Horrible Smell!!

I had a horrible smell in my 2000 Tacoma. Turns out a rat had gotten into the driver side inner fender well through the engine bay and got trapped in the aft end where it slopes down towards the lower front part of the cab. Fished it out with a coat hanger.

 

OMG!Stupid rat...lol

 

had a rat die behind the dishwasher when I lived in downtown charleston and it was friggin awful.

cant imagine how bad it would stink in a closed quarter like a truck.

 

Yeah, it smelled terrible! Middle of summer also! I crawled all around the underside of that truck trying to find the source! I thought it might have been roadkill that got stuck underneath somewhere.

 

so just got home from work, and (hope this makes sense) but as i was driving the smell seemed to go away but when i got in my driveway i put it in park but kept the truck running (was listening to the end of a song) but as it was just sitting there running the smell came back...

its hard to describe this smell.. kinda smells like a rusty type smell? but idk lol all i know is that its horrible and i want it GONE!

i dont really think its rats cause here in beaufort we dont really have rat problems (that i am aware of, and ive lived here all my life) so i dont know what it could be, and like i said before ive literally looked at every inch under the truck to see if something was up there and theres nothing...

 

Oh.... the memories...... That is good stuff for sabotage.

 

A/C on or off? there is a product ive used to get rid of smells from the air system its called Klima Clean made by einszett. Its pretty cheap and IMHO worth the money leaves a fresh smell. real easy to use stick a tube down your air vent and spray... few other steps but easy

 

^^^ I agree it may just be mold from the moisture in the AC Evaporator.

Very common problem.

 

Were you listening to "That Smell" by Lynyrd Skynyrd?

 

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/07/14/study-says-smelling-farts-can-be-good-for/?intcmp=obinsite

 

I get a musty smell the comes from the doors after it rains out. I'm guessing that water gets down inside my doors when it rains. Its really noticeable when it gets hot out and the windows are down. Comes from this area.

 

^^^ This. I had a Walmart bag fuse itself to my exhaust pipe. It melted/shrank down to a hard substance that did not want to come off the pipe and only smelled after the car had been running awhile. The smell lasted for months until I was able to scrape a good bit of it off.

Now I swerve hard whenever I see a bag floating across the road.

 

That's funny.
I always make it a point to go around those bags.
As long as it's clear tho'.

 

This happens about every 2 years on mine, smells like old socks. Drop the windows leave running and shoot 1/2 a can of lysol down the cowl intake. Works like a champ and you are good to go. Leave it running for 15-20 mins and leave the windows down to vent for a few hours afterwards.

 

You don't have a brake caliper hanging up, do you? Could the smell be coming from the wheel area? You could also have a cat converter stinking.....Also, a cat liked to pee on the hood of my 2000 Tacoma and the stink would come in through the vents untill I saw him in the act.

 

Are you leaving the AC fan/vent set on "recirculate" all the time?

I was sitting in the local Toyoto dealership recently when the service guy comes out to talk to a young guy about his car. He was explaining they had cleaned the vents, replaced the cabin filter etc etc and found nothing out of the ordinary. The guy was insisting there was still a "stuffy" odor in his car. They suggested he keep the vent on "fresh" air as much as possible unless maximum cooling was needed. (Duhh!)

The young dude said he thought his AC would not operate unless on MAX/Recirculate.

 

I get this on my 1st gen driver door when I open the window. never on the passenger side. it's definitely musty smelling but it kinda goes away when driving so I just let it go

 

Are you the original owner of the truck?

 

Your doors should have drains in the bottom. Make sure they are not plugged up.

 

Any updates? I'm curious to know what you found.