Need help finding/eliminating bad odor

[jqe]

Hello,

Based on the smell that comes from my 09 Corolla, I would say a small animal must have died somewhere in the front of my car. I checked under the hood numerous times and don't see anything.

The odor starts when I first start the car; it doesn't smell before starting. It seems that the smell is coming from the passenger side vent on the dash or that general area. I shined a flashlight in the vent and did not see anything. The smell stops after 5-10 minutes but lingers a while longer.

Looking for any ideas on how to track down and remove the varmint and/or the cause of the odor.

The smell started after my car sat unused in my garage for 4 days while on vacation. No one was around to open the garage door.

Thanks

[pinoyesv6]

have u changed the cabin filter?

[scathma]

Have you ruled out mold in your a/c system?

[jqe]

Per the reply posted, looked at the air conditioner filter. Turns out a family of rats decided to live there. Found 4 dead baby rats/mice who were wedged in the filter tracks. There were also some live maggots in the filter. The mother/father rat also brought in their own fiberglass insulation for nesting.

Now I gotta find out how the rats/mice got into my garage, if they're still around, etc.

[OkSlim]

that sucks. I have a cat that wondered up to my house when it was barely weaned.
We kept it as an outside cat. She brings me mice and lays them at the back door on a regular basis.
I live in the country.

[cabur]

Imagine the rats on your lap while in traffic. Would be quite a shock.
Did'nt you hear any noise or anything like scratch marks or debris other than the foul odor?

[OkSlim]

You are also really lucky the didn't chew up some wire that would require hours of trouble shooting and having to pull the whole dash to repair.

[Pwner Guy]

Thats not too uncommon. Even from cars in the city I dig out nests about once a week at least. One RAV4 I had to remove the blower motor to get the dog food and sunflower seeds out, it was full to the top lol

[CJCride]

I heard pepermint oil repels rodents. I wonder if a pepermint scented car freshener would deter the "Dirty Rats"

[gfrphoto]

So what about a mold issue. I live in FL, and it gets nice and warm and humid and with the cold dry A/C air I can imagine there is quite a condensation build up. It seems to come and go, but some days when I first start up the car is smells like and old gym towel. What steps can I go about trying to get rid of the smell - other than overpowering it with nasty air-fresheners?

[pinoyesv6]

LYSOL spray into the ac's air intake