Mildew problem

[Just a Ninja]

Short version: After several months of trying to locate the source of a faint mildew smell that happened for a couple days after every rain.. I finally found it - there was a hole in the firewall that wasn't sealed well - the leak is fixed now. But by the time I found it the mold smell was constant and pretty strong. Took it to a local detailing shop and they put an ozone machine in it overnight along with some other tricks I guess. While it seemed much better, that was about a week ago and the smell is slowly coming back - obviously because the mold is behind the dash so the source hasn't been removed.

Question - any great ideas on the best way to go about getting rid of the smell? It's so bad my clothes smell for hours after being in the LC. Pay someone to remove the entire dash and rip everything moldy out and replace? I'm willing to pay for it, just want to make sure no one here has a better idea before I go for it.

Thanks guys!

 

[Markuson]

Short version: After several months of trying to locate the source of a faint mildew smell that happened for a couple days after every rain.. I finally found it - there was a hole in the firewall that wasn't sealed well - the leak is fixed now. But by the time I found it the mold smell was constant and pretty strong. Took it to a local detailing shop and they put an ozone machine in it overnight along with some other tricks I guess. While it seemed much better, that was about a week ago and the smell is slowly coming back - obviously because the mold is behind the dash so the source hasn't been removed.

Question - any great ideas on the best way to go about getting rid of the smell? It's so bad my clothes smell for hours after being in the LC. Pay someone to remove the entire dash and rip everything moldy out and replace? I'm willing to pay for it, just want to make sure no one here has a better idea before I go for it.

Thanks guys!

Fabreeze.

Stuff works miracles.

Also... If you fear there is still moisture in there...fan blasting the area for 24 hours. Move that air around directly.

 

[TheBigB]

Breathing mold that strong in an enclosed space could be dangerous. Call a professional mold removal service and ask for suggestions. Put some of that Damp Rid throughout the car. You can get stuff like that at the grocery store.

 

[grinchy]

If you know where the hole is can you unplug and use that hole as a way to treat the mold?

 

[g1701gst]

I had a slight mildew smell coming from the AC system when I bought my car a year ago. First I removed the cabin air filter and vacuumed that area out along with the fresh air intake under the hood (below the passenger windshield wiper). I found lots of leaves, pine needles, and dog hair? I then sprayed a can of Armor All FRESHfx Cleaner in the intake while the system was running. I then sprayed everything I could reach through the recirculation door in the glove box and all the vents. Lastly, I turned the heater to max and let it run for an hour or two on a hot day in the sun. The heat dried everything out and killed all the smells. I installed a new cabin air filter and have been fresh ever since. Hope that helps, petty sure I read about this trick on here.
Amazon product ASIN B079TM4RV6

 

[NoClue]

You have mildew underneath your carpets. Mold remediation will be necessary which entails a lot of work. Complete interior and carpet removal, cleaning & sanitizing the body, and installation of new carpet and sound insulation.

 

[Just a Ninja]

ok, I'm going to try a couple of these before resorting to taking it somewhere

I do know where the hole was, it's been completely sealed with silicone - but I did think about putting another hole in it to be able to soak the insulation in there with vinegar or something to try to kill it.

I've checked the carpet of both front floorboards and they don't smell moldy at all - but the smell is really strong where the windshield meets the dash and where the A-pillar meets the dash - so I'm pretty sure the problem is contained to the insulation against the firewall.

Thanks everyone

 

[Markuson]

Smell doesn’t automatically mean dangerous mold...

 

[Just a Ninja]

Well I resorted to removing the entire dash and soaking the insulation in vinegar and letting it dry and I THINK I may have solved the mold issue - but now I have to solve the "try to get everything installed back correctly" issue....

 

[RET2]

Well I resorted to removing the entire dash and soaking the insulation in vinegar and letting it dry and I THINK I may have solved the mold issue - but now I have to solve the "try to get everything installed back correctly" issue....View attachment 2493675

Holy Chit Batman, quick trade it in.

 

[grinchy]

Oh boy! Can I ask how many hours to get to this state? I’ve got some circulation fan noise and may have to disassemble dash to get to the fan

 

[bloc]

Well I resorted to removing the entire dash and soaking the insulation in vinegar and letting it dry and I THINK I may have solved the mold issue - but now I have to solve the "try to get everything installed back correctly" issue....View attachment 2493675

I identify with your neurotic pursuit of things being just right.

 

[Markuson]

Well I resorted to removing the entire dash and soaking the insulation in vinegar and letting it dry and I THINK I may have solved the mold issue - but now I have to solve the "try to get everything installed back correctly" issue....View attachment 2493675

!!

 

[sdnative]

Where is this hole?

 

[Just a Ninja]

I identify with your neurotic pursuit of things being just right.

I once tore out my entire master bathroom (shower/tb, toilet, sink, sheetrock, everything) on the spur of the moment because I thought the shower was leaking and couldn't figure it out and it was just bugging me to death - turns out it was leaking inside the wall so it was good I tore into it -but then it took me 3 months to get everything remodeled so hopefully the Cruiser will go faster than that

Oh boy! Can I ask how many hours to get to this state? I’ve got some circulation fan noise and may have to disassemble dash to get to the fan

Only took about 2-3 hours to get to that point - everything is surprisingly easy to remove except all the wires that are attached with plastic clips to the inside of the dash on the passenger's side which are hard to get to since they're holding the dash so tight. This includes taking the time to separate parts and label all the bolts /etc. I expect to have less than 6 "extra" parts when I get done reassembling lol... I've been working and out of town all week so haven't had time until today to start on mold remediation so we'll see if this was a complete waste of time

Where is this hole?

Hole was in the firewall directly in front of the steering wheel, near the factory grommet where everything goes in, which is why it was so hard to find in the first place. Looks like someone just drilled a hole in it for some wiring at some point I guess.

 

[Just a Ninja]

Ok well.. hope I solved the mildew smell issue but it'll take a few days to be sure.

Got everything back together, went better than I thought and only took about 3 hours. Only issue is every single function works EXCEPT the volume on the radio. Zero sound comes out and the little notification doesn't show up when turning the volume knob. All the connections seem to be correct. I'm thinking this is an electrical malfunction rather than a connection mistake.
Any ideas would be awesome. Thanks guys.

 

[linuxgod]

For the radio I'm guessing a loose pin on one of the wiring harnesses. I could easily see one of the wires coming a bit loose and pulling slightly out of the connector. Just a hunch.

If there's any smell left, get some unscented Febreeze. Seriously. I had a 5 gallon jerry can fall over in the truck of my 3rd gen 4Runner. Wet vac, detailer, ozonator... nothing would permanently get rid of the smell. As a last ditch effort before I was ready to dump it in a lake (or toss the keys on the seat in a bad part of town like that Seinfeld with the BO car) a friend suggested I tried a bottle of Febreeze. Amazingly after 2-3 applications the smell was completely gone afterwards.

 

[Markuson]

For the radio I'm guessing a loose pin on one of the wiring harnesses. I could easily see one of the wires coming a bit loose and pulling slightly out of the connector. Just a hunch.

If there's any smell left, get some unscented Febreeze. Seriously. I had a 5 gallon jerry can fall over in the truck of my 3rd gen 4Runner. Wet vac, detailer, ozonator... nothing would permanently get rid of the smell. As a last ditch effort before I was ready to dump it in a lake (or toss the keys on the seat in a bad part of town like that Seinfeld with the BO car) a friend suggested I tried a bottle of Febreeze. Amazingly after 2-3 applications the smell was completely gone afterwards.

Fabreeze really does work miracles.

 

[Just a Ninja]

For the radio I'm guessing a loose pin on one of the wiring harnesses. I could easily see one of the wires coming a bit loose and pulling slightly out of the connector. Just a hunch.

If there's any smell left, get some unscented Febreeze. Seriously. I had a 5 gallon jerry can fall over in the truck of my 3rd gen 4Runner. Wet vac, detailer, ozonator... nothing would permanently get rid of the smell. As a last ditch effort before I was ready to dump it in a lake (or toss the keys on the seat in a bad part of town like that Seinfeld with the BO car) a friend suggested I tried a bottle of Febreeze. Amazingly after 2-3 applications the smell was completely gone afterwards.

I'm guessing you're right on the loose connection - because I went out there to test it and it magically is working now, so I'm guessing it'll go out again eventually.


I soaked all the insulation in a vinegar solution to kill the mold, let that dry then soaked it in FEBREZE.... it still just smells like Febreze in there now so I think it might've worked - planning on putting a fan in there tomorrow to make sure it all dried up,

 

[dcs111]

We had a rental house with a basement that developed a mold problem downstairs. Ultimately we had to vacuum all surfaces with a HEPA vacuum, fog with mold remediation product (Home Depot product), and then installed a dehumidifier. It worked... it was months of weekend work... if it’s mold, you gotta get rid of it... you gotta get rid of the water source... and you gotta keep the relative humidity below 70%... not sure how you do that last part with a car in a garage...