ecl

this morning while driving out to a friends house to feed their dog a skunk came out into the road and hit it. I didnt kill the skunk he walked off and I thought it was all good till I stopped the car. I got out and wow does it stink, I then go in and take care of the dog and when I come out now the inside smells. Needless to say I drove home with all the windows down. Now I have no idea how to get the smell out of the interior. I figure it I cant get the outside clean I could do the wash with tomatoe juice(not sure if Ill need to do that). I will probably have to go to an automatic car wash for their undercarriage spray to clean it all up. How should I go about cleaning the inside, it wasnt directly sprayed but it got enough to still stink up the car. Any suggestion would really help im willing to try any thing.

XtremeModifier

Clean (if not leather) the interior with Tuff Stuff ... you can buy in most auto parts stores (safe for all types of carpet and cloth, I learned it damages leather). Just put on a mask (for the scent, believe me, I know how bad it is, my 2 terriers picked a fight with a skunk) and clean each inch. It'll take a while, probably use 2-3 bottles of the stuff, but that stuff gets ANYTHING out (I thought my diesel had black interior until I used that and it came out bright red).

After that, you'll probably want to use some sort of household deodorizer spray for a few months (every day) and eventually it should go away to the point you'd really have to sniff for that scent (and dear god, who would want to???). That's what I do to remove undesirable odors. If it's leather, well, good luc.

Hope that scent comes out!!!
- Jake R.

Fox Hat

Skunk spray is an oily substance. Tomato juice removal is a myth. Check out wiki for some better answers etc.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skunk

American & Proud

First , GET TO THE CARWASH! And run it through, should have done that right away. Leave the AC/Heat OFF. Replace the filter behind the glovebox.

If your windows were UP when you hit it and there was no smell inside it's spray was only on the outside surface.

I'd get it to a car wash QUICK and run it through a couple of times, do the one that sprays the undercarriage with the wash. Also get cans of foamy engine degreaser warn up the motor and spray it all underhood from top and bottom, let it sit 10 minutes and rinse. Then go through the carwash again.

Then IF you can still smell it inside start cleaning inside.

If your lucky it's just coming from the outside.

Greybeard999

I don't think spraying the underhood area is a good idea on an HHR.... several guys that did started throwing codes...... Besides, unless the skunk ended up in the engine compartment there would be no need to.

American & Proud

He Hit It, If he hit it with a Front tire, no telling Where it sprayed.

So, the HHR Can't be driven in the Rain?

Water gets on the motor every time you drive it while raining. In the Winter with all the snow and freezing/thawing cycles.

Does the HHR throw codes then too?

When I degrease one of my motor compartments I run it till it warms up, then spray it and let soak for about 10 minutes or so, scrubbing anything I see that needs it with a rag or old toothbrush. Then I restart the car and rinse it off while its running, then let it run untill everything is dry. Puddles in places I soak up with the rag or paper towels.

I have never had a problem keeping my motors looking like new in over 33 years driving my cars. My 2000 Astro I just traded in(98,000 miles)for the HHR, the dealer was Impressed at how New looking it was Inside and out. Never Garaged either, but I Maintain my cars. Even during the winter I try to wash and clean them weekly.

Spring, Summer and Fall they get Cleaned as soon as they get dirty, if it's rainy, the first dry day it gets washed, sometimes that can be 3-4 times a week, I Hate driving a Dirty water spotted car.

And now I have 2 Black Chevys, The wifes Black Warner Bros. Edition Venture gets a wash if I take it for a drive, even if it's just a trip to lowes, I hit the carwash First thing.

Her car, she bought it new, so I only wash it when I take it out. Otherwise it's hers to wash. lol

I did just clean her engine this past week and No problems.

I Wonder IF they took the POWER Washer at the car wash to their Engines?

Maybe they Blasted it forcing water into loose connections??
Seems Odd you would not be able to keep your engine Clean.

ecl

I hit it dead center, supprisingly the skunk just kept walking like nothing happened even though I heard the thunk it made so I know I hit it. Any ways im at work right now and wasnt able to go to the car wash when it first happened. Luckily I work at a car rental and since I just completed all my work for the day im heading out to wash mine now, and yes my windows were up when it happened but its still stinking up the inside hours later so we'll see what happens.

hyperv6

The rain that gets in is no were near as concentraited as washing an engine.

Greybeard is only reflecting what is accepted by most MFG's anymore. They do not recomend pressure washing engines anymore. If you have to there are some cleaners you can use and some limited controled low pressure water. But even then you need to take care in avoiding the electronics.

I clean engines too but not like I used to.

Also on many engines they no longer recomend if you do have to use water to was a hot engine anymore.

You may be getting away with it now but in time there may be an issues down the road. The electronics on these cars are sealed but still can be effected. Nothing is perfectly sealed and when it does fail anymore it can get expensive.

The skunk more than likely sprayed the underside of the car and nothing more. I would just take it to a wash with a chassie bath. It will help but it will fade in time. Just one of those things that happens and not a lot you can do to change it.

foolmoon_design

hyperv6 is correct. When I had our first oil change the tech forgot to tighten the filler cap up top. after a 2 hour drive I was contacted by On-Star to let me know that I had a major oil-pressure drop about 30 seconds after the light came on and the car went into limp mode (500 miles on OD). I opened the hood and to my horror the entire engine bay was covered in oil! I called the closest Chevy dealership and asked what I should do. I told them I could just take a pressure sprayer at the car wash and clean it out. To which, (covered in another thread) I was told very sharply that that is the last thing I wanted to do to my engine and the days of "gunk" are gone. They ended up re-changing the oil and the service manager had 2 techs clean the entire engine bay by hand with de-greaser and paper towels.

Bottom line--our cars don't like water-- even just the hose. (just ask the guy who bought the VR SS with flood damage)

I don't know about the rest of you guys, but, every time I would clean my engines with a cleaner and water, I always ended up have to dry out the inside of the distributor no matter what the car. And if missed some water the distributor either took out the spark plugs or the housing cracked.

And to be completely honest... This is the first car that I haven't taken the hose to the engine bay, and I notice that it stays considerably cleaner then engines that I used to clean and dress on a regular basis.

I am all for a clean and shiny engine, just don't be suprised if there are any electrical problems down the road. It don't take much to fry all of our fancy electronics. There have even been reports of TCS issues just from running through deep puddles(warning lights ccycle on/off)

hyperv6

I use White Lightning on a rag and wipe it off and then some Adam undercarrage dressing on a rag to wipe it down.

My engine has 2 years on it and I could win a trophy at a car show with it.

New engines are mostly sealed well anymore so they get more dust than oil or grease.