Forums >Gears and Wears>Adventures in Driving. AKA: RA Car Talk.

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Adventures in Driving. AKA: RA Car Talk. (Read 895 times)

Trent


Good Bad & The Monkey

    posted: 6/15/2009 at 8:47 PM
    Driving from Nashville to Lake Nebagamon, Wisconsin (54849).

     

    Night one, just north of Indy, the car started vibrating and making a high-tempo clicking noise.  The tempo did not change with the car speed.  After 20 miles, we got to our destination and I looked into it, under the hood.  It turns out that the vibration stopped when the A/C fan was off, and was louder and faster when it was high.

     

    Fine, the AC fan rotor or belt or blade was broken.  No big deal.  We'd fix it when we had a chance.

     

    Day two.  A warm drive to Chicago with the A/C fan on low.  No big deal.  Early to Chicago to spend the day and the next morning there.

     

    Day three. Got in the car just after noon, turned it on.

     

    Ewwwwwwwwwwww.  What a horrible terrible stench.  Like. Um.  Roadkill.

     

     

    Dead animal in the A/C?!?

     

    Day four.  The stench is worse.  And the weather has been hot.

     

    Criminy.

     

    Anybody with experience with this one?  Toyota Sienna 2003.


    Teresadfp


    One day at a time

      posted: 6/15/2009 at 8:49 PM

      Ooh, ychh!  No, my only adventure in driving this week has been for DS (the fast runner who does great in school) to fail his driver's test for the THIRD TIME!!  Sigh.  That stinks, too, lol.

      zoom-zoom


      rectumdamnnearkilledem

        posted: 6/15/2009 at 9:02 PM
        Good thing we're having a cool Summer in these parts.  It does sound like maybe a critter got tangled in the A/C...kamikaze flying monkey, perhaps?

        Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

        remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.    

             ~ Sarah Kay

        dnephin


          posted: 6/15/2009 at 9:33 PM
          Quote from Teresadfp on 6/15/2009 at 8:49 PM:

          Ooh, ychh!  No, my only adventure in driving this week has been for DS (the fast runner who does great in school) to fail his driver's test for the THIRD TIME!!  Sigh.  That stinks, too, lol.

          Well, look on the bright side: at least he can run most anywhere.

          Craig S


          Menace to Sobriety

            posted: 6/15/2009 at 9:44 PM
            Might be fungi/mold growing in the foam insulation in the  evaporator. Its porous and collects moisture. It happens sometimes when the AC stops working. Why the AC quit, I can't say, but this might be what is causing the smell.

            Janie, today I quit my job. And then I told my boss to go f*** himself, and then I blackmailed him for almost sixty thousand dollars. Pass the asparagus.

            Trent


            Good Bad & The Monkey

              posted: 6/15/2009 at 9:48 PM
              modified: 6/15/2009 at 9:54 PM
              Craig.  I wish.  The A/C and fan still work.  The fan just makes a load of noise.  When it is on high, it makes more noise and more stink.  When it is on low it makes less noise and less stink.

               

              And that is dead critter smell, to be sure.  If I could get it out, I could make me some burgoo.


              Wingz


              Professional Noob

                posted: 6/15/2009 at 9:51 PM
                I think you're probably right about a critter being caught inside the engine.  A recently run engine is a nice, snuggly, warm spot to some animals.  At least it wasn't a skunk? 

                 

                 

                Hope nothing else was damaged!

                Roads were made for journeys...

                Mile Collector


                Abs of Flabs

                  posted: 6/15/2009 at 10:49 PM
                  If you call up the Car Talk guys, they'll tell you a mouse has crawled into the vents and died there.  I don't remember what they say about how to get rid of it though.
                  mamaofthree


                  Best Present Ever

                    posted: 6/15/2009 at 11:24 PM
                    The only thing that sounds worse than a car that smells like old roadkill is a car full of kids kvetching about a car that smells like roadkill. Maybe get.a rental car and hope the smell has worked itself out by the time you get back to the car?
                    Trent


                    Good Bad & The Monkey

                      posted: 6/15/2009 at 11:25 PM
                      Three kids and a dog in this car with us.

                       

                      4 days.

                       

                      Just sayin'


                      ymmv


                        posted: 6/16/2009 at 4:23 AM
                        Quote from Trent on 6/15/2009 at 11:25 PM:
                        Three kids and a dog in this car with us.

                         

                        4 days.

                         

                        Just sayin'


                         

                        You inadvertently  stopped near a panera bread. A resident rodent climbed into your car, looking for food (not 'food'), found none and collapsed.

                        Let the car cool off. Open the hood. Let the dog into the engine compartment. Whatever part of the engine he rubs himself on is where the critter is. Once found, you can get to work determining the best treatment or cause of death.

                        sluggo


                        John

                          posted: 6/16/2009 at 5:06 AM
                          I would love to hear you talk to the Car Talk guys about this. They might even have a good idea on what to check.

                           

                          In the meantime, I hope you can get home and get the car to a good repair shop that can root out the real problem.

                           

                           The whole thing sounds pretty gross. At least you will be able to laugh about this is a year or so.

                           

                          Personally, I like the mold thought. There could be a water leak somewhere that collected and promoted unwanted mold that is now decaying.


                          John
                          www.wickedrunningclub.com

                          In the beginning, the universe was created.This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.

                          --- Douglas Adams, in "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe"

                          SForrester


                            posted: 6/16/2009 at 7:03 AM
                            Mouse family in the AC/ heat blower motor.  The Dad was having a hard time at work and had a little too much to drink.  It should be behind the glove compartment.
                            MrFinn


                            Prince of Fatness

                              posted: 6/16/2009 at 7:37 AM
                              I agree with the little critter theory.  There's no mistaking that road kill smell, so if that is what you are saying you smelled then there you go.

                               

                              I really don't have any suggestions other than maybe try to find instructions online for replacing the cabin filter (most cars have them these days).  Trace from the area of the filter is (as said before usually behind the glove box) and see if you can find the critter.

                               

                              If you get the critter out then maybe spray lysol or something similar through there while the fan is blowing in order to disinfect and get some of the stench out.


                              Not at it at all. 

                              smitty42


                                posted: 6/16/2009 at 8:37 AM
                                It takes a while for the animal to decay.  We had mice several years ago in our old house under the enclosed porch.  I decided to poison them to get rid of the problem.  However, the mice climbed up into the wall and died.  They showed me - it stunk.  There was no way to get to them without ripping apart the wall because we didn't know exactly where they were.  We had to have an exterminator come out, locate the problem and inject some solution into the wall cavity to speed up the decomposition process.
                                "If I control myself, I control my destiny."
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