Help with 6 year "new car" smell
05-18-2020, 05:39 PM
#1
Help with 6 year "new car" smell
Hi all - first time on the Board. Hope you can help, I couldn't find any previous posts on this specific topic.
I have a 981 S, purchased new in 2014. At that time, it had what we thought was a typical new car smell - leather (with outgassing plastics). The issue is the smell has never gone away, and if anything is recently getting stronger, such that long drives with the top closed are a problem. Plus, six years of new car smell? It's not an unpleasant smell in low doses, but enough is enough.
Symptoms / diagnostic tests :
- Smell returns inside car within a couple hours after a long drive with the top down, parked in the garage.
- Cabin Air filters have been changed regularly, serviced by local Porsche dealer.
- Smell does not appear to be coming from the AC vents (closing them doesn't reduce the smell's return when parked).
- I've recently cleaned the leather seats and all interior surfaces, to no avail.
- I've never seen any drips or "low coolant" warning, but recently topped up the coolant so the pin floats (about 60 ml required). After a couple hours of spirited driving, it required another 50 ml - maybe just returning to equilibrium level?
- Smell doesn't appear to be from the closed convertible top itself - because with the car open, I draped a blanket over the interior, and after a few hours the smell was there.
- The smell doesn't go away when the car is just sitting in the garage for a couple weeks - I can air out the car, then close the top, and smell returns (without starting the engine).
Anyway, I'm perplexed. What am I missing? I called the Porsche dealership, and absent a full and possibly costly inspection, all they could suggest was a ClO2 bomb, which I'd like to avoid.
Thanks in advance, and stay healthy.
-Dave
I have a 981 S, purchased new in 2014. At that time, it had what we thought was a typical new car smell - leather (with outgassing plastics). The issue is the smell has never gone away, and if anything is recently getting stronger, such that long drives with the top closed are a problem. Plus, six years of new car smell? It's not an unpleasant smell in low doses, but enough is enough.
Symptoms / diagnostic tests :
- Smell returns inside car within a couple hours after a long drive with the top down, parked in the garage.
- Cabin Air filters have been changed regularly, serviced by local Porsche dealer.
- Smell does not appear to be coming from the AC vents (closing them doesn't reduce the smell's return when parked).
- I've recently cleaned the leather seats and all interior surfaces, to no avail.
- I've never seen any drips or "low coolant" warning, but recently topped up the coolant so the pin floats (about 60 ml required). After a couple hours of spirited driving, it required another 50 ml - maybe just returning to equilibrium level?
- Smell doesn't appear to be from the closed convertible top itself - because with the car open, I draped a blanket over the interior, and after a few hours the smell was there.
- The smell doesn't go away when the car is just sitting in the garage for a couple weeks - I can air out the car, then close the top, and smell returns (without starting the engine).
Anyway, I'm perplexed. What am I missing? I called the Porsche dealership, and absent a full and possibly costly inspection, all they could suggest was a ClO2 bomb, which I'd like to avoid.
Thanks in advance, and stay healthy.
-Dave
05-18-2020, 10:41 PM
#2
Take a look at your coolant filler cap. If there is a dry white residue around the cap, you need a new gasket. If you are not lucky at your dealer, they will claim they are OOS and you will have to buy a cap for about $40. That will stop the coolant loss and likely the smell. If you haven’t yet changed out your water pump, consider it.
Good luck.
Good luck.
