Who cut the cheese?
11-04-2014, 10:39 PM
#1
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Who cut the cheese?
Hey all....I have been noticing an awful/weird ammonia type fart smell bombing the cabin of my car when I drive aggressively on the highway. I know cats going bad smell like sulfur (rotten egg)...but this is more like burnt refried beans or something. Plus how could exhaust gases which are flowing rearward at highway speeds circulate back into the vehicle? If I recirculate the a/c then the smell goes away.
Anyone ever experience this? It is random, but annoying.
Anyone ever experience this? It is random, but annoying.
11-04-2014, 11:04 PM
#2
Registered User
That's weird!! I wonder if maybe a squirrel has used your exhaust to store some nuts maybe?? I only say this cause it happened to my dads M3 and it smelled awful for a while.
11-05-2014, 09:15 PM
#6
Race Director
Check body water drains. They can get clogged with plant trash and this stuff gets damp and stinks after a while. (In severe cases water backs up and overflows into the cabin with usually disastrous results.)
Also, consider replacing the cabin air filter. The activated charcoal treated ones can develop a foul odor after a while.
Whenever you use the A/C try to remember to turn off the compressor and let the fan run awhile to dry the moisture off the evaporator and off the surfaces of the air passages that carry air to the cabin.
Sometimes a piece of paper -- plastic -- blows up and contacts a hot exhaust. This can stick to the hot exhaust and stink as it chars and gradually goes away.
There is always the issue of mice getting to the car and leaving stuff around in the cabin vents or on top of the engine. This can smell. You'll have to inspect the car for signs of mice.
Oh, reminds me: A co-worker told me he got in a car -- not a Porsche a BMW -- owned by a couple that had a baby. The car smelt awful. He did not know what happened. A milk bottle spilled in the cabin maybe? A dirty diaper (or 2) got mislaid? Whatever, but the car smelled foul. While my co-worker had to fight to hold his lunch down, the man and woman didn't even seem to notice the smell.
Did you leave a half eaten cheeseburger somewhere in the car? I checked my car after dropping off a woman passenger and she had wrapped an apple core in a paper napkin and tucked it down into a door compartment. I'm sure she intended to remove it when she got to her destination but forgot. Thankfully I found it in time.
Also, consider replacing the cabin air filter. The activated charcoal treated ones can develop a foul odor after a while.
Whenever you use the A/C try to remember to turn off the compressor and let the fan run awhile to dry the moisture off the evaporator and off the surfaces of the air passages that carry air to the cabin.
Sometimes a piece of paper -- plastic -- blows up and contacts a hot exhaust. This can stick to the hot exhaust and stink as it chars and gradually goes away.
There is always the issue of mice getting to the car and leaving stuff around in the cabin vents or on top of the engine. This can smell. You'll have to inspect the car for signs of mice.
Oh, reminds me: A co-worker told me he got in a car -- not a Porsche a BMW -- owned by a couple that had a baby. The car smelt awful. He did not know what happened. A milk bottle spilled in the cabin maybe? A dirty diaper (or 2) got mislaid? Whatever, but the car smelled foul. While my co-worker had to fight to hold his lunch down, the man and woman didn't even seem to notice the smell.
Did you leave a half eaten cheeseburger somewhere in the car? I checked my car after dropping off a woman passenger and she had wrapped an apple core in a paper napkin and tucked it down into a door compartment. I'm sure she intended to remove it when she got to her destination but forgot. Thankfully I found it in time.
11-17-2014, 12:48 PM
#7
In line but a little off topic....I had a 1987 911 Cab and it started to smell and when I turned on the A/C it was worse. So bad we could only drive the car with the top down. Netnet is that six months before, a small quart of milk had fallen under the seat from the grocery and when it spoiled it leaked into the carpet. Turned out we had to replace the carpeting to get rid of the smell.
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11-17-2014, 01:01 PM
#8
Rocky Mountain High
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
I agree on the cabin filter. We had that issue with our Cayenne and a new filter solved the problem.
11-18-2014, 08:28 PM
#9
Rennlist Member
I put coco mats in one of my cars and it took me a few weeks to figure out that the new not-so-pleasant smell in my garage was the new mats.
11-19-2014, 12:48 AM
#10
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
11-19-2014, 12:51 AM
#11
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Is there a DIY on drain cleaning?
Check body water drains. They can get clogged with plant trash and this stuff gets damp and stinks after a while. (In severe cases water backs up and overflows into the cabin with usually disastrous results.)
Also, consider replacing the cabin air filter. The activated charcoal treated ones can develop a foul odor after a while.
Whenever you use the A/C try to remember to turn off the compressor and let the fan run awhile to dry the moisture off the evaporator and off the surfaces of the air passages that carry air to the cabin.
Sometimes a piece of paper -- plastic -- blows up and contacts a hot exhaust. This can stick to the hot exhaust and stink as it chars and gradually goes away.
There is always the issue of mice getting to the car and leaving stuff around in the cabin vents or on top of the engine. This can smell. You'll have to inspect the car for signs of mice.
Oh, reminds me: A co-worker told me he got in a car -- not a Porsche a BMW -- owned by a couple that had a baby. The car smelt awful. He did not know what happened. A milk bottle spilled in the cabin maybe? A dirty diaper (or 2) got mislaid? Whatever, but the car smelled foul. While my co-worker had to fight to hold his lunch down, the man and woman didn't even seem to notice the smell.
Did you leave a half eaten cheeseburger somewhere in the car? I checked my car after dropping off a woman passenger and she had wrapped an apple core in a paper napkin and tucked it down into a door compartment. I'm sure she intended to remove it when she got to her destination but forgot. Thankfully I found it in time.
Also, consider replacing the cabin air filter. The activated charcoal treated ones can develop a foul odor after a while.
Whenever you use the A/C try to remember to turn off the compressor and let the fan run awhile to dry the moisture off the evaporator and off the surfaces of the air passages that carry air to the cabin.
Sometimes a piece of paper -- plastic -- blows up and contacts a hot exhaust. This can stick to the hot exhaust and stink as it chars and gradually goes away.
There is always the issue of mice getting to the car and leaving stuff around in the cabin vents or on top of the engine. This can smell. You'll have to inspect the car for signs of mice.
Oh, reminds me: A co-worker told me he got in a car -- not a Porsche a BMW -- owned by a couple that had a baby. The car smelt awful. He did not know what happened. A milk bottle spilled in the cabin maybe? A dirty diaper (or 2) got mislaid? Whatever, but the car smelled foul. While my co-worker had to fight to hold his lunch down, the man and woman didn't even seem to notice the smell.
Did you leave a half eaten cheeseburger somewhere in the car? I checked my car after dropping off a woman passenger and she had wrapped an apple core in a paper napkin and tucked it down into a door compartment. I'm sure she intended to remove it when she got to her destination but forgot. Thankfully I found it in time.
11-19-2014, 01:05 PM
#12
Race Director
There might be. I've not found one.
The cleaning is pretty straight forward.
Under the front trunk lid, remove the panels on either side of the battery box. These might have a torx head screw or something similar you'll just have to look and figure out which tool bit style/size is required.
Then remove the battery cover.
The drains are at the bottom of the area under the panels.
Be careful. There may be styrofoam basins that collect the water and direct it to the drain hole at their bottom which in turn probably has a rubber hose attached. The hose ensures the water drains to beneath the car rather than running down body surfaces or down/along wiring or hoses.
You want to be very gentle in removing any trash. It can be nasty so use mechanics' vinyl gloves.
When you are sure the trash is all gone pour a pitcher of water onto the drain basin to rinse the finer stuff away and verify the drains flow with no problem.
While you are there give the battery a good visual check and ensure the vent hose is connected and not pinched. Check the fluid level if required. Check the connections to ensure they are secure and show no signs of corrosion or degradation.
Refit the battery cover and panels. Done.
While you are in the mood you might as well check the radiator ducts for trash build up. If this is too bad the front bumper cover has to come off and each A/C condenser unbolted and gently moved away to expose the area between the condenser and radiator. This area can collect quite an assortment of trash, dirt, sand.
There are DIY article on this cleaning operation. I just don't have any at hand.
Since I have my cars serviced rather than me servicing them what I did was I had the bumper cover removed -- I was charged maybe an hour's labor -- and the ducts thoroughly cleaned. Then whenever I take the car in the tech blows out the trash, but I have a standing order that if he believes the bumper cover has to come off to effect a proper/thorough cleaning he has my permission. So far this has not been needed.
If you do this cleaning yourself and you remove the bumper cover document where every fastener goes. Also, take pics of how the bumper cover and the other plastic panels are fitted together so you can duplicate this when you refit the bumper cover.
Techs tell me invariably they can tell when a bumper cover has been removed by an amateur as the hardware is in the wrong hole, or worse missing, and the bumper cover and panels have the wrong relationship. The panels generally want to have their leading edges above the bumper cover so they do not act like little air scoops and bring in air or water or dirt where it is not supposed to be. Odd hard to diagnose wind noise can also be the result of an improperly fitted bumper cover and the panels under the car.
Take pics. Make a sketch of the fastener locations and note which fastener came from what hole.
If you have to remove any of those plastic rivets, visit the dealer parts department and order a bag or two of these to have as spares. While it is possible to remove these and reuse them it slows down the process and almost certainly you'll ruin one or two anyway. I just yank them out and replace with new ones.
The cleaning is pretty straight forward.
Under the front trunk lid, remove the panels on either side of the battery box. These might have a torx head screw or something similar you'll just have to look and figure out which tool bit style/size is required.
Then remove the battery cover.
The drains are at the bottom of the area under the panels.
Be careful. There may be styrofoam basins that collect the water and direct it to the drain hole at their bottom which in turn probably has a rubber hose attached. The hose ensures the water drains to beneath the car rather than running down body surfaces or down/along wiring or hoses.
You want to be very gentle in removing any trash. It can be nasty so use mechanics' vinyl gloves.
When you are sure the trash is all gone pour a pitcher of water onto the drain basin to rinse the finer stuff away and verify the drains flow with no problem.
While you are there give the battery a good visual check and ensure the vent hose is connected and not pinched. Check the fluid level if required. Check the connections to ensure they are secure and show no signs of corrosion or degradation.
Refit the battery cover and panels. Done.
While you are in the mood you might as well check the radiator ducts for trash build up. If this is too bad the front bumper cover has to come off and each A/C condenser unbolted and gently moved away to expose the area between the condenser and radiator. This area can collect quite an assortment of trash, dirt, sand.
There are DIY article on this cleaning operation. I just don't have any at hand.
Since I have my cars serviced rather than me servicing them what I did was I had the bumper cover removed -- I was charged maybe an hour's labor -- and the ducts thoroughly cleaned. Then whenever I take the car in the tech blows out the trash, but I have a standing order that if he believes the bumper cover has to come off to effect a proper/thorough cleaning he has my permission. So far this has not been needed.
If you do this cleaning yourself and you remove the bumper cover document where every fastener goes. Also, take pics of how the bumper cover and the other plastic panels are fitted together so you can duplicate this when you refit the bumper cover.
Techs tell me invariably they can tell when a bumper cover has been removed by an amateur as the hardware is in the wrong hole, or worse missing, and the bumper cover and panels have the wrong relationship. The panels generally want to have their leading edges above the bumper cover so they do not act like little air scoops and bring in air or water or dirt where it is not supposed to be. Odd hard to diagnose wind noise can also be the result of an improperly fitted bumper cover and the panels under the car.
Take pics. Make a sketch of the fastener locations and note which fastener came from what hole.
If you have to remove any of those plastic rivets, visit the dealer parts department and order a bag or two of these to have as spares. While it is possible to remove these and reuse them it slows down the process and almost certainly you'll ruin one or two anyway. I just yank them out and replace with new ones.
11-22-2014, 06:09 PM
#14
Trucker
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
Running A/C can cause condensation sometimes that may lead to mildew. So I was told a long time ago to always turn off A/C (Eco mode) a few min/miles prior to parking the car. This has alleviated any funny smells in all my cars...
11-24-2014, 12:15 PM
#15
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Yeah it is good practice. My smell was not the A/C mildew smell though. I am telling you it was the most non automotive type smell ever. I am glad its gone.