Interior Smells

[NTL1991]

The previous owner of my Bravada smoked and during their ownership, the heater core went out and (I'm assuming) some antifreeze/water leaked into the carpet. When I ran my speaker wires, I noticed the padding under the carpet smelt like a locker room. I don't fell like pulling seats and everything out to pull the carpet, though.

I've tried carpet foams with hours and hours of scrubbing by hand, and all that left was an ammonia smell... I've tried GM's Odor Eliminator (which, according to it's TSB, is supposed to do miracles: GM Part # 1237855). and neither method has worked...

I'm thinking about renting an Ozone machine and throwing it in the truck for a day or so... That should clear it up, but I wanted to know if anyone has tackled smells in their truck...

Any ideas?

[Sammytheorangutan]

You said you've already spent "hours and hours of scrubbing by hand". In 45 minutes, you could have pulled all the seats out. In 2 hours, you could have pulled up the old carpet and replaced it with brand new and in another 45 minutes you could have reinstalled the seats. Depending on what things you have on the roof (console, grab handles, etc.) it might take another couple of hours to swap out headliners. Most of a days work but you end up with a fresh smelling truck. This is really the only way to do it right. You'd have around $400-$500 in it but there wouldn't be any smell left. That price (if you look around) would be for brand new carpet (I recommend ACC), brand new headliner and used (but not smelly) seats. If you have leather seats, you can simply wipe them down with a good leather cleaner (NOT ArmorAll unless you like sliding from the drivers seat into the passengers seat...seems romantic until you do it involuntarily at 60mph).

Spend the money and do it right or buy something else. Letting it air out certainly helps the smoke/mildew smell but won't get rid of it completely no matter how long you air it out.

I had the same issue with a '96 Jimmy a few years back. I ended up buying leather seats from a boneyard, brand new ACC carpeting and a brand new headliner. Total cost was less than $300 but it took a month of phone calls and scouring newpapers, eBay, CL, etc before I finally found what I was looking for. I took an entire day for the project and MAN! What a difference it made. It was like driving a brand new truck all over again.

[NTL1991]

From what I've read, my biggest concern was getting the seats out... I've heard that it was a bitch because the bolts tend to not want to come out. Heating with torches and the like was also mentioned.

I've always been skeptical about replacement carpeting and it's quality. I'll have to look into ACC and get a sample to color match.

Any more tips on removing/replacing the seats or carpet?

Thanks,
Nick

[beandip]

You wont know how hard it is to take the bolts out until you try.

also did you see this thread

http://www.s10forum.com/forum/f74/ho...carpet-291412/

not a blazer but you get the idea. the previous owner of my truck smoked as well. this got rid of the smell, you said the problem was the padded under the carpet, you should wash the carpet and let it fully dry since the way it is now it just keeps moisture in making it smell that way.

[NTL1991]

Great! Thanks for the help.

[GeorgesBlazah]

Its the foam padding underneath that smells, not so much the carpet. I would rip out the padding underneath and replace it with new and while the carpet is out I would give it a thorough cleaning.

[NTL1991]

I'm going to be taking out the carpet probably this week. I have pulled back the passenger's side of the carpet and noticed that the problem isn't the actual carpet, but the foam padding/sound deadener. I've let it dry for a couple days, but I'm going to be removing the carpet to powerwash it.

The How-to is for an S-10 pickup, are there different steps for a 4-Door Bravada? I know all of the molding and pillar covers need to come out along with the seats and center console, but what about the rear portion of the carpet? Do I have to remove the rear seats to get it out?

Nick

[NTL1991]

Well, I got up bright and early at 6am and started ripping out my interior. I didn't have a 15mm socket let alone a deep well, so I used my trusty 19/32" X 11/16" wrench which worked perfectly. I only had to find a 15mm deep well to get the rear seats out. Now I'm going over to my aunts to use her 3500 PSI washer. I'll post pics later...

[beandip]

Dont get too close to the carpet or you melt the carpet itself. kinda hard to explain but just dont get point blank on it and make sure you put the pressure washer on a "general or gentle" nozzle.

dont be in a rush and let the carpet air dry for a couple of days before re-installing.

[NTL1991]

Well, 12 hours later and the truck is back to normal. I removed the mass backing on the carpeting because it was not in any shape to be reused even after a thorough cleaning. In it's place, I used a roll of mass backing from a home carpeting project. The backing is surprisingly similar to the original, so I traced and cut out all of the openings from the carpet and installed it on the floor pan before the carpeting after I vacuumed and lysol-ed the floor pan.

The carpet dried completely in about 6 hours in direct sunlight so I was able to install it tonight... I'm going to take the truck out for a drive later and see if there's any difference in sound from the backing. Tomorrow, I will hopefully notice a difference in scent.

Thanks for all the help!

Nick

[rusty10690]

febreeze auto my good man

[lee-mill]

i use my little bisel green machine for thigns of this nature. my buddy bought a blazer that reaked, so we filled it up with hot water, loads of cleaner and after about 45 had the entire thing shampooed out, then hosed everything down with febreeze, let it air out for 2 hours. then shampooed again and it hasnt smelt since then

[S10dude]

you gotta lose the padding to lose the smell...simple