HORRIBLE SMELL INSIDE!!!!!!!

supercell · 03-06-2007, 03:55 PM

HELP: I've got a real problem here! I own a 2002 SC1 and some time around mid-October of '06 I got a horrible, musty, rotting vegetation-like smell so I doubt it's a dead mouse or other small critter inside the engine. I can't pinpoint where it is coming from but it seems to be the stongest around the base of the windshield and near the driver and passenger side doors. People have told me that they can smell my car when I drive past them. Worse still, the smell has gotten into all of the interior fabric. I've spent countless hours researching online. It sounds like I have mold, but I have NEVER had water in my car. I've read that lots of Saturn owners have complained of a foul smell coming from the AC/heat vents when used -- the cause being that these cars have more compact evaporators which don't drain water as efficiantly, thus trapping water and allowing mold to grow. The problem is there is no smell coming from my vents. I've put my nose up to the darn things and ran the heat, air, recurculation, and defogging settings and the air coming out of the vents at every setting smelled fine. Here's what I have tried - all to no avail: -had blower motor cleaned, -had HVAC deoderized (even though vents smelled fine before),
-sprayed interior with Febreeze and Lysol. -Sprayed exterior grill beneath windshield with PureAir. I've taken the car to Saturn but they are baffled, saying it's a freak thing. Have you ever heard of anything like this before? Any help would be very much appreciated! Thank you!!

SILENTBOB SL2 · 03-06-2007, 04:20 PM

Might just have to start taking your dash apart until you find the source. I would think if you had an issue in the A/C itself it would get worse when you first turn it on

madbrad · 03-06-2007, 05:39 PM

I dunno, I would remove the cowl grille and have a really good look in there.

supercell · 03-06-2007, 06:40 PM

Thank you! That makes sense -- since the grill is attached to the windshield, hood, and dashboard -- and that seems to be where the smell is the strongest. I hope that's the cause. Do you know if the cowl grill is hard to remove?

madbrad · 03-06-2007, 07:21 PM

I don't know, I haven't had my Saturn for a couple of years, but I imagine you just remove some screws, probably the wipers first.

Ryan88 · 03-07-2007, 05:33 AM

Your car stinks!

SL2 Cruiser · 03-07-2007, 06:57 AM

I removed mine to paint it and it was pretty easy, just a few screws. Good luck. My car stunk when I bought it but only because the previous owner preferred cigarettes over oxygen.

supercell · 03-07-2007, 02:43 PM

Thanks, SC2 Cruiser and madbrad. I'll give it a go and see what happens. It's pretty sad that the Saturn service places (I went to two) didn't consider that as being a possible cause. Their only answers were to 1.) Remove the dashboard and check the evaporator and/or 2.) Reupholster the entire interior. Of course, neither options were guaranteed and estimates for each job ran into the thousands of dollars - which I can't justify paying when there's no guarantee! My warranty expired two years ago so that's of no help. Go f**king figure! I've taken excellent care of this car so to have something like this happen is terribly frustrating! If this doesn't work, I'll just have to bite the bullet and sell it. I've had it!

madbrad · 03-07-2007, 06:06 PM

brings a seinfeld episode to mind

supercell · 03-07-2007, 08:09 PM

YES IT DOES! Ha! Ha! (Though this is not a case of B.O.)