god awful smell when drawing from outside

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by billnchristy, Apr 5, 2011.

  1. billnchristy

    billnchristy Active Member

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    If I am pulling in air from outside I get a smell like dog crap. I am not being colorful here, it smells like I literally stepped in some.

    I cleaned all the pine needles and junk out of the intake under the hood and I also pulled the filter, looked at it, even smelled it...it was fine.

    Kind of at a loss for what to do next. I was thinking of pulling everything again and blowing air from inside to out to see if anything comes out of the intake...any other ideas?

    I have found that it doesn't stink if I run in defrost or I am not getting blasted with the stink at least.

    It sucks because with the cool spring air I am being forced to run AC because I can't stand the smell.
     
    #1 billnchristy, Apr 5, 2011
  2. sipnfuel

    sipnfuel New Member

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    Did a rodent crawl into the cabin air intake and die?
     
    #2 sipnfuel, Apr 5, 2011
  3. Felt

    Felt Senior Member

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    I strongly suspect a mouse. They are not partial to Prius either .... had them in my Highlander and Acura.
     
    #3 Felt, Apr 5, 2011
  4. billnchristy

    billnchristy Active Member

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    Doesn't smell like death, just poop. The vent grate is not penetrated in any way either. Also, wouldn't it be sitting on the filter, or is there some shelving or something it could fall onto?
     
    #4 billnchristy, Apr 5, 2011
  5. dtuite

    dtuite Silverback

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    Annoyed any of your neigbors recently? Chased kids playing ball in the street? Simply live near a junior high school? How are you getting on with the old lady?

    Your olfactory analysis could be right on the money.
     
    #5 dtuite, Apr 5, 2011
  6. billnchristy

    billnchristy Active Member

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    Unfortunately we have probably annoyed all of the above...but the smell started with her at work.

    Any thoughts on poop removal? (Honestly think that you would see some clinging onto the mesh on the intake...) but isn't the intake covered by the hood too?
     
    #6 billnchristy, Apr 5, 2011
  7. sipnfuel

    sipnfuel New Member

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    I don't really know where the intake is but perhaps you can try the following:

    Take a shop vac and duct tape the hose to the intake. Run the vacuum. There's an exhaust on a shop vac. Smell the exhaust from the shop vac. If it stinks, you have isolated the problem, though fixing it is a different issue.

    It could be a 50 cent stink bomb. It could be actual poop macerated/aerated by someone driving in front of your wife and thusly sucked into the intake. It could be something that died.
     
    #7 sipnfuel, Apr 5, 2011
  8. phoenixgreg

    phoenixgreg Senior member

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    Have you tried injecting Lysol spray Fresh Linen scent into the intake with the AC running? I had a mysterious smell too, but my car is parked in a garage so it wasn't a prank. You've said there was no evidence of a rat or poop near the intake. Where to you park your Prius at night?

    BTW, the odor from my system was more of a urea smell.
     
    #8 phoenixgreg, Apr 6, 2011
  9. KK6PD

    KK6PD _ . _ . / _ _ . _

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    This reminds me of the old Redd Foxx joke..

    My girlfriend told me to kiss where where it smells....
    So I drove her to El Segundo....:eek:
     
    #9 KK6PD, Apr 6, 2011
  10. tpfun

    tpfun New Member

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    Or it could be a simple case of Prius hate.
     
    #10 tpfun, Apr 6, 2011
  11. rrolff

    rrolff Prius Surgeon

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    As mentioned it is very likely a rodent... Not sure how to pull stuff apart to check it...
     
    #11 rrolff, Apr 7, 2011
  12. billnchristy

    billnchristy Active Member

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    Hmm, ran vent yesterday and didn't stink so maybe we will be ok. Wife has the car today so I have the Fiesta.
     
    #12 billnchristy, Apr 7, 2011
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