get rid of the smell in the car

I switched the old baking soda for the new ones and now I just have to get over the initial whiff when I get in the car.

Its getting better, I drove it for about an hour on Wednesday. The smell got bad about the last 15 minutes,

washed and dried every surface inside and out.

I think it might be starting to smell better… not there yet though

Steamed last night, will steam again tonight – throughly cleaning it Saturday or Sunday

Baking soda applied yesterday – today steam cleaned, tomorrow will repeat all the processes. I think it might have made a slight difference.

So we got in mom’s car today, first time since last Saturday. It was rank, found one of last week’s grocery bags still in the trunk. Not Good.

So far we have baking soda and vaccummed twice. Cleaned the windows and sprayed the Febreeze. I think this might be a daily effort for the next little bit.

Okay, I think we might have made progress this week on the smell in YJM. After hours of research where theories like the wax undercoat, or sound dampening insulation, or the styrofoam, I think we have it.

Floor mats. The underside of the floor mats.

Smell continues to dissapate since we removed them on Wednesday; will see how the car does over the weekend. Hopefully, we’re not going to have to sell the car. (Particularly since it’s in the better shape of the two of ours.)

Yah’s problem was a clogged cabin air filter. Replaced it, broke a little piece off the plastic cover sealing it back in, but the air smells great.

If only the smell in Yjm was so easy to fight.

I’ve now got this cocamanie idea that it has something to do with the oil level. Will observe and see.

Every car picks up an odor. I can live with that.

But I’d really like to get rid of the smells in both of my cars.

YAH (my car) may be the simplest to solve. She has picked up the scents of various passengers (cologne, shampoo, etc.) on the fabric of the seat belts, etc. I think a good deep cleaning may take care of nearly all of it, but I have to be careful – I already have breathing problems in my car, I don’t want to aggravate them.

YJM represents a more formidible challenge. She has a smell like engine fluid in the main compartment. This smell has been there for years, but it’s recently gotten worse.

I’ve had YJM checked out by several mechanics. Some people can smell it. Other people can’t. There are no leaks in the interior. There are no leaks into the air system.

But no matter how much I clean the car, the smell persists.

Sometimes it gets worse when the vents are open. That’s the only clue I have at this point.

I really would like to have unscented cars again. Leather-scented cars would be okay, as long as it’s not masking the other odors.