So i bought this used truck back in Nov, it had a "fart" smell in it.

Ive tried 2 of those Odor eliminating "bombs," tried spraying and wet vacuuming the carpets and seats, and the smell is still there....i can mask over it with another smell but dont really want to do that. Anyone have any good suggestions that will work?

And ive tried to find the source and cant find anything unless someone dropped a turd down one of the vents

 

It's going to be hard to eliminate the scent unless you can find the source of it, or at least the general area that it's coming from. A little over a decade ago when I was in high school, some buddies and myself smoked cigars in my truck at the time ('05 Silverado) thinking we were the coolest guys in town, and the interior reeked the following day and I couldn't cover the scent with any regular air freshener. I think what ended up working was Ozium spray. I would just spray a pretty healthy dose into the air right before shutting my door when parking and after a couple days the smell was totally eliminated. I would probably try that and then change out your cabin air filter. If that doesn't work, it's likely saturated into the carpet or seats somewhere.

A couple years ago my buddy puked in the backseat of my girlfriend's Civic and what ended up killing the scent and removing the stain was Chemical Guys Fabric Clean diluted about 10:1 and then agitated with a white drill brush. It's a pretty low-cost and user friendly way to shampoo your upholstery without the hassle of extraction. I just sprayed liberally on the seats and carpet and used the drill to brush followed by wiping with a clean and dry microfiber. It leaves behind a clean citrus scent. Even if this doesn't work on your scent, you will probably be glad you did it. Her beige interior looked brand new after I did this. I got a gallon of the stuff and use it in the house too.

 

Yup, definitely change the cabin filter, grab one of the Fram ones with the charcoal odor thingy.

I see you've got leather seats? so it's not those - if you have/had floor mats, it's fairly unlikely it's your carpet, but don't discount that, how does it look? spanking? or a bit on the grubby side?

Headliner - my Ranger had been smoked in it's entire life, based on the smell that arrived after the dealer's black ice (ugh) scent tree was chucked out the window - i wet vac'd the seats and cleaned and steamed the vents, but nothing hit it. What finally stopped the problem was using a liberal dose of Febreze on the headliner, shut the doors and windows and leave it overnight - re-apply if needed.

 

My 07 was bad........I used 50/50 simple green and water on the headliner, spray on, use a damp sponge to wipe off and repeated until there was no longer an oily film in the rinse water. Drilled a hole in the air box behind the glove box and sprayed ozium in it several times while having the vents blowing on high with recirc on and the doors closed (I sealed the hole with silicone later). Also put some charcoal briquettes (non pre-fueled) in a container with no lid on the back floorboard for a few weeks. But as mentioned, new cabin air filter with charcoal. That took care of the smokers smell for me.

 

A while back, some used car dealers and house renovators, were using ozone generators to remove odors in cars and houses. The ozone kills odor producing stuff. Here's a link, but check around, there may be someone in your area.
https://www.odorfreemachines.com/?bi...IsAPSL3_3dNuhc

 

My daughter bought a used car that reeked of cigarette smoke, and it was treated repeatedly with an ozone generator, to no avail. Someone recommended a spray product called ZorbX, and after multiple treatments, it helped a little. Ultimately, we didn't find anything that really eliminated the odor. I think determining the source is really the key, and then either deep cleaning it, replacing it, etc.

 

I didn't see anyone mention catalytic converters? They produce a rotten egg or "fart" smell when they fail sometimes. Have you noticed any sluggishness in the acceleration or maybe a DTC? It's just a thought though as i'm sure it could just simply be a bad odor from poor care.

 

I read in another post he made that it was most prevalent when he turned on his heater.

 

i had a bad cat on an explorer and it smelled like rotten eggs, this is more of a mild fart smell, like not a clear the car and run fart but a little puff that’s just enough to cause people to look around, lol.

when I asked my wife she said she thought I had passed a little gas...

trucks only got 33k and ive been getting great gas mileage and no codes so I’m assuming the cats arenok

 

Well when in doubt blame the kids or the dog! haha. Just thought I would throw it out there as it can produce a fart like smell. But if that's the case and I saw another member say it's more potent when the heat is on i'd try the cabin filter.