2000 Cabin Odor

Jul 13, 2005 9 Replies

Hi,



In the past few days my wife's 2001 Maxima has developed a strange musty/moldy/sour odor in the cabin. I've checked for spills, old food, and dead critters in the engine compartment and under the car and have found nothing unusual. According to my wife the smell seems to have coincided with the bottom side catalytic converter shield falling off last week.



I can't imagine how a CC shield could cause any odor but it is a data point. Any ideas on what could be causing this problem?



Thanks



The undercoating on the bottom of the car is being heated up without the shield in place.

Could catch fire?

Hi Richard,

thanks for the input. I would tend to agree with you but to clarify, the shield I'm referring to is the one closest to the road. I maybe be wrong but I wouldn't think this wouldn't heat any of the undercarriage. But I certainly wouldn't want to park in any grass.

/k

That being the case, you could ignore my post. I wonder if the material under the car where your wife parks is heating up and making the smell.

Another thing, given the heat this time of year, does that year not have a cabin air filter? If so, could it be dirty?

rtt

Does the smell coincide with running the A/C?

Nirav

96 Max GLE, 118k

or more specifically the clear tube that takes the condensed vapor from the ac and route it out of the cabin..... not saying the tree your wife ran over to knock the converter shield off might have had any effect on the drip tube..... Buttttt look for the tube under your glove box area going thru the firewall

also change the cabin air filter for giggle & grins.

Its been hot outside lately and likely its mould in the A/C. You will need to kill the bacteria by spraying the air input with a germicide that will solve your problem. Check you auto parts supply store or dealer, they should point you in the right direction for the spray.

Have fun.

You may want to try replacing the in-cabin HVAC micro-filter first

if that does not work , a company called BG makes a foaming evaporator cleaner that kills mold and helps dissipate the gunk that tends to collect on the evaporator core over time.

I have used that product and offer it to our customers, I believe it works quite well and is a good service for customers that are sensitive to airborne allergens.

A friend at work is having to sell her nissan because of a mold problem. When the AC is running it makes her very sick.

Any solutions in addition to the ones talked about? Could this problem be typical with autos or just with the Nissan?

A friend at work is having to sell her nissan because of a mold problem. When the AC is running it makes her very sick.

Any solutions in addition to the ones talked about? Could this problem be typical with autos or just with the Nissan?

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