Trilapis
04-01-2017, 11:47 AM
Hi All,
It's been more than a year that i'm fighting this war against an invisible enemy in my car. This vile mold smell that gets caught in the clothes, in the hair, everywhere. It is very important to say from the beginning that at least on the surface there was no visible mold trace!
I am finding myself in the situation of running a bit out of solutions, but here are the steps i've completed so far in my quest. I have tried to take it step by step and tried to save as much original components as possible:
Roof lining - smelled bad - an upholsterer redid the textile part, using a lot of glue. I think it still smells. i will order a new one, found a resource.
Leather seat covers - although they looked IMPECCABLE the smell was unbearable and there were some greeny traces on the interior. I put them on a side and ordered new ones. as far as i know contaminated leather is impossible to be saved.
Seat foams - they smelled however there was no visible trace of mold - apart some black spots (not sure if this is mold or not). Left them soaked in a water basin together with all purpose cleaner for a few days and then left them in the sun to dry well. at the first glance they didn't smell. now with the new leather covers on top, if driving for more than 15 minutes, the clothes in contact with leather do smell. so not sure about those either. Couldn't find replacements for those.
Flooring - removed the flooring and again soaked it in water with detergent and then left it to dry in the sun. i don't think it smells.
Door panels, rear lateral panels - they smelled and when taken down there were some interior signs of mold. thoroughly cleaned and sprayed with anti mold detailer substance.
Car isolation - smelled really bad, threw it away and replaced it with Dynamat, behind the dash, on door panels, rear panels, underneath the rear seat etc.
Dashboard - dismantled it twice (lot of work, amazing mechanics). Dismantled all ventilation units, replaced the isolation material (it stank really bad). Cleaned the evaporator, the plenum (there's no pollen filter on this car). Ozoned the system multiple times. Still, when starting the ventilation seems that smell comes out of the grilles. Any ideas where we should clean?
The dashboard itself (the structure) smelled really bad. Found some replacements only in US (based in Europe) and shipping is more expensive than the part. BEar in mind that the dash material is a kind of plastic, again looking MINT but smelling like hell. We've painted the non-visible parts but i think it still smells.
steering wheel: replaced the leather on the wheel and the center piece and somehow tried to clean the airbag (yes, that smelled too).
To all the above i've added new leather covers and the situation is like this:
the car still smells. i'm really afraid that the new leathers might get contaminated. i'm not sure if i'm dealing with a contamination that is in the air or there are parts that still need changing. i'll change the roof, look for seat foams but they are hard to get and also for a dashboard structure. Again, this mofo of bacteria is invisible.
sorry for the long story but i'm wondering if anybody has encountered something like this and if there is a fix or a hint of what should i do. I'm grateful for an amazing team of leather specialists, detailers and mechanics that helped and made this project not cost a fortune.
currently i have requested a biological analysis of the air inside the car (yes, it has come to this) to try and identify the enemy and maybe find an antidote.
i just want to add that there was a point in which the interior was completely stripped down to bare metal (except for the steering wheel, that was smelling) and the smell was there. but i think (hope) it was coming from the steering wheel.
in the process we've used substances like Vital Oxide - sprayed everything with it, 3-4 ozone treatments, countless fogging of all components.
It's been more than a year that i'm fighting this war against an invisible enemy in my car. This vile mold smell that gets caught in the clothes, in the hair, everywhere. It is very important to say from the beginning that at least on the surface there was no visible mold trace!
I am finding myself in the situation of running a bit out of solutions, but here are the steps i've completed so far in my quest. I have tried to take it step by step and tried to save as much original components as possible:
Roof lining - smelled bad - an upholsterer redid the textile part, using a lot of glue. I think it still smells. i will order a new one, found a resource.
Leather seat covers - although they looked IMPECCABLE the smell was unbearable and there were some greeny traces on the interior. I put them on a side and ordered new ones. as far as i know contaminated leather is impossible to be saved.
Seat foams - they smelled however there was no visible trace of mold - apart some black spots (not sure if this is mold or not). Left them soaked in a water basin together with all purpose cleaner for a few days and then left them in the sun to dry well. at the first glance they didn't smell. now with the new leather covers on top, if driving for more than 15 minutes, the clothes in contact with leather do smell. so not sure about those either. Couldn't find replacements for those.
Flooring - removed the flooring and again soaked it in water with detergent and then left it to dry in the sun. i don't think it smells.
Door panels, rear lateral panels - they smelled and when taken down there were some interior signs of mold. thoroughly cleaned and sprayed with anti mold detailer substance.
Car isolation - smelled really bad, threw it away and replaced it with Dynamat, behind the dash, on door panels, rear panels, underneath the rear seat etc.
Dashboard - dismantled it twice (lot of work, amazing mechanics). Dismantled all ventilation units, replaced the isolation material (it stank really bad). Cleaned the evaporator, the plenum (there's no pollen filter on this car). Ozoned the system multiple times. Still, when starting the ventilation seems that smell comes out of the grilles. Any ideas where we should clean?
The dashboard itself (the structure) smelled really bad. Found some replacements only in US (based in Europe) and shipping is more expensive than the part. BEar in mind that the dash material is a kind of plastic, again looking MINT but smelling like hell. We've painted the non-visible parts but i think it still smells.
steering wheel: replaced the leather on the wheel and the center piece and somehow tried to clean the airbag (yes, that smelled too).
To all the above i've added new leather covers and the situation is like this:
the car still smells. i'm really afraid that the new leathers might get contaminated. i'm not sure if i'm dealing with a contamination that is in the air or there are parts that still need changing. i'll change the roof, look for seat foams but they are hard to get and also for a dashboard structure. Again, this mofo of bacteria is invisible.
sorry for the long story but i'm wondering if anybody has encountered something like this and if there is a fix or a hint of what should i do. I'm grateful for an amazing team of leather specialists, detailers and mechanics that helped and made this project not cost a fortune.
currently i have requested a biological analysis of the air inside the car (yes, it has come to this) to try and identify the enemy and maybe find an antidote.
i just want to add that there was a point in which the interior was completely stripped down to bare metal (except for the steering wheel, that was smelling) and the smell was there. but i think (hope) it was coming from the steering wheel.
in the process we've used substances like Vital Oxide - sprayed everything with it, 3-4 ozone treatments, countless fogging of all components.