So all of a sudeden today, I got in the car, and the interior smelled like rotten disgusing fish smell. The last time I drove it was about 24 hours ago, and there was none of this smell. I looked/sniffed around the cabin and couldn't localize it at all. (My first thought is that someone somehow dragged something in on a shoe bottom or something). I turned on the vent to defog the window and BOOM- the smell was clearly coming from the vents.

Thats all I know! I need to fix this, my baby isn't supposed to smell gross!

Theory: Literally "something crawled up and died" somewhere under the hood. If this is the case, can anyone help me by letting me know where the air input ducts are (I'll assume that's the most likely place for a dead/smelling animal to be?) or if there's some other place where something foul smelling might be lingering under the hood, such that it would smell when I turn the AC/vents on. Any other possible ideas??

Second- Has anyone actually in the past experienced something like this, and it was being caused by some other issue? I'm not closing the possibility that the smell is some weird oil issue or something, but it really smells exactly like rotten fish, definitely something organic. That and it came extremely suddenly.

If I cant find anything myself, I'll probably bring it into the dealer and they can look/dismantle things, but that would a) be a lot of trouble and b) a difficult thing to figure out, i'm sure...

Help!!!

 

rodent in the blower motor story cross ya fingers...

 

That was my first guess. Do you park outside overnight?

 

Yes, It's outside every night, and unfortunatly there are a lot of rats around the area (big city rats...ughh). What is this blower motor and where is it?? Ahhh! I'm so pissed at the moment...

 

People's perceptions and descriptions of smells can vary greatly. Generally, smells coming from the ventilation system are going to be caused by anti-freeze or molds/mildew. Antifreeze has a sweet smell but you might perceive it as fish. In either case, are your carpets wet up under the dash especially on the passenger side? If the heater core is leaking you'll get antifreeze vapor through the blower. Or, your A/C drain is clogged and water has been building up allowing mold to grow. Clogged a/c drain is easy to diagnose if you get under the car and look for rubber nipple towards the rear of the firewall. Usually can clear it with pipe cleaners or compressed air. If it is actually the heater core leaking it should be covered under warranty.

 

Yep probably a rat climbed up inside to stay warm. I'd say he's probably medium-well by now.

 

Thanks for the input. I had 3 people in the car tonight, (very attractive girls I'll add, it was quite embarassing), and all three agreed it smelled "just like dead fish". Still I will check those items out in the morning when I can get under the car, about the heater core. I highly doubt it is mold growth or some other growth, simply because yesteday it was perfectly fine, and now it smells terrible, mold jsut doesnt grow that fast... (unless that has happened to someone, I will totally take your word for it...)

Not cool at all...

 

just check for dampness on the carpets. especially underneath the dashboard and around the door sills. if that's all dry blast the air on full and listen/feel for any abnormal vibrations. if so, something is in your blower motor can you smell it outside of the car too??? fresh air or recirculation??

baltimore or ny...either way...both are dirty cities.

 

 

Maybe it's the music you play....


woot!! My post count just went up!!

 

The other thing that comes to mind sit he movie "Grumpy Old Men" There was a great part with fish in that movie.

 

There is a possibility that one of your buddies is playing a bad, bad joke on you.

 

do you leave your car unlockeed?a friend of mine broke up with his girl friend and dumped a can of sardin juice in her vents .the smell stayed there for ever.

 

don't you mean in the matress?

[Room 309 is buzzing, Ted answers]
Sarah: Ted!
Ted the Bellhop: What do you want now, for Christ sakes? Who died?
Sarah: I don't know, but she's in my bed.
Ted the Bellhop: What?
Sarah: There's a dead body in my bed.
Ted the Bellhop: Nonsense! That's just your brother sound asleep.
Sarah: No! There's a woman's dead body *inside* the bed in the mattress.
Ted the Bellhop: You saw the body?
Sarah: Yes!
Ted the Bellhop: Impossible! You've got the ointment on your eyes. You can't see ****! Now go to sleep!
[hangs up, but the room is still buzzing, answers again]
Ted the Bellhop: Go to sleep!
Sarah: I washed it off.
Ted the Bellhop: The mentholatum?
Sarah: Yeah. Didn't you ever think to do that? Get your *** up here and call the police, because there's a dead body in my bed, and it smells like ****, and it looks even worse. And if you don't help us, my dad is going to lay you down right next to her, I swear to ******* God!
[hangs up, dial tone]
Ted the Bellhop: I am coming up there right this minute! And if there isn't a dead body in that room by the time I get up there, I'm going to make one! You -
[hangs up]
Ted the Bellhop: Little bitch.

Later...
Ted the Bellhop: Police! It's an emergency! Police get someone over here right ******* now. There is a dead ******' *****!

 

This is what I was thinking.

 

Guys,

Well at the very least, thanks for the humor, lighten the stanky situation up a little...

Dan- I checked the carpets, they seem dry. I can't smell it outside the car at all, and there is no smell in the cabin after the air system is off and driving with the windows down for a bit. It's clearly coming from the vents. It is present with both fresh air or recirculation on, but it seems a little more pugnant on fresh air vent, if that makes any sense.

1) What/where is the blower motor???

2) If some creature did crawl into the ducts that lead to the "fresh" air intake, where are those ducts so at least I could look/smell there and check???

I never leave the car unlocked, and I'm pretty sure my general lookaround would have noted something if there was 'foul play' involved.

Please help!

 

pop the hood, to the front right is a big black box with 2 metal clips...open that...they are in there

or you may have to take the front bumper off to access the vfad duct

you might as well upgrade your intake while your at it add the revi ram air duct too

 

You have to loosen the accordion black tube going to the throttle also, right? I can't remember - it's been too long ago that I had the OEM air box in my car.

 

well since you live in NY and MD, id say the smell is coming from your drive through Jersey...

 

 

Look for shrimp in your heater vents...

 

Zuhalter has been visiting collegehumor.com ... based on your avatar ...

 

"Looks like Chuck is taking the baloney-pony to tuna town!"

Seriously - does the smell abate when you switch to recirc? If not, it may be something that made it all the wat to the cabin air filter behind the glove box.
If not, the intakes for the ventilation system are under the cowl at the base of the windscreen, though smells from anywhere in the engine compartment seem to collect there.

Does it taste like chicken?

 

Did you park under a tree? It is possible some animal peed in the cowl intake vent. You might try spraying some strong disinfectant(Lysol?) into the cowl vent intake with the blower on high.


The first thing I thought of was the catalytic converter and some very bad gas, but since it comes from the vents it can't be that.

 

not exactly sure where the blower motor is on our cars. might be behind the glove box. check your cabin filter as well.

catalytic converters smell like rotten eggs.