Really, no joke

Ok folks, here is my problem. Back in July, went camping. However I left a
5lb chub of ground beef in the hot car for 3 days. Yeah, it smelt real bad.
Cleaned and sprayed all kinds of stuff the the smell went away - mostly
anyway. Well, Labor Day weekend we go camping again. An ice chest leaked
water around the spare tire compartment, and like magic, my old friend
"Stench" returned. Finally it got so bad, I pulled spare tire and stuff
out - Lo and Behold! Apparently juices and such soaked into the carpet-pad
like insulation and some colony of nastiness was growing. Ok, fine all
cleaned up now. My only problem now is that on warm humid days, the smell is
now in the AC ventilation system. How do I get the smell out of there?
Joe
BTW, no one will ride with me anymore.

 

Smells like a troll to me.

S25

 

If he is for real and figures it out, I would love to hear the solution. MY
crazy kids left an open chocolate milk box under the booster seat.....
Urhhhhh

--

regards,
Michael Abbaticchio
MVP for Microsoft Exchange Server
http://exchange.mvps.org

 

I'm telling, this ain't no troll. I have a foul odor coming out of my vents
when it is humid. It goes away after a while, but I think I am simply
getting used to it.

 

sounds like something I hear fairly frequently on CarTalk

the mold has migrated into the air ducts. you need to clean and
sterilize all of it. If you have a cabin air filter replace it at the
same time. I get the impression that simply spraying stuff somewhere
doesn't really fix this. Scrubbing out the airducts is neither simple
nor easy as they are not very accessible in most cars. It also may be
in the other carpets and padding YMMV.

 

Still driving the '97 Tiburon? You probably have mold in the A/C system
under the dash that's picked up the smell. I'd take it to a good car wash
and have it cleaned inside and out then at the end have them squirt some of
that "new car" perfume in it. Should help anyway.

 

My suggestion would be to turn the a/c on and the heat to full hot and set
the fresh/recirc switch to fresh. Turn the blower on high. Spray air
freshener into the passenger side air intake at the bottom of the
windshield.

This probably won't eliminate the odor forever, but it'll probably mask it
for long enough to be a much better option than pulling the dash and
cleaning the ductwork.

 

Spray Lysol into the fresh air ducts outside. You need something that will
kill bacteria.
Geoff

 

This is common to other makes and models. The thng to watch out for is
clogged drainoffs near you intakes. Things like leaves, twigs, pine
needles, etc....

--

regards,
Michael Abbaticchio
MVP for Microsoft Exchange Server
http://exchange.mvps.org

 

My suggestion would be to turn the a/c on and the heat to full hot and

 

That's a better idea yet. Legionnaires disease is caused by mold in air
conditions.
Don't ignore it.
Geoff.

 

Thanks for all the tips. Just one question, where exactly is the air intake?
Do I access under the hood or by the windshield wiper area?

 

There should be an opening in the cowl grille under the right side of the
windshield. You shouldn't have to take anything apart.