Soon after I got the car in February, I noticed a mild smell that went away. Now that its been getting warmer, especially today, the car smells like a dead animal (maybe a relative of the hamster...). So what should I do. I am due to get an oil change and air filter replacement next week, but am concerned that it will not help. Whenever I take the A/C off of recirculate, the smell becomes worse. I have installed two Febreeze vent clips, and they are helping some, but not totally. It is a super noticeable smell, as my mom, and friends from school have been commenting on the Odor. What should I do?
If the mouse or what ever is STILL in your car, you NEED to remove it! Then you can get rid of the smell. I had the same issue with my cobra in the garage. In the past 2 weeks, I've killed 5 mice and large chipmunk. They had chewed up some ins under my dash and had the ash tray half filled with bird food! Anything that wants to mess with my Cobra must die!! LOL
How about removing the cabin air filter to see if anything (or the remains of anything) falls out? Worst case scenario would be having to get an inspection camera to see inside the ductwork behind the dash.
I don't believe it's in the car/dash(I could be wrong), as he said when the fan is on recirc the smell is not there. I believe it's going to be outside under that grill. Get a flashlight and see of you can look down there. You might have to take the cover off if soap/bleach rinse doesn't help.
Oh goodness. That would freak me out--the smell. It seems as if something crawled up in your engine (quite possibly the air intake compartment) and died. May have been a rodent. It could also be a bird that you have hit that went in near the grill. My best advice to you would be to visually inspect your vehicle. Sounds funny, but open the hood up and smell around until you find a close trace. Look under a few wires and covers in there. You should also think about if it could have been a prank by someone or an enemy that would do acts like this such as putting a foul smelling odor chemical or dead rodent inside your car? If nothing else works, definitely consider letting Kia inspect it.
A lot of people must drive their Souls in really dusty places. I replaced my cabin air filter a couple weeks ago after a year of ownership, and except for a very few small pieces of debris in the pleats, the filter looked like new. There was almost no difference in appearance between the inlet side and the outlet side. I replaced it anyway as I had 4 new activated charcoal filters which I purchased from a Korean seller (and for less that 1 Fram fresh breeze would have cost, btw).