blongo804
New member
Hey everyone,
I recently picked up a '12 GTI 2-door for what I thought was a great deal. I loved the car since the first test drive, but I knew it had a funky smell that I assumed I can easily get rid of.. You know what they say when you assume. So let's get right to it..
- It has the good 'ol "sweaty feet"/mold smell.
- I've tried the Kilma Cleaner spray method to clear out the evaporator coils. It took the cleaner some time to set in, but suddenly my A/C drain was running like a river out of the car.
- After the Kilma treatment, I put in a new Mann charcoal cabin filter.
- After that, I tried one of those Meguiar's de-odorizer spray bomb things. Car smelt decent.
- Smell came back over the course of a few days.
- I then tried spraying Ozium into the cabin air intake under the cowl. Out of the 3.8oz can, I've probably used almost 3 of those ounces.
- The Ozium made the cabin air smell good coming in, but I don't think the incoming air smell was really the issue because the smell is present from the moment you open a door or the hatch with no air on.
Now I come here because I've been doing some reading and it seems there's a lot of other possibilities.
I tried a quick test on my sunroof drains, at least the front. I poured water into the driver/passenger front drain, and watched water come out of the fender liners, nothing onto the footwell carpets that I felt. Not sure if that's a good sign, or if there's water potentially pooling up elsewhere still.
I tried pouring water into the cowl area, it also drained out of the fender liners. Again, maybe it's still molded up somewhere? Not sure how fast or nicely it should stream out of the sunroof or cowl drains because it was kind of splatter-y draining, if that makes sense.
I checked for pooled water under the spare tire - it was a little cruddy under there, but no signs of mold/water. I will say, the hatch jamb and taillights were pretty scummy before I cleaned them. I read that the taillight seals can allow water in. Should I remove the taillights next?
Ugh.. Just running out of ideas and am hoping for some help. I really love the car, but I can't keep dealing with this smell for much longer. It's literally disgusting and sticks to clothes, gym bag, and other.
:help:
I recently picked up a '12 GTI 2-door for what I thought was a great deal. I loved the car since the first test drive, but I knew it had a funky smell that I assumed I can easily get rid of.. You know what they say when you assume. So let's get right to it..
- It has the good 'ol "sweaty feet"/mold smell.
- I've tried the Kilma Cleaner spray method to clear out the evaporator coils. It took the cleaner some time to set in, but suddenly my A/C drain was running like a river out of the car.
- After the Kilma treatment, I put in a new Mann charcoal cabin filter.
- After that, I tried one of those Meguiar's de-odorizer spray bomb things. Car smelt decent.
- Smell came back over the course of a few days.
- I then tried spraying Ozium into the cabin air intake under the cowl. Out of the 3.8oz can, I've probably used almost 3 of those ounces.
- The Ozium made the cabin air smell good coming in, but I don't think the incoming air smell was really the issue because the smell is present from the moment you open a door or the hatch with no air on.
Now I come here because I've been doing some reading and it seems there's a lot of other possibilities.
I tried a quick test on my sunroof drains, at least the front. I poured water into the driver/passenger front drain, and watched water come out of the fender liners, nothing onto the footwell carpets that I felt. Not sure if that's a good sign, or if there's water potentially pooling up elsewhere still.
I tried pouring water into the cowl area, it also drained out of the fender liners. Again, maybe it's still molded up somewhere? Not sure how fast or nicely it should stream out of the sunroof or cowl drains because it was kind of splatter-y draining, if that makes sense.
I checked for pooled water under the spare tire - it was a little cruddy under there, but no signs of mold/water. I will say, the hatch jamb and taillights were pretty scummy before I cleaned them. I read that the taillight seals can allow water in. Should I remove the taillights next?
Ugh.. Just running out of ideas and am hoping for some help. I really love the car, but I can't keep dealing with this smell for much longer. It's literally disgusting and sticks to clothes, gym bag, and other.
:help:
