Car Smells!

[Trstno1]

Sooo... I have been running my AC this year more than any other and I have noticed something that must be fixed. After running my AC I notice the outside of the car smells a little like hot garbage! I noticed it the first time after parking in a garage after a 80 mile drive. The interior of the car is fine. The cold air smells fine. Just the air emanating from the car smells. What gives? Is there a AC drain somewhere on the car? I’m sort of wondering if its clogged or something. Either way, a Delorean smelling like hot garbage is not desirable. Especially when showing up to a car show and everyone immediately swarms the car.

Before anyone says anything about general cleanliness, I keep the exterior/interior of my car impeccable. I have replaced the all carpet, carpet foam, seat covers, headliner, and sun visors. I have not touched the heater box at all. Exterior wise, I have had mostly everything apart since owning it with the exception of taking the fenders off, and have never found anything that could be remotely related to causing such a smell. This is definately related to the AC some how. Has this happened to anyone else?

What do you guys think?

[Jonathan]

Look inside the heater box.

[CFI]

I suppose it could be related to the water drain, if something really nasty was in there.
The next time you run your AC, find the puddle of water that your AC dumps on the ground and smell it. At least then you’ll know if the problem is stinky drain water.
The drain itself is in the passenger front wheel well.

Edit: here’s the “how to” I used to clean out my drain, and replace the factory hose with something less likely to clog. http://www.16908.info/?p=3072

[Trstno1]

I suppose it could be related to the water drain, if something really nasty was in there.
The next time you run your AC, find the puddle of water that your AC dumps on the ground and smell it. At least then you’ll know if the problem is stinky drain water.
The drain itself is in the passenger front wheel well.

Edit: here’s the “how to” I used to clean out my drain, and replace the factory hose with something less likely to clog. http://www.16908.info/?p=3072

Thank you for that write up! I'll see if I can get to the drain to check and see if is clogged.

[Trstno1]

Look inside the heater box.

how does one "look" inside the heater box? Do that mean heater box removal?

[CFI]

how does one "look" inside the heater box? Do that mean heater box removal?

Maybe he hadn’t had his coffee yet:)

The easiest way to clean out some of the “stuff” that might be in the evap box is to remove the blower motor. It’s located in the passenger footwell, near where their right foot would be. Once that motor is out you can reach in with your hand (or small vacuum hose) and clean it out.

While you’re at it, remove the blower motor resistor which is located near the blower motor. They have a tendency to rust terribly. New ones are cheap.

[David T]

While it can't hurt to clean inside the heater box and the drain, if the smell was in there you would smell it in the cabin. If you only smell it outside the car I would check the surfaces of all of the parts of the A/C that get hot. That includes the compressor, the discharge hose and the condenser coil. Just guessing but something may have gotten onto one of these parts and the heat is making it smell. This is a bit unusual.

[Citizen]

I'm wonder if whatever cleaning solution used on the exterior of the car has left some sort of sheen or film, and upon getting cooked in the summer sun, is emitting the odor ?? Is the odor still there after the sun goes down and the body panels cool off?

...

[JETS 81 DMC]

If you only smell from the outside of your car and it truly smells like rotten garbage you may have a dead critter hiding somewhere under the car.

This did not happen to my Delorean but on another car I had years ago. It was a dead rat that crawled up by the radiator in the winter when I parked outside overnight and must have been sleeping when I started the car and the fan tossed it up on the engine block. It and smelled like rotting garbage. It took a while for me to finally find it.

A critter maybe your stinking problem???? :dunno: Just a thought.

[Patrick C]

Run the car and turn on the A/C and the fans on high. Get out and shut the doors and let it keep running. Take a can of Lysol. Start spraying it in the fresh air intake at the bottom of the windshield. Don't use it sparingly, be aggressive. It will soak everything in the A/C ventilation system and sanitize and kill any bacteria you may have in there. See if that helps to begin with.

[Trstno1]

Great Advice from everyone!

Also, is one able to get to the AC drain tube from below the car in order to snake it out? I found it from the bottom of the heater box to the fiberglass tub, but that looks like a bear to get off since there is no room to work. I tried to feel around in the passenger wheel well but could not find it. I think I might need to get the car up on blocks to get a good look under there.

I'll get to work and report back.

Thanks!

[WHO1DMC]

Great Advice from everyone!

Also, is one able to get to the AC drain tube from below the car in order to snake it out? I found it from the bottom of the heater box to the fiberglass tub, but that looks like a bear to get off since there is no room to work. I tried to feel around in the passenger wheel well but could not find it. I think I might need to get the car up on blocks to get a good look under there.

I'll get to work and report back.

Thanks!

Probably the best way would be a wet dry vacuum and suck it out.


Dave B.

[Trstno1]

OK!

So I took out the blower motor and heater resister. A ton of crap fell out! after getting a borescope in the I could see debris packed in a quarter way up the evaporator. I was able to get in there with a small tool and dislodge the majority of it. Then fashioned an attachment of sorts for my vacuum and sucked it all out. there was definitely decaying organic matter in the bottom there that was wet and mucky. Could be the source of my smell.....

Since I found so much in there, I would guess the drain is clogged as well. I found the other end of the drain hose in the passenger wheel well, but didn't see anything blocking it from that side. I would however like to get the heater box side off to check it but I'm not really sure how.

Do you just pry it down? I don't want to break the plastic on the heater box. And If I pry it down from the inside will I be able to pull the whole tube out from the tub?

[MrChocky]

If you only smell from the outside of your car and it truly smells like rotten garbage you may have a dead critter hiding somewhere under the car.

This did not happen to my Delorean but on another car I had years ago. It was a dead rat that crawled up by the radiator in the winter when I parked outside overnight and must have been sleeping when I started the car and the fan tossed it up on the engine block. It and smelled like rotting garbage. It took a while for me to finally find it.

A critter maybe your stinking problem???? :dunno: Just a thought.

Double check in your jack stowage areas and doors. I just cleaned out mouse nests from both.

[DMC5180]

OK!

So I took out the blower motor and heater resister. A ton of crap fell out! after getting a borescope in the I could see debris packed in a quarter way up the evaporator. I was able to get in there with a small tool and dislodge the majority of it. Then fashioned an attachment of sorts for my vacuum and sucked it all out. there was definitely decaying organic matter in the bottom there that was wet and mucky. Could be the source of my smell.....

Since I found so much in there, I would guess the drain is clogged as well. I found the other end of the drain hose in the passenger wheel well, but didn't see anything blocking it from that side. I would however like to get the heater box side off to check it but I'm not really sure how.

Do you just pry it down? I don't want to break the plastic on the heater box. And If I pry it down from the inside will I be able to pull the whole tube out from the tub?

Removing the the heater/Evaporator housing is a HUGE job. I did it once and swore to never do it again.

I, like you, had a lot of organic debris on the blower side. Probably as much as you had. ( This is why all vehicles nowadays have cabin air filters. It stops the garage from getting to the evaporator) The back side in the box was remarkably clean. As long as you blow air through the drain tube, Bottom up, you should be fine.

[Bitsyncmaster]

I think you would need to cut a little bigger hole in the underbody to get that drain hose replaced. The OEM tube has got pretty hard with age but you may be able to cut it and get it off without cutting the underbody.

[Trstno1]

Removing the the heater/Evaporator housing is a HUGE job. I did it once and swore to never do it again.

I, like you, had a lot of organic debris on the blower side. Probably as much as you had. ( This is why all vehicles nowadays have cabin air filters. It stops the garage from getting to the evaporator) The back side in the box was remarkably clean. As long as you blow air through the drain tube, Bottom up, you should be fine.

I took your advise and blew air up the AC drain tube bottom up. Something happened, because it started to dribble water. Before I knew it I had quite a little stream of water on the garage floor. I’m hoping that what I was smelling was the AC water byproduct mixing with the organic material in the bottom of the heater box and beginning to break down. I was probably pretty close to having a wet passenger floor board. Hopefully now that things are moving maybe things will dry out a bit. I also sprayed quite a bit of Lysol into the air intake under the windshield. That has seemed to help with the odor. I’ll have to keep monitoring things. If it stays the same or gets worse I see a heater box removal in my future...

[DMC5180]

I took your advise and blew air up the AC drain tube bottom up. Something happened, because it started to dribble water. Before I knew it I had quite a little stream of water on the garage floor. I’m hoping that what I was smelling was the AC water byproduct mixing with the organic material in the bottom of the heater box and beginning to break down. I was probably pretty close to having a wet passenger floor board. Hopefully now that things are moving maybe things will dry out a bit. I also sprayed quite a bit of Lysol into the air intake under the windshield. That has seemed to help with the odor. I’ll have to keep monitoring things. If it stays the same or gets worse I see a heater box removal in my future...

I had the drain plug up on me four years ago while on vacation. My wife was complaining her feet were wet. I stopped a fellow D owners place and borrowed shop air to blow it out. One quick shot of air to dislodge the blockage and the water poured out. It seemed like a quart. I removed the passenger seat and floor carpet. I couldn’t believe how deep the water was. I sucked it out with shop vac. Then towel dried it. I also used vac to suck the water out of the carpet and foam. There is always a chance that the blockage could return but so far it been good.