simple
Senior Member
So I upgraded to a 5th Gen after my 04's head gasket went. Then after a year and a half I decided I wasn't really happy and decided to get back into a 4th Gen. I searched for a few weeks and found what I THOUGHT was a clean 4runner. Looked very well maintained, had some dings, but over all very nice.
The inside has a weird smell though, kind of like a stale gym locker or something. I didn't notice it initially because once the car gets turned on and the AC runs, the smell disappears very quickly. The dealer picked me up in the car for my test drive so when I got in, I didn't notice anything.
I ran the Toyota AC refresh kit, steam cleaned, which did help, but there was still a big problem. I even paid for an O-Zone treatment, which did absolutely nothing. The last owner was definitely a pet owner because, while the dealer did a good job with the detailing, there was a fair amount of dog hair the nooks and crannies. So I ended up removing the seats and center console and went at everything with an 'enzyme' pet deodorizer spray, and using a pet hair rubber brush which was awesome.
Then I hoped and prayed I found the culprit. Underneath the console there was the syrup type substance, I'm guessing coke/pepsi that had spilled years ago. It went all along the metal frame under the shifter. After finally cleaning that the smell is 98% better. But I still got hints of it after a warm day, so I pulled the driver seats out again, and in the flap where the airbag/seat harness comes out of the floor I saw a little more spilled syrup. so I started pulling up the carpet a bit and cleaning it with clorox wipes. I tried getting a good look under the flap, and where the syrup was, it looked like there was a drainage pipe leading right up to the pooled grime. So I started wiping in there, and the drainage line broke free. I pulled it out, and my first thought was it's a weed pipe. But upon further review...maybe a crack pipe? WTF. I hope I finally crushed that smell.
The inside has a weird smell though, kind of like a stale gym locker or something. I didn't notice it initially because once the car gets turned on and the AC runs, the smell disappears very quickly. The dealer picked me up in the car for my test drive so when I got in, I didn't notice anything.
I ran the Toyota AC refresh kit, steam cleaned, which did help, but there was still a big problem. I even paid for an O-Zone treatment, which did absolutely nothing. The last owner was definitely a pet owner because, while the dealer did a good job with the detailing, there was a fair amount of dog hair the nooks and crannies. So I ended up removing the seats and center console and went at everything with an 'enzyme' pet deodorizer spray, and using a pet hair rubber brush which was awesome.
Then I hoped and prayed I found the culprit. Underneath the console there was the syrup type substance, I'm guessing coke/pepsi that had spilled years ago. It went all along the metal frame under the shifter. After finally cleaning that the smell is 98% better. But I still got hints of it after a warm day, so I pulled the driver seats out again, and in the flap where the airbag/seat harness comes out of the floor I saw a little more spilled syrup. so I started pulling up the carpet a bit and cleaning it with clorox wipes. I tried getting a good look under the flap, and where the syrup was, it looked like there was a drainage pipe leading right up to the pooled grime. So I started wiping in there, and the drainage line broke free. I pulled it out, and my first thought was it's a weed pipe. But upon further review...maybe a crack pipe? WTF. I hope I finally crushed that smell.
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