with a ten foot pole. If they do it's a $3500-4500 job. Very labor intensive. Google it. It's that bad.

Well, after 45 hrs (2 months of free me time), I got it done using Norms insert kit. With the motor in the car! Ask me. Go ahead. My answer is NO. I won't be doing this job again anytime soon.

Verdict- The car runs great! 350 miles so far with the a/c blasting and not a bit above 185f. The problem is this car sat outside for 2 years closed up. It STINKS!!! It 's a blend of mildew and what I can only guess is mouse urine. I know it's urine. I found a mouse nest in the trunk and disposed of it. I set a trap and got 2 of the little buggers.

To get rid of the overwhelming odor, I've tried febreeze, lysol, and the like. I even removed all the trunk lining and washed it with a garden hose. That helped a little with the urine smell but the mildew odor is still very apparent. So with all the water and mud we deal with off roading, has anyone found a real miracle deodorizer? I'm at a loss. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Ranger Sport Honduras]

my best advice is remove the seats and carpet and wash them. wash the bare steel cab too.

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

You can try this, its works pretty good for getting most stinks out. Get a couple of bars of Zest body soap, grate it up all over the floor of the car and leave it closed up for a couple days.

 

[crusin93]

You can try this, its works pretty good for getting most stinks out. Get a couple of bars of Zest body soap, grate it up all over the floor of the car and leave it closed up for a couple days.

Zest sounds promising. It usually makes me smell better. Never would have thought in that direction though. Thanks.

 

[colby450xc]

My best advice would be to vacuum the shit out all of the fabric in the interior. clean every piece of vinyl plastic with water with dish soap mixed in. Then if u can get a hold of a automotive steam cleaner. Steam clean every piece of fabric in the car, seats, floor, etc. The headliner is another story though. Ive seen people steam clean the headliner but I think it is a bad idea.

The headliner is glued on with spray adhesive, so imagine steam cleaning it would lead the fabric falling off eventually. Ive worked in a detail shop and we cleaned the shit out of every used car we got. Smell will stick to the windows, the floor and any fabric in it. Do all of the above and sit it in a dry garage with all of the windows open for a few days with a fan in the car. I also like the other advise as in wiping clean all of the sheet metal in the interior after the seats and carpet are removed. My car had a spunk to it when it took a month to figure out that water was getting in through the firewall after a drilled a hole for my amp wires.

When I was 18 I bought a basically new car and smoked in it daily for 2 years. I cleaned that car inside and out every week and when I sold it, it did not smell like smoke. I did all of the above and no one would have known it was smoked in. Cigarettes and etc it did not smell like smoke.

 

[whocares]

I would take the headliner out, there's probably a nest or two above it. When I re-did the interior of the BII, the level of nastiness between the headliner and roof was horrible. The mice had a few nests up there and the piss level had gotten to the point where the metal above the passenger door was starting to rust. I hate mice.

 

[strvger]

well, if you've been following the saga of Frank the Tank's little brother here:

http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=87083

then you know he's been using Fabreeze... with mixed results.

 

[robertc1024]

Somebody on here posted about this. They suggested getting a bag of charcoal briquetts, slitting it open, and leaving it in the closed-up car for a while. Might be worth a try.

 

[ChrisR1S]

Yep i've heard from multiple people that an open bag of charcoal will do the trick. Never had the need to try it myself though.

 

[crusin93]

Somebody on here posted about this. They suggested getting a bag of charcoal briquetts, slitting it open, and leaving it in the closed-up car for a while. Might be worth a try.

Intresting. The active ingredient in a few deodorizers I've seen has been charcoal. Hey... If charcoal briquetts don't work I can just ignite a few. I'm positive that would get rid of the smell.

 

[adsm08]

Hey... If charcoal briquetts don't work I can just ignite a few.

I was just about to suggest fire too.


I won't put 45 minutes into a chevy we still drive from time to time to replace the coils. Why in the world would you put 45 hours into one?

 

[Ranger Sport Honduras]

i put a small amount of new unused coffee on mine when it gets a bad smell. put it ona small cup and that will help to reduce the smell of mud or wet carpet.

 

[xnickitynickx]

I like the Zest idea. I like Zest and I think it has a fair chance of working. If not, wash everything in Old Spice Odor Blocker. Dunno if it'll work or not, but the commercials are damn funny.

 

[crusin93]

I was just about to suggest fire too.


I won't put 45 minutes into a chevy we still drive from time to time to replace the coils. Why in the world would you put 45 hours into one?

It is a close to mint Deville Concourus. Moreover it's my Dad, and he likes it. I had one of those moments of nostalgia where, I remembered all the things he had done for me growing up. I will forever be in debt to both him and my mother. I know this will be the last car he owns and I wanted him to be happy with it. This may sound a little cheesy, but it truly hurt him when it let him down. I had the ability and resources necessary, so it was the least I could do.

 

[gwaii]

when i got my toyota van,it had sat for about two years and had the remains of a dead bird on the driver's seat and bird excrement all over the interior,as well as a good coating of mold on everything.stunk to high heaven,though i'm not sure it would be as bad as mouse urine.i gat a few cans of carpet cleaner and mr clean with febreese and cleaned the hell out of the interior.that didn't make a hell of a lot of difference,but as i was using the van and airing it out,the smell decreased til after about a month it was all gone.now it smells fine.all the chemicals are just coverups-a thorough cleaning and some time to air it out are probably your best long term bet.