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Smelly van...smelly van....Why do they smell so bad?
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eastfalia4now
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Joined: June 18, 2013
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Location: Brookton Village, NY
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 21, 2013 8:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

syncrodoka wrote:
There can be urine/nests/bodies in the headliner, wall spaces and in the holy grail of good spots the heater box.
Smelly vans need to be taken apart and inspected to have a chance of getting the smells out.


+2 on the headliner nests. Found one in the headliner of my 82 and my friend down the road found one in the headliner of his 81. There were also two nests in the passenger side wall next to the bed and one in my heater tube. I'm sure I still have a few more to remove behind the kitchen appliances when I get to that this winter.
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Alex Proulx
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 22, 2013 6:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Actually mine can get smelly too. Water on the carpet seems to be the trigger. Leaking cooler, wet shoes, etc. Every couple of weeks I get it out and wash it good with a hose, brush and soap and let it dry completely in the sun before it goes back in. The occasional Febreeze application helps too.
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Steve M.
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 18, 2014 9:12 pm    Post subject: Fitting better screens on the air intake? Reply with quote

Bring this topic back up to ask if anyone has fitted better screens to the air intakes to keep the critters out? I don't think it was mentioned in this thread.
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kuleinc
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 18, 2014 9:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

They get in through the air intake by the BIG holes on each SIDE of the screen...
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http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=496946 1987 VW Vanagon Westfalia with 1.8T
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ryecatcher
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 20, 2014 6:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I wanted to share what I did to get rid of my van's "PO" (previous owner smell)…
I surfaced cleaned everything and steam cleaned the carpets, but it still wasn't right. What I did that really helped was rent an ozone generator. I ran it overnight in the van with the pop-tup up (to penetrate the canvas). Afterwards, I aired out the van for a bit. This helped tremendously, and the van had a nice, clean fresh smell that is still there six months later.

Of course, this presupposes a dead-mice-free environment. Wink
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Steve M.
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 20, 2014 6:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

you can rent an "Ozone Generator"? That's a new one for me!
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ryecatcher
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 20, 2014 7:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yep. I went to a rental supply store that rents everything from power tools to inflatable arm-flayling-tube-men. It was $50 for 24 hours rental, and well worth it. I used it on the bathrooms in the house, too, and the garage to get rid of musty smell.
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mrshrimp
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 20, 2014 7:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I would reccommend taking the carpet out and soaping and pressure wahing it. This also allows you to remove the foam padding and clean down to the bare metal, trust me do it and will get rid of 70% of the smell of your van. You just cant get to the core with surface cleaning.

-Keith
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MtnVan
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 20, 2014 12:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

We used an upholstery cleaner on our weekender. Didn't do a perfect job on the spots, but it sher does smell real good. No mouse in the van problems up here at ten thousand feet above sea level, thank goodness. Our 87 has what I believe to be a factory rubber floor instead of carpets. That helps too! It is tricksy getting the loft bed cushion covers back on straight, without having em yank on the snaps too hard. I reckon we'll be washing the OG curtain set soon too. And by "we", I mean my wife:-) I've got a coolant leak & some Vanagon syndrome issues to deal with. MUST.....FIX.....VAAAAAN...
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