Hey everyone, I got a 2005 GT right when they came out. It is the best car i have ever owned!!! By Far! However lately I have noticed that the new car smell has been replaced by a strong musty odor. I immediately went through all the check steps I thought I could go through. The windows where not left open, I didnt spill anything on the carpet ( Ihave leather seats so they arent the culprit), the air conditioning vents dont smell and the trunk also has no smell. I have cleaned the carpet with carpet cleaner, used a product from Stanley Steemer called odor be gone that had bacterial cultures that eat away at odor (sprayed on the carpet-twice). I cant seem to figure it out. I have had friends all smell around and in the car and nothing seems to be causing the smell (When sitting overnight and opened in the morning it is definately there). Im going nuts trying to figure it out. It isnt a dead animal smell, nothing is under the hood. Then I remembered these cars seem to accumulate water in the doors when it rains (unfortunately i dont have a garage). Sometimes after a rain storm I open the door and run my hand underneath it and slightly lift up the seal and some water comes out. Now I have smelled the doors and they dont smell but of course I cant really smell inside of them. When I used the carpet cleaner I used a paper towel to blot it up and behind the seats I noticed that there is a liitle indentation on the floor. The paper towels actually when picking up the cleaner picked up dirtier cleaner out of these indentations. These seemed like the culprit but when I stick my nose down to them they dont smell.... So Im back to the doors...Ford said if i bring it to them they will sniff it, but what would they do? I dont think this kind of problem is covered under warranty... Any suggestions or thoughts of where to look for this mystery smell would be greatly appreciated!!! I have a beautiful smelly car... :( If it is the doors i would imagine others would end up having the same problem eventually.
< Message edited by rasguedo -- 10/7/2006 2:28:06 PM >
Musty means water. My wife once upon a time (when we were dating) bought a Cutlass (1989). It was on the showroom floor, and when I got inside I told her, "I don't know how new GM's smell but this one smells musty". One year later we got back 90% of our money (she paid cash) after attending a lemon law hearing. The car simply would fill up with water every time it rained. My suggestion is to also put your hand under the seats and then through the opening in the carpet to make sure the underlayment isn't wet. This is where the musty smell was coming in our case. Olds probably took the car and shipped it out to Arizona, or some other dry place and sold it to some unfortunate slob.
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2006 Red Fire GT Convertible. 1970 Medium Lime Metallic Mach 1 1997 Pacific green/silver F 150 ext cab 4x4 2002 Navy Blue Escape 4x4 [image][image]
Might not be cheap or easy but if your thinking is right about the doors, you'll need to get the door panels off. what if you too them off and put it under a water hose to see if you see any water coming in...??? just a though.
Hey everyone, I got a 2005 GT right when they came out. It is the best car i have ever owned!!! By Far! However lately I have noticed that the new car smell has been replaced by a strong musty odor. I immediately went through all the check steps I thought I could go through. The windows where not left open, I didnt spill anything on the carpet ( Ihave leather seats so they arent the culprit), the air conditioning vents dont smell and the trunk also has no smell. I have cleaned the carpet with carpet cleaner, used a product from Stanley Steemer called odor be gone that had bacterial cultures that eat away at odor (sprayed on the carpet-twice). I cant seem to figure it out. I have had friends all smell around and in the car and nothing seems to be causing the smell (When sitting overnight and opened in the morning it is definately there). Im going nuts trying to figure it out. It isnt a dead animal smell, nothing is under the hood. Then I remembered these cars seem to accumulate water in the doors when it rains (unfortunately i dont have a garage). Sometimes after a rain storm I open the door and run my hand underneath it and slightly lift up the seal and some water comes out. Now I have smelled the doors and they dont smell but of course I cant really smell inside of them. When I used the carpet cleaner I used a paper towel to blot it up and behind the seats I noticed that there is a liitle indentation on the floor. The paper towels actually when picking up the cleaner picked up dirtier cleaner out of these indentations. These seemed like the culprit but when I stick my nose down to them they dont smell.... So Im back to the doors...Ford said if i bring it to them they will sniff it, but what would they do? I dont think this kind of problem is covered under warranty... Any suggestions or thoughts of where to look for this mystery smell would be greatly appreciated!!! I have a beautiful smelly car... :( If it is the doors i would imagine others would end up having the same problem eventually.
Check the drain tube under the dash that the AC accumulator is using. If this tube gets clogged, you will get the water that is supposed to drain to the outside of the car to overflow into the car.
Reason you notice it more during the rain/snow is probably because it's not bad enough yet to where it won't evaporate on its own on a dry day but still leaves a smell.
Also, check under the car. The floor panels have drain holes. Check to make sure they aren't clogged or full of crap either.
another source of this problem has been water getting into the ductwork through the air intake in front of the windshield. If there is a leak back there it can start to grow mold and start to stink.....
there is a 'cabin air filter' on these cars- under the plastic by the wipers... might be time for replacement...think instructions are in the owners manual. my car had plastic 'clips' in the drain holes on one door- no idea why they were there, but I pulled them out- fearing little bits of leaves/dirt might clog them- they dont seal the drains, but block like 75% of it...if youve got those shouldnt hurt to pull them out at least to make sure theyre open/no 'stuff' behind. good luc- let us know what you find- I'm getting worried about mine as the windows seem to be fogging up worse than they used to in cool weather- hope its not holding water somewhere...
Thanks for all your reply's. First thing i did was go and check for the aformentioned plugs in the drains in my door. Sure enough they where there only on the back (rear) side of the doors. When I removed them I noticed a bunch of guck and dirt underneath obviously they were not draining properly. They holes however didnt smell. Upon examining the door further with the windows down I pulled the molding away from where the window enters the door (on the outside of window) I was amazed at how much crap was in there.. old leafs, dirt, dead bugs, 1 live spider... I couldnt believe it. If I traced this stuff to where it would go..of course it will end up going inside my door. I shudder to think about what the inside of my door will look like. Second thing was try and check for leaks from the airconditioner since I cant get behind the dash..this was hard to do but I didnt seem to notice any water on the carpet under the dash, nor did it smell that bad. I also smelled the air vents and the air conditioner air intake couldnt detect a smell there. I will look into changing the cabin air filter (if the smell doenst get worse when I turn on the air im thinking it is probably not that though) As far as the holes in the undercarriage to let water escape from the floorboard I couldnt find them does anyone know exactly where they are located.. This seems to be the best thing to check! Any more thoughts about this will be greatly appreciated!! Oh for the last reply my trunk doenst smell at all. It is completely lacking of the mildew smell I also have had older cars do that so that was the first thing I checked.
Keep in mind while the area that has the leak may not smell, the water coming from the ofending plug drainaige hole or section will have to collect somewhere and thats where it will smell.
Where the water collects (and mildews) will probably not be same area where its leaking from. Water does travel.
Your next best bet may be to take the seats out and some of the trim and pull the carpet and pad back to see if you can find a stain trail and follow it to the source of the leak. It will be time consuming but you will have your answer a lot faster than waiting for it be obvious and cause a lot more damage.
Hey Rasquedo you might look at the above link. Not sure if you have had any of these problems, but they all seem to relate to water. Just a thought.... keep us informed as I think a lot of us are following these two threads, hoping for the best but prepping for the worst.
IF YOU USE YOUR A/C ALOT MIDEW WILL FORM ON A/C EVAPORATOR CORE THEIR A PROCESS FOR CLEANING THAT . IF UNDER WARENTEE TELL FORD YOU NEED YOUR EVAPORATOR CORE CLEANED . IF NOT LOOK FOR A SHOP THAT SELLS B/G PRODUCTS TELL THEM YOU NEED A EVAPORATOR CLEANED. IF YOU HAVE LEAVES IN YOUR DOORS THEIR ALSO IN YOUR EVAPORATOR CASE?
I notice that the smell is definately a little stronger on the right side (passenger) of the car. The link about the wiring (thanks G-Man) also mentions this side being the culprit i wonder if it could be a leak common to all of them? I do run the air conditioner a lot (defrost) due to the fact that when I get out of work it is late and I always have fogged up windows. If it is the evaporator case wouldnt the smell be eminating from the vents or from the intake near the hood? Where is the evaporator case? It thankfully is still under warranty but my Ford dealers around here are inept. I have had cars go through much worse, standing water, spilled drinks, vomit, dog piss and more..This car has had none of them! In fact it is an 05 with only 8,900 miles on it! I really tried to take care of it. I want to buy some Borlas for it but i cant bring myself to without fixing this problem. Derf your suggestion makes a lot of sense and im leaning toward it, however I dont have the tools to do it unfortunately. Are smells covered under the warranty? would Ford take the seats out to look?
THE EVAPOATOR CASE IS ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF DASH TRY PULLING TO SEE IF THE CABIN FILTER IS FULL OF LEAVES.WHEN YOU FIRST TURN ONTHE A/C IT WILL BE VERY STRONG ODER? B/G MAKE A SPAY YOU SPRAY IN AIR INTAKE FOR AC THAT HELPS ELIMINATETHE ODER ITS CALLED FRIDGEE FRESH! JUST STOP BY A LOCAL AC SHOP AND THEY WILL TELL YOU IF THE ODER IS FROM THE A/C. WE DEAL WITH THIS IN FL. ALL THE TIME. HOPE THIS HELPS
UPDATE: I took the car to my dealer and they said they definately could smell what I was talking about. The car was left there overnight and they said that they combed it over. Checked the carpets, the a/c the filters the condenser. Everything. They could not find one thing that was the source of the smell. I was also told that the smell is of no fault of my own. He claimed that the car is "sweating" with the weather change and that it is creating this smell by that process. Basically I will have to live with it. This really pi*ses me off. It seems these cars have a problem with letting the condensation out. I asked him what he would do and he said that I should take it to another Ford dealer for a second opinion and then to call Ford personally. This sucks.
UPDATE: I took the car to my dealer and they said they definately could smell what I was talking about. The car was left there overnight and they said that they combed it over. Checked the carpets, the a/c the filters the condenser. Everything. They could not find one thing that was the source of the smell. I was also told that the smell is of no fault of my own. He claimed that the car is "sweating" with the weather change and that it is creating this smell by that process. Basically I will have to live with it. This really pi*ses me off. It seems these cars have a problem with letting the condensation out. I asked him what he would do and he said that I should take it to another Ford dealer for a second opinion and then to call Ford personally. This sucks.
Well, here's a suggestion. They proably can't find the source because whatever did cause it may not be apparent any longer.
I would still suggest you tear down the interior and spray down with an anti-mildew spray (go to your local hardware store for it) to kill whatever is creating the smell and i don't mean lysol or febreeze. Those just cover up the smell. After it's been started, mildew can continue to grow with little or no moisture. Mildew is a fungus like what causes athletes foot for example.
Unless you get rid of the cause, the smell will never go away.
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