Hello,

I have a 2006 H3 Luxury bought just about 1 year ago. I love the H3 except for 1 very large problem. It smells. When I first bought it they coved the stink with new car smell. The dealer tried 5 times to get the smell out and now has decided its my problem. They will not take the car back. So I owe 25k on a vehicle that smells like dead animal. So here is my question I have narrowed the smell down to the A/C vents. It seems like it is worse when I run the heater. Has anybody had this problem? Is there a place where water may collect? Any help would be great.

 

Sounds like a real good dealer!!!!! Where do you live so I know never to go there???

 

You have mold/mildew in your AC sytem. Use this or any other brand you can find at a large local auto parts. http://www.ultrashield.com/products_AC.htm

Air fresheners will not work, you have to get into the sytem where the crap is clinging to kill it.

 

I would normally agree w/ Doc in a heart beat but mold does not smell like death, big difference. You need to take apart the air vents & find what ever is stuck in there other wise the smell will NEVER go away.

 

COuld be either. If it is fungus growth it could smell like a dead animal. However it could be something else like an actual dead animal. Easy way try the spray and see if it keeps it away. Otherwise you will be dropping the vents. If you know a plumber some of them have a fiberoptic camera you may be able to run that through the vents and see if you see anything.

 

If it's mildow/mold, plain old Lysol does the trick too but only lasts about 2 months. Set A/C blower to high and make sure it's not in recirc mode, then spray into the outside air intakes behind the hood for about a minute. You want to make sure that the mist is pulled through the condensor and heating coils. It's a common problem because A/C condenstation sits on the condensor coils and goes stale after a while.

If that doesn't work for long, you could have clogged heater box drain plugs.

If it really is due to something dead in there, it can only be fixed by opening up the heater box and cleaning out the nasty remains.

 

mine smells bad tight now too, but its because my big *** dog, had a *** problem, and rubbed his smelly *** on the rear carpet pad in the cargo area on the way to the Vet!!!!!

 

You may try pulling the carpet up in a few places to make sure it's not damp...that can create some horrible smells. If it is, you need to find your leak and probably replace your pad and carpet...

I was in an H2 that someones cooler had leaked deer blood and water all under the rear carpet...after a few days that was beyond nasty.

 

Not to be a wise ***, but hopefully someone didnt literally die in that vehicle and was left for days. that smell aint coming out!

 

I have seen this many times you have a dead rat in the air intake for the hvac case. There is only one way to get it out you must remove the Hvac assy. lots of labor and very expensive - sorry