Ozone machine alternatives

[avacado11]

Brought an ex rental mini van the other day. Thing smelled fine at delivery. Just a strong hotel smell(I figure they ran an ozone machine in it?). Now I get whiffs of wet dog every time i get into it. The smell lingers around headrest height. Only ever smell it when I get into the van or when I turn my head.

I gave the interior a good detail. Wipe down every panel with interior detailer, cleaned and conditioned the leather seats. Wiped dash and applied protectant. Cleaned all windows. The only places I haven’t touched are the carpets, head liner, and inside of vents. Can’t find the source of the smell. Just know it lingers in the air.

I’ve ran ozium, ozium gel can, and now meguiars fogger(didn’t run HVAC when using) The fogger got rid of most of the hotel smell but that’s when the wet dog smell started.

Whats my next best option? Buy a cheap $50 ozone generator and run it in the van for a few hours? Shampoo the carpet?

I have a new cabin air filter coming in the mail. The filter isn’t new but it isn’t horrible either.

 

[SHOZ]

I've got some 5v usb powered ones off eBay. No moving parts. Cheap.

 

[Owen Lucas]

I would strip the interior, pull the carpet and padding, clean the floor and powerwash the carpet or even run it through the largest washing machine at a laundromat.

The carpet might come in 2 sections so that would be easier to wash. Might as well replace the padding if present.

Removing the seats might require an srs reset though.

 

[Rmay635703]

I assume you’ve pulled the cabin filter and blew it out with a leaf blower then replaced with a new filter?

Yes an industrial ozone generator does wonders too bad they are expensive and unreliable.

If the carpet and seats got soaked with nasty and surface cleaned it’s a tough problem

 

[I<3oil]

$50-100 ozone generator, yup

took a few times but completely took the smoke smell out of my old truck that a chain-smoker owned before me

 

[avacado11]

I assume you’ve pulled the cabin filter and blew it out with a leaf blower then replaced with a new filter?

Yes an industrial ozone generator does wonders too bad they are expensive and unreliable.

If the carpet and seats got soaked with nasty and surface cleaned it’s a tough problem

I’ve smelled the carpet and mats up close they smell fine. Headliner is ok too. Van was smoked in at one point honestly some ash between the window seals which I just cleaned out. Still doesn’t explain the wet dog smell though. Smell seems to be centered between first and second row, but upon inspection it’s all spotless under the seat and in the console. I thought maybe it’s the perforated seats but those don’t smell of anything other than the leather conditioner I applied.

Going to run Lysol through the HVAC intake once that new CAF comes. Do I bite the bullet on a $60 ozone machine or could the money be better spent on a steam cleaner for the seat perforations & headliner? Trying to not spent a ton on detailing stuff - all my other cars are kept clean so anything I buy will likely just take up space after I clean up the van

 

[Rmay635703]

What your describing could be a fouled HVAC, mine goes from wet dog to mold smell.

If you run the “professional use only” ozium directly into the hvac ac air pickup with on full recirculating doors closed as soon as you can and let it sit a while that might help.

Be careful as you can asphyxiate yourself as ozium is actually kind of dangerous. (Aka you really don’t want to be breathing during the 30 seconds to a minute it goes directly in)

Remember that there are specialty cabin air filters with baking soda and other novelties, if you run ozium straight through the hvac you will want the filter removed or replaced.

 

[Boomer]

Steam clean the carpets.

 

[eljefino]

Ya gotta pull the carpets. This will provide info, though, as you'll know if they already pulled the seats and carpets to prep this thing for sale. (If you don't have a bunch of candy and nickels under the seat it was just detailed.) If they did, they were chasing this smell, thoroughly. Maybe it was flooded.

Wash it with your weapon of choice then lay the carpet and its padding on the pavement in the sun for a day or three. Wipe down your metal floor pans. Then after you put it all back together run the ozonator, they really are good.

 

[Astro14]

If you’re still running the same Cabin Air Filter, start there. Don’t spend money on anything else until there is a clean CAF in the car.

 

[Kira]

Year, make, model and mileage, please.

For the many occasions interior odors come up, it's funny there appears to be no "data base" of vehicles which are more prone to collecting water or otherwise generating smells.

Does the OP's vehicle have a sunroof? Leakage in the draining system could be involved.
Are the headrests removable? They may have been removed temporarily and stored in a damp, musty location.
Headrests in a rental may have been stolen and replaced with soaked junkyard ones.....unlikely....

 

[Creekside]

I would strip the interior, pull the carpet and padding, clean the floor and powerwash the carpet or even run it through the largest washing machine at a laundromat.

The carpet might come in 2 sections so that would be easier to wash. Might as well replace the padding if present.

Removing the seats might require an srs reset though.

Agree with this ^^^^ once it's in the carpet(if it is) then this is the only way to really eliminate it. I'm currently working on a semi tractor that sat for many years and mice moved in. The passenger seat was brown instead of original gray from mice and who knows what else. I couldn't get rid of the smell cleaning it in place so I pulled it and went to town with carpet cleaner, a garden hose and a scrub brush. It took multiple treatments but the seat looks and smells new. Drivers seat is getting the same today.

 

[avacado11]

Year, make, model and mileage, please.

For the many occasions interior odors come up, it's funny there appears to be no "data base" of vehicles which are more prone to collecting water or otherwise generating smells.

Does the OP's vehicle have a sunroof? Leakage in the draining system could be involved.
Are the headrests removable? They may have been removed temporarily and stored in a damp, musty location.
Headrests in a rental may have been stolen and replaced with soaked junkyard ones.....unlikely....

2022 Chrysler Pacifica 60k miles. No sun roof on this one. Not sure if headrests are removable haven’t tried them yet. But the headrests smell fine too. The scent really has me puzzled. Typically I can pin point the general area but this one seems to be different every time. The only place where I don’t smell it is in the 3rd row. A few times I thought it was my own body odor but it’s impossible because it smells even after a shower. A mix between smoker, smelly shoe, and wet dog.

Stale bacteria trapped in the headliner? Maybe. Ordered an ozone machine gonna run it for half and hour to see if it does anything. Not sure what else I can do after other than pulling the carpet and cleaning under. Although not sure if it’s worth the effort. Stow & go system seems to be pretty complex to disassemble. I would just live with the smell at that point.

 

[Owen Lucas]

If you can get to the evaporator that might be worth investigating it. If it’s covered in dog hair or dirty, that might be your cultprit.