GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Hmm... I have no idea what is up with my car. For some reason, lately, everytime I try and turn on my air it smells like fish really bad. *(removed)* I just cleaned my car so I know it's not something IN my car ... but this fishy smell keeps eeking out of my vents. What is up with that!? Anyone have any clue? Thanks *haha*

Hey, Have you changed your in cabin filter yet? It might be time to change it. If not that, it could just be that you got a fish stuck in your vents Inder Singh

Anyone watch That 70's Show? Where Hyde and Fez put dead fish in Kelso's VW bus? Or when Hyde smeared cheese from his nachos under the seat of Eric's Vista Cruiser? Do you have any friends like that? lol!Seriously though, I get some funk coming from the vents occasionally. The latest aroma made it seem like someone took a leak down the cowl vents on the outside under the windshield. May sound far fetched to most of you guys, but anything is possible in my neighborhood. (removed)!First step may be to go to WAL*MART, Meijer, etc. and pick up a can of Ozium air sanitizer - you'll usually find it back in the automotive section. I use that stuff religiously. Switch off the A/C, spray it down into all of the vents on the dash, then crank the fan up on high, fresh air mode, and spray down the cowl vents on the outside. I believe the only place you'll need to spray is over on the passenger's side. Now, I'm not sure how much of the spray makes its way into the system this way, at least a little would if you sprayed in the right place.I remember a post around here somehwere of removing the black cowl trim to get better access to the vents... You may want to look into that... Now, the Ozium trick isn't a permanent solution, but it helps.Does it stink with or without the A/C on? I've found that sometimes the funk will go away if I turn on the A/C, but comes back when it is turned off..Also like trd4reel said, might want to change out the cabin air filter. When I changed mine out, after removing the fitler I gave the opening another shot of Ozium. I didn't do this, but you could probably also pull out the filter, turn on the fan, and spray some in there too, and it will find its way through the system...Another thing I do when using the A/C is to turn it off just a few minutes before you get where I'm, but keep the fan on high. That may help to clear some of the water from the system so it doesn't sit there and stagnate once you're parked. That seems to keep the funk down a little bit.

Maybe something crawled up in there and died!

and it's not that sulfur smell like rotten eggs from the exhaust, right?

I had the same thing. For me it was dead bugs in the cabin air filter. Last month I noticed another foul smell. Turned out to me sour milk that my dauther had spilled on the door.

yea, it's definently not coming from my exaust, and the problem is hopefully *crosses fingers* fixed. A friend of mine said he had the same problem let me use some disifectant spray he bought to spray into my vents below my windshield that we used. It smells a lot better now, hopefully it doesnt come back

i had that prob in my taurus and it was a bad heater core

If this is like any other import that uses undersize ductwork for the ventilation, then it is caused by condensation in the ductwork. If the AC is run for a few minutes (enough to get cold) then condensation builds up in the ductwork. This water collects dust and microbes that can form mold and will cause the odor. The only fix I have ever seen is to run the hot/warm air through the vents before turning off the vehicle. The air sterilization treatments (sprays) are only temporary solutions.

thanks, that could very well be it, i have been running my AC a lot lately (well, before it started smelling like bad salmon) I guess I'll have to do that if this disinfectant doesn't work

coolant kinda has a fishy smell too actually (well some coolant)

that AC spray stopped the problem, so i know that was the source.... it couldnt have been better timing either. The day my car started to smell funky was the first day in months I had to drive everyone from work to go get lunch ... ew

Quote, originally posted by vibe_raider »The day my car started to smell funky was the first day in months I had to drive everyone from work to go get lunch ... ew oh man, just think what was going through their heads!

Quote, originally posted by drunkenvibe »oh man, just think what was going through their heads! maybe a bit like your avatar drunken lol