Cabin air smells?

Ok so I recently bought a newer Tacoma, and the previous owner must of let his dogs basically live in the truck because hours later I still have not been able to vaccum out all the dog hair and some stains. I took apart the center console and removed all the seats and found dog puke or something similar inside and under upholstery clips. I put a new cabin air filter in and I still get this musky gross stale air/ dirty dog smell its driving me nuts its embarrassing when I have passengers. Any suggestions?

 

Did you not test it out before you bought it? That would have shown me that if the owner isn't able to take care of those little things, how is he/she going to take care of the bigger things when they come up(maintenance for example).

 

If the dealership febreezed/deodorized the fuck out of it then the smell may have been hidden for a while. Smaller stains could have been overlooked.

Either way, what about some sort of baking soda treatment or a bowl of vinegar.

Who knows if prior owner let wet dogs in? That smell could be all down in the fabric of everything.

 

Febreeze or use a steam cleaner if you have one.

Also when I installed a cabin air filter my air began to smell musty. It was gnarly. I took it out and the filter smelled musty. I put a dryer sheet on it and put it back in, helped make it better.

Could be your filter is adding bad scents also.
But seriously. Steam clean.

 

Mold in the hvac system possibly.

 

My car was 3 days old. So mold and mildew isn't particularly likely in his case.

 

Here in Portland it gets muggy, I smell that musty smell from a portable house a/c and sometimes my truck. Likely 1 of several odor problems OP might have.

oh Tailddrag, I meant OP not your post.

 

Gotcha. I'm on TW Mobile so it doesn't show any info.

Definitely possible in his case.

 

I believe I would try steam cleaning every inch of the upholstery. Maybe that would help kill any remaining nasties. Then maybe getting some quality upholstery shampoo. Seems to me most "smell good" stuff only mask's the smell of funky. They have some stuff like in this video and similar products you could try to chemically clean out your air ducts, maybe it would help, but I bet most of the smells is coming from the cushions and material.
http://youtu.be/1q3lFsZuOnY

 

Also you guys talking about the mold issue with a musky smell, that stuff and similar products like in the video I posted is supposed to kill mold etc.

 

Make sure and nail down the source before swinging for the fences. If the smell is significant on a hot & humid day, without the air/vent on, it's carpet or seats. If it starts to smell when the vent is turned on, it's probably mildew in the hvac plastic vent lines and/or the heater box. If it doesn't smell bad until the A/C is turned on, then its... heck, I don't know... can refrigerant go bad, or condensers mildew/mold out?

As a multi-dog owner of various breeds, I can say with certainty that humans are far more damaging to a truck's carpet then most dogs, unless they are peeing in the truck (pretty slim chance of that, unless the PO was an arse.) The stains on my F150 interior are from: the PO's Coffee spills, a buddies lacerated hand, and my grandma's pee! (not proud of that, just being honest!) The Pee was the worst (back seat). It took 4 or five dousings of Lysol spray to get that bacteria dead, then a good steam cleaning!

I'll take vomiting dogs over peeing grandmas any day!

 

Meguiars odor eliminator or the use osium air sanitizer, both products work good, the meguiars you spray on the interior of what all smells, and let it do its job... Hope this helps..

 

I have steam cleaned the entire truck and pull all upholstery apart and washed it all. Its coming out of the air vents. When I first turn the A/C on or off or change it on or off of re-circulation I smell it more then. And some days I don't notice it and other days I do and it hasn't made a difference in temperatures inside or outside. But yes I have been thinking about putting a Bounce dryer sheet in but I'm worried that's just a temporary fix..

 

Short term fix, spray an aerosol can of something antimicrobial, Lysol febreez or s specific product for this, from the intake in to sort of saturate the system.
Also turn off A/C 2-4 minutes before shutting off the truck, blow air on high to dry out the system, every time you drive.

 

My rival high school put fish in our HVAC.....maybe something is in yours?

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pEhqiCD27E

 

Get ahold of a can of Wurth Quick Fresh and follow the instructions on the can. Your troubles will be history.

 

If the previous owner had furry friends, there is a BIG possibility that the evaporator core is full of hair and mold. The only way, is to remove the evaporator core, spray it with the cemical they use for residential A/C's and hose the hell out of it with a spray gun. Then put it back in and take it to a place to re-charge you freon. I did that once, and it took care of a rat smell I had in a minivan I bought where the previous owner had hamsters for pets.

 

Foam Brite.