drl

That's right - STINKS!

A few weeks ago, shortly after delivery of my car, I took a long drive out in the desert/mountains east of SD and hit a patch of thick bugs. Locusts, I guess. It all cleaned up pretty well, but there was still a pile of dead bugs trapped between the grills and the radiator. Not just a few bugs - the mess was pretty impressive. I tried: using a shop vac, blasting air with my metro air force blaster, and spraying in the grills with water. It seems most of the bugs came out, but there are apparently still some in there.

Now, each time I wash the car and don't drive it afterwards, it gets a very strong damp/mildew like smell that actually permeates the garage. Get your nose right up in the front grills and it is clear that's the source. Once I drive the car a bit it goes away.

Could this smell really be damp, rotting, disgusting bugs wedged up against my radiator? Am I really going to have to remove the front bumper to clean this up? Again, the smell goes away once the car gets driven. But I don't always drive the car after cleaning it. After a long drive or track day, I'll wash it and then it may sit for many days before being driven.

Any thoughts on how to deal with this?

DarkSideEwok

remove the front bumper and clean.

The Greek

I know on my Mini Cooper, baring something dead in your car, the strong smell would come from the cabin filter. Maybe a lizard or something died there. Check it out...

Carrera GT

Bugs don't rot much. They're 99% water and literally evaporate except for that digestive stuff they leave behind that's practically impossible to get off paint unless you've got ample wax protection. They're also soluble in mild detergents. I'd douse the area with any of the "bug off" products (for removing bugs from the paint) and liberally repeat with rinses. If there's still a smell of anything at all, I'd say you've got a dead bird or squirrel in there somewhere.

Pulling off the nose is tedious because of how it clips around the front fender liners, but once you're familiar with the process, it takes maybe 20 minutes and doesn't require the car off the ground.

I had a horrible stench in the cabin of a Cayenne years ago. It was traced to a giant black rat (the size of a small house cat) which had found a warm place to rest under all the plastic covers and then I guess it got wedged between the engine and the chassis. Took quite a lot of Simple Green and a pressure washer to remove all traces of its carcass.



http://jalopnik.com/232177/verdict-i...ner-at-155-mph

drl

Thanks for the ideas.

Again, the smell is ONLY after washing (when the area gets wet), and only comes from the front end grills/radiator area. Once the car is driven (and the area gets warm and air dried) the smell goes away. If there was a dead animal somewhere, I don't think the smell would go away, or only appear when wet. Also, the cabin smells just fine, even when it smells bad on the outside.

When I shine a light in, both the front-side intakes have a few dead bugs collected deep in the corner up against the radiator. These I have been unable to remove with the methods mentioned above, including blasting with pretty high pressure water. But yeah, I never thought bugs would smell like mold/mildew when wet. The smell is not awful like a dead animal - just smells like a damp basement.

I'll keep investigating this...

In the meantime, anybody have a reference to a good DIY bumper removal (for someone who is NOT too experienced with this sort of thing!).

Carrera GT

There is a DIY here. Just a matter of searching. It's not all that hard, just good to have a helper, put down some cardboard boxes to support the nose, get the right Torx driver bits, etc. Your dealer should be willing to print out the factory service instructions to get the nose off the slow way.

My Cayenne was getting the stench into the cabin through the carbon filter, but only as a faint odor. Under the hood, it was toxic. You'll probably find a little mouse of something nesting behind a radiator. I had the dealer clean the Cayenne and it cost something like two hours' labor or about $300, which was good value to me at the time! : )

chardonet

Also try checking the front wheel well area behind the grills. Some remnants may be wedged there. You will have to remove your wheel/tire. Get your hand in there and scoop them out. Good luck.

Tacet-Conundrum

Or perhaps a small cat or so. Poor kitties.

My dad found a dead cat under the hood of his 53 Chevy. Little critter was cold and found a warm place to chill in butt-freezing Odessa Texas.

brim

Honey Badger living in the front grill? Maybe he's eating all the larvae?

pewter82

Something molding inside the bumper, gets wet and stinks. Remove bumper and clean.

Tacet-Conundrum

On man, please don't start with the honey badger. Where is that YouTube video?

For those not "in the know".

http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=US#/watch?v=4r7wHMg5Yjg