Damn odor wont go away

[Yruyur]

Whenever I get into my car and start it up there is an odor that hits me in the face. It has a slight sour smell to it. I have looked to make sure my daughter didnt leave anything in backseat and cant find anything. It really seems to be coming from the vents. After some driving it seems to go away.

I had the cabin filter out and smelled it but did not smell. Ive got 13k on the car.

Any ideas?

*********update 9/10********

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1203717


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[MightyMeeple]

Thought I have read somewhere (may even be in the owner's manual) about potential for oil to leak and bad smell/burnt smell related to it. Ring a bell with anyone? Not sure if this is part of your issue?

[Kimsey47]

Sorry but your thread subject made me immediately want to provide an entertaining "suggestive" picture for accompaniment...



As for what you're describing, I believe that the AC filter is easily reached behind the glovebox. I'd give that a looksy.

[JACK 8URT0N]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pEhqiCD27E"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pEhqiCD27E[/ame]

[Yruyur]

Originally Posted by MightyMeeple

Thought I have read somewhere (may even be in the owner's manual) about potential for oil to leak and bad smell/burnt smell related to it. Ring a bell with anyone? Not sure if this is part of your issue?

That does ring a bell. In fact one of the other locals had an issue with that. Ill check with him. Thanks!

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[microbionic]

check to make sure the grommets are installed on the frame where they hook the car for transport,.. 2 of them left and right sides near the back...

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7204

I had a musty smell because of it..

[post_break]

Ac recirculation turned on?

[frs10]

thats funny because another member posted this problem in the FRS section??

whats going on??

[Minhtyfresh]

I just posted this today in the FRS side! 32000km, 1 year old ):

I don't have kids so I was lucky enough to skip checking the backseat.

[chrisbfrs]

I did have the odor and it would come and go. Smelled like burnt rubber though not burnt oil. I would really smell it if I turned on heater but you could smell it even with heater and blower off. I got very worried one day on a Mt. Lemmom cruise.....the odor was very strong and when we pulled over for s break, smoke was coming from under hood. We checked and couldn't see where it was coming from. Aftet this, I started driving with a fire extinguisher. lol
The tech at dealer said it was the cam cover leaking. He resealed it and power washed the area so if a leak happens again itd be easier to locate. The tech also told me to keep an eye on it.
Right away, after I left the dealer I could smell the odor! I checked under hood and saw nothing. I brought back to dealer and they could smell it but no idea where its coming from.
Eventually the odor went away. But it was always intermittent so I figured itd come back. So far no more odor and cam cover is clean and dry.

There's a thread about this. Its happened quite often. It is the cam plate covet tha leaks....but also a piece on the side of where cam plate is needs to be resealed as well.
Some people reported it still leaking after cam plate was resealed. If the tech only seals the cam plate chances are the other piece is still leaking or will eventually leak.
So you gotta make sure the tech reseals both pieces.

Moderninktattoos.com

[roflcopter]

I actually went to school to fix Mercedes-Benz' and one of the things they went over was cleaning the evaporator cases when they get mildewey (you can imagine how complicated the ducting is on an S-Class with about 423 motors directing air everywhere(OK that's an exaggeration but it's a lot)). The biggest thing they told us to tell customers was to let the fan run for as long as possible (ideally 10 minutes) BEFORE you shut off the car. As in shut off the A/C before you get home, run just the fan to dry off the evaporator, so when you get home and park it's not sitting overnight all moisty. Now, I'm not sure how many customers actually DID that, 10 minutes is a long time if you're sitting in traffic in 90 degree humidity, but the alternative was to cut holes in the evaporator case and hose down the fins with this insanely caustic and dangerous cleaning fluid to kill mold and mildew.

Not sure if it is the evaporator in your situation, but may be worth trying. My winter rat is a 1998 Maxima, and when it does get driven in the summer I use this method whenever the A/C is on, no smell at all.

[White64Goat]

There is a spray made that you can introduce into the air intake for the A/C that will kill that smell. I will look to see if I can find the name of it. When you run your A/C is there a puddle of condensate discharge under the car? If not, your drain may be clogged.

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Interdynamics-760-Conditioner-Heater-Cleaner/dp/B000UHD74E/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1377896273&sr=8-12&keywords=A%2FC+evaporator+cleaner"]Interdynamics 760 Auto Air Conditioner A/C and Heater Duct Cleaner - 4 oz. : Amazon.com : Automotive[/ame]

You can also try Lysol Neutra Air sprayed into the air intake by the wipers. Remove the cabin filter first. Leave car windows down while doing it as it says on the can it can be harmful if inhaled.

[Scenic Driver]

Originally Posted by roflcopter

I actually went to school to fix Mercedes-Benz' and one of the things they went over was cleaning the evaporator cases when they get mildewey (you can imagine how complicated the ducting is on an S-Class with about 423 motors directing air everywhere(OK that's an exaggeration but it's a lot)). The biggest thing they told us to tell customers was to let the fan run for as long as possible (ideally 10 minutes) BEFORE you shut off the car. As in shut off the A/C before you get home, run just the fan to dry off the evaporator, so when you get home and park it's not sitting overnight all moisty. Now, I'm not sure how many customers actually DID that, 10 minutes is a long time if you're sitting in traffic in 90 degree humidity, but the alternative was to cut holes in the evaporator case and hose down the fins with this insanely caustic and dangerous cleaning fluid to kill mold and mildew.

Not sure if it is the evaporator in your situation, but may be worth trying. My winter rat is a 1998 Maxima, and when it does get driven in the summer I use this method whenever the A/C is on, no smell at all.

In my last car I started getting faint hints of the mildew smell, once I started doing this I never smelled it again.

[Yruyur]

Buying this one right now.

Has good reviews and a ton of them.

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0002Z2MKO/ref=pd_aw_sbs_1?pi=SS115"]einszett 961105 Klima Cleaner:Amazon:Automotive[/ame]

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