Horrible smoky/acrid smell in cabin

[Rod2Rice]

Originally Posted by Arisenfury

Was the car sitting around for a bit? It's not uncommon to get rodents who take up home in the engine bay, sometimes even in the car itself and it's very often that they can die while in there, especially if in the engine bay itself due to the heat. Poke around a little bit in there see if you can't find anything.

I did look around, nothing to see. The truck is driven daily also so the chance of it is probably slim, plus all the cats roaming the damn neighborhood would probably get them first lol!

[mdm427]

Originally Posted by Rod2Rice

...My wifes Pilot has an awful smell...

Okay, are we talking about aviation stuff again or what?:D

[Steeldog]

I believe your wife is smoking cigars in the car when you aren't there.:D

[drupywill]

my 08 Honda fit also has the same chem smell. It also has about 3500 miles. It smells adhesive like. Does anyone know if the air bags could leak or what it might smell like????

[mahout]

Is the smell coming from the hvac vents? Bad smnells we have had to service more often than not been a varmint in the system.

Try turning the hvac off completely and tape over the vents and see if its still there. If it is, I suspect a frying of wires somewhere. Check the fuse box to see if some varmint died across a fuse. After that its all hunt and hope.

If its a chemical type smell it could be some cleaner/protectant over used on the upholstery or dash/doors, etc.

[drupywill]

ummm, ok let's eliminate the dead varmit and the hvac moisture/mold solutions. Great ideas but the smell is totally different. I like the solution about the cleaner but we have applied none. It is almost as if someone left model glue open in the car??

[Rexorg]

My wife's '08 Fit Sport is over 2 years old now and the smell is still there. Very annoying to say the least.

[Rob22315]

Let's get fundamental - there are only a couple types of sources of smoke/acrid smell in a car - electrical (wires or electronics burning up), mechanical/friction (most likely something stationary falling up against something rotating), and chemical (burning of fuel, plastic or solvent). Spilling something into seats or on floors isn't likely to cause this kind of problem.

Since there's usually nothing rotating or chemical in nature inside the car (unless the smell's coming in through the vents), an interior smoky/acrid smell is most likely to some from an electrical problem if the source is in the cabin. I'd start by checking the cigarette lighter, lighting adjustment rheostat, light bulb or some other object which gets hot during normal operation. See if you can localize the source at all - vents, under dash, under seats etc. If it's smoky/acrid but doesn't smell like burning insulation or plastic, I'd go with some type of failed or failing electronics. Another source would be a switched item like a window motor or mirror adjustment motor where the switch or cutout has failed and power is being applied to the motor even in a position where it wouldn't normally stay running. The motor will overheat and cause a hot smell as the lubricant vaporizes. Next, I'd look for electrical shorts - follow major wiring harness runs to see where they turn a corner, rub against sharp metal, or are grounded. A more difficult place to locate would be places where large electrical currents get concentrated - sources/grounds in connectors. These will likely require electrical diagrams to locate. High current draw items - cigarette lighter, window motor, large amounts of lighting would again be places to look.

One item peculiar to the Fit is the electrical connector which runs under one of the front floor mats. There were issues with salt water getting under the mats and carpet causing corrosion on an SRS wire. Check that too.

If the smell is coming in from outside - first check your heater core. It's possible something soft or affected by moderate heat has gotten into the core. I don't know if the new coolants give off weird smells in small amounts. If the smell is truly coming in from outside, the possibilities are much larger and the other sources will come into play. Any hints here would help.