I have a 97 Disco 1 that I purchased a month ago that had serious water leaks along the windshield, sunroofs etc. I ripped out the headliner, pulled the soaking wet sponge from under the carpets, sprayed straight bleach under the carpets to kill mold and then shampooed the carpets and wiped the seats with bleak wipes. I've left the car windows open for the last week each day which has helped but it's still moldy and musty smelling. THe carpets smell fine but I think the stink is in the seats and I need to know what is the best way to carefully clean the leather to rid of smell. ONce in the truck with the windows down and the fresh air coming in it's ok but once you open up the door to get into the truck it pushes you back it's so bad. I need help to know what else to do to get it smelling better. I don't have much of a smell coming through the vents when the air is on. Could I use a bleach/water mix to safely clean the seats? Or will they bleach out of their color?

 

Are the AC drains for the dash stopped up? They look like ri=ubber circles on the transmission tunnel under the truck. Nudge them with a stick and all sorts of stinky water can come out. Also, may want to drop the cardboard under the glove box, remove three bolts, and drop heater fan. It could be full of dead leaves, mouse nest, etc.

 

I'll check the AC lines as well as under the glove box. I've read the posts where the proper leather cleaner & protector should be used which I will most likely do at some point but prior to that what is the best way to get the funk out of the leather? I don't want to cover up the smell either. THanks for posting, really appreciate it.

 

A large shoe box sized container of baking soda in an open plastic pan is used to "soak up" smell in refrigerators or freezers that are powered down for storage. The HVAC ystsem has an inlet duct that runs from just under passenger windshield straight down to fan. Lysol or such can be sprayed in when fan is running. The foam strip (pollen filter) under the windshield covers the width of the windshield and can also be a source of smell.

 

well, the AC lines were clear and I did use 3 boxes of baking soda spread throughout the truck but perhaps I'll do that again as it did make a difference. I also got an air freshener that hangs from the mirror and amazingly it is "masking the moldy smell" but not sure how much of the "new car smell" flavor I can take. The foam insert along base of windshield appears to be fine as well. I am convinced the smell is from the leather and I need to kill whatever "mold/mildew" is still in the leather. Perhaps the leather cleaner and conditioner that's been suggested on this forum will do the trick. Will post back once I've tried that approach. Thanks again.

 

there might be mold in the padding under the leather. The only way I can think to kill it is to Dry the car out with a dehumidifier. Pull out carpet/seats?
Blast the interior with Ozone to kill the spores/fungus that's visible. The ozone should also kill any spores/mildew in the vents and all the hidden areas, use a mold remover cleaner for leather seats. once and if you get rid of the problem change your ac filter. Be careful when working with mold and wear a respirator.

 

Try ozium, it uses enzymes to kill bacteria.

 

Go to your local tool rental store. .around here it is called a1 or bledsoes. rent an ozone machine and put it in your car and let it run for a couple days

 

Ozone or air cleaner will only work while it's in there and on (assuming the wet mold area is still there)
That enzyme mentioned above does work pretty well.
The dehumidifier gets my vote too

 

well no matter what smell solution you use you have to dry it first. Ozone will kill off any smells present long after the machine is removed. that is what fire/water damage companies use to kill the smoke and mold smell in houses that have burned then the fire department pumps them full of water..