I recently bought a 2003 XKR that had been sitting in a Garage for about 5 years. The car seems to be ok but it did get a little moist in the transit due to a window being slightly open. I took it to a car cleaner who did the whole wash, wax shampoo the rugs thing but I would like to keep that old musty car smell out. Whats the best way to minimize or eliminate that?

 

There are some canisters you can buy which are meant for caravans to aleave the smell when left for periods of time which have been known to work OK

The main cause is damp carpets, the only sure fire way is to replace them which is a bit extreme

 

A bag or jar of silica gel placed inside the vehicle will pull the moisture out of everything.

 

The smell is mold and is not easily removed. Here is a few products recommended by detailing forums.

Shurhold Moldaway Mold Remover, boat mold remover, marine mold remover

Stoner® XENIT Natural Citrus Mold Cleaner

1Z Einszett Klima-Cleaner Air Conditioner Treatment

You might discuss on such a forum for more focused answers.

_________

 

Plenty of good advice on products here.

In addition, check the A/C condensate drains aren't blocked. There's a drain tube runs down either side of the transmission and you should see water pooling under the parked car after it's been run. If these tubes become blocked or detached, the water drains into the vehicle footwells and smells foul.

It's a good plan to cycle the A/C from max cold through max hot and run it hot for a while. Perhaps a bit extreme for you in FL but it gets things dried out!

Graham

 

Thanks, I'll start with the drains and then work my way up the $+ food-chain on smell removal.

 

Presumably not a convertible - top down and sunshine fixes them !

 

Agree 100%....come on spring.

 

Actually top down + sunshine fixes everything - goodbye SAD.

 

You could try washing the whole car interior, such as the door panels, dash, winows, seat backs etc etc with a mild fragranced APC solution as and mouldy / smoky smells etc will hang on these surfaces too.

Good call on the A/C drains, but if you're doing that presumably you're going to replace the cabin pollen filter to encourage a fast free flow of clean fresh air into the vehicle.......perhaps a slight misting with a fragranced disinfectant prior to installation?

Once you've done that, there are A/C bombs available, something such as this although I'm sure there are others available

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct...EjGRhiyP0v-1pA

These are used when there is an old / musty or bacterial smell inside the vehicle, the bacteria lingers throughout the whole A/C system and it may take one or two applcations to help to eradicate the problem.

Perhaps before that, if you're totally sure you've washed down the carpets etc but there is still a damp smell, you could use a dehumidifier placed in the car to draw all out / any remaining moisture.

Good luck

 

Jim,

According to Brutal, the XK8/XKR was never factory-fitted with a cabin pollen filter. Perhaps that only pertains to the convertibles. Anyone know for sure?

 

Don't forget the trunk (boot) as well. I had a mold problem after storing my car here in Fl over the summer. Had some lingering odor until I pulled out the trunk floor partition and hosed it off with some carwash soap and let it dry in the sun. Helped alot. Also sprayed some disinfectant (Lysol), wetting the rest of the trunk liners. There's a boating product called Kanberra mold and odor remover that I'm going to try in my car this year. It's had good reviews on the boating forums

 

Assuming you don't see big clumps of mold growing out of the carpet, just go to the supermarket and get some Febreze which can be sprayed into the carpet and throughout the car and should neutralize minimal mold and all of the smell. They even have a car specific product that attaches to the air vents that you can leave on for a few days (or permanently if desired) to "freshen" the air coming into the car. Product works well in the home and car.

 

+1 on the dehumidifier. You will never solve the problem as long as there is moisture in the carpets or the padding. If this were summertime, I'd say to open it up and let it sit in the sun a few times, but in the winter you need to use some method to get the moisture out, whatever it is.

I live in Louisiana and have had to deal with soggy carpets a couple of times.

 

I have a home carpet and furniture cleaner that I've had great success using in car stink. I spilled 4 cups of brisket juice in my f150 carpet . It smelled like a dead cow. I poured a gallon of professional odor removal liquid on it with little change but I made a mixture of oxi clean 1 cup white vinegar 2tbs and water 6 cups . Blend the water and oxi clean first and add vinegar at last second before pouring onto carpet. Then used my furniture cleaning attachment the next day. For a mold induced by storage not saturation try using the formula in a spray bottle then massaging into carpet by hand and cleansing with furniture tool using formula in cleaner bottle an hour later. Leave windows open for a few days in garage.

 

Winters are very damp where I live, so a few years ago I fitted a 5" extractor fan in the garage wall. I leave it on 24/7 virtually all year round and it is sufficient to ensure the garage and car (I leave the windows down) remain nice and dry. It's only a 30W motor, so doesn't cost much in electricity.

 

Maybe I'm not the DIY'er everyone else is, but at my last detail of an older car (rat infestation-yuck!) they somehow filled the cabin with ozone. Killed every last germ and was SO new-car smelling I had to leave the windows down to drive it for a couple of days. Maybe ask around at professional cleaning/detailing shops.

 

This would work......pricey, but I suppose it would work in a basement or garage the rest of the time.

BilgeBuster™ for Mold Prevention

 

I use a concentrated commercial product called "Odorcide" on my boat, lifejackets, ski gloves and other things that get funky with river water. Mix with water and spray on. Inexpensive and effective.