When it rains my pickup smells like cat pee

[ghworker2010]

When I refer to my pickup I mean my isuzu pickup not a girl I picked up last night. 

 

When it rains I've noticed that the inside of my truck smells like cat pee. Why does this happen? Does anyone else experience this problem?

[theguyfromanotherforum]

If it smells like cat pee......

 

 

 

just sayin'

[wow64]

Is only inside the car or on your clothes also? 

[55Jay]

A cat may have gotten in there and peed at some point in the past.   Humidity and persistent dampness will bring it out more.   Get your nose in, try to narrow down where it's strongest, hopefully on one of the foot mats you can remove and try to neutralize.  Cats also love to walk on cars and if they peed down into the vents between the front windscreen and the engine compartment, that's no fun.

 

When we bought our Tuna a few years ago, we had a family of rats/mice (whatever) living in the car park rafters.  They got into the engine compartment, nibbled on wires and peed/shat all over.   Forkin' horrible smell in through the air conditioning vents, tried our best to clean but it was in deep and pungent.   Took about 6 months before it dissipated but every now and then, when it's really hot, we get a faint whiff of it through the a/c vents.

[pgrahmm]

Could it be mold/mildew you are smelling? Do you know the complete history of the vehicle? Flood recovery? Water intrusion?

 

Either that or let the poor cat out once in awhile.....

[Kwasaki]

Only experienced a dead cat found in engine compartment and only noticed it inside the car when l opened the air-con flap to allow air from outside to come inside.

 

When you say pee, do you mean that horrid male cat spray smell.

Maybe there's male cat that sprays inside your engine compartment cause they have a thing about rubber and plastic bags etc.

 

Apart from that stripping out as much of the interior as you can and giving a good clean using a hot water extractor unit,  difficult to say what else to do.

 

You could empty a can of strong air-freshener all around and sell it.  

[Andyfez]

It's the smell of wet carpet.

I know it well. Smells bad.

You have a water leak somewhere.

[wombat]

8 minutes ago, Andyfez said:

It's the smell of wet carpet.

I know it well. Smells bad.

You have a water leak somewhere.

seconded.

 

a box of bi-carb of soda left open in the cab will get rid of the smell but like Andyfez says.....yo gottsa water leak

[1FinickyOne]

Wet carpet sounds most logical, but the inside of your car should not be getting wet... 

 

Thanks for sharing. 

[csabo]

I left town for a few weeks and left my windows cracked under the rain shields figuring it would keep a bit cooler.  Firstly it must have rained sideways because water definitely got in but it also wreaked of cat piss.  No mistaking it.  The neighborhood cats must have been marking the truck and the ammonia fumes went into the truck and got stuck there and the moisture didn't help either.  Took a few weeks but a household table top air freshener did the trick.

Edited September 15, 2016 by csabo

[NanLaew]

Does the OP have cats in the immediate neighborhood? I get the occasional strong whiff of male cat piss and put it down to the earlier comments that tom cats like to mark their territory. I have a near neighbor that hosts the unofficial village cat and dog home and the buggers are all over the place. They do tend to sleep in the shade under the truck and one used to curl up inside the lower plastic bumper for a snooze. Stopped doing it after I noticed its tail hanging down, crept up and yanked the bugger out by the tail.

[alant]

there is a pussy joke surely 

[dotpoom]

My sandles do the same.

    Maybe it rains "cats and dogs" where you are.....(sorry, couldn't resist it).

[Kabula]

With all the heavy rains, probably a water leak and eventually mildew and black mold will grow.

 

Pull carpets to check as black mold is very unhealthy.

[Si Thea01]

Well it has been P..ing Cats and dogs lately, maybe more cats than dogs in you area.  

[impulse]

When I refer to my pickup I mean my isuzu pickup not a girl I picked up last night. 

 

So what does she smell like?

 

[mankondang]

In the wet season it always rains cats and dogs.

[bark]

Just park the damn truck in your living room. All sorted.

[teacherpaul]

I had a similar problem with my pickup a few years ago. Same smell. I took it to the Isuzu garage and they found a dead rat. It had crawled into the engine and the smell was wafting through the aircon. They asked if I wanted to see the rat. I declined their generous invitation.

[chrisinth]

On 9/14/2016 at 1:24 PM, 55Jay said:

A cat may have gotten in there and peed at some point in the past.   Humidity and persistent dampness will bring it out more.   Get your nose in, try to narrow down where it's strongest, hopefully on one of the foot mats you can remove and try to neutralize.  Cats also love to walk on cars and if they peed down into the vents between the front windscreen and the engine compartment, that's no fun.

 

When we bought our Tuna a few years ago, we had a family of rats/mice (whatever) living in the car park rafters.  They got into the engine compartment, nibbled on wires and peed/shat all over.   Forkin' horrible smell in through the air conditioning vents, tried our best to clean but it was in deep and pungent.   Took about 6 months before it dissipated but every now and then, when it's really hot, we get a faint whiff of it through the a/c vents.

 

Cats love Tuna.....................

 

[tifino]

blast an Aerosol of Eucalyptus Oil into the plenum chamber grill air intake, and turn on the interior fans - it will overpower ANY bad smells, with it's own.

 

Same goes if you can ever get hold of Glen20...

 

Have you heard about Onions?  They are a chosen weapon against fridge smells - which a normally dank and damp place.

Cut onions into halves, and leave in cabin a couple of days if you have the time.

Discard the onions when done,

as they will have absorbed some really bad stuff, and become toxic to eat.

Really works well!!

 

If cats are really getting inside the vehicle - sprinkle a heap of white pepper around.

Cats hate it, 

and it is easy to vacuum away later

[Dumbastheycome]

It  may be  cats...and often  cats  do pee/spray  on  air intake  vents  because  dead  bugs give of an odour they seem to sense as  another  cat or an unwelcome scent  from some  intruder.  Pepper powder on the roof and  bonnet at  night  can help them  decide to stay way 

Another possible as  others have suggested is water  from  air con discharge tubes  leaking inside. Happens a lot from over zealous  car care operators trying to be efficient but  dislodging  poorly fitted drainage tubing.. 

Another  source I  often  discover too late is the  contents deep in the rear pockets of the  front seats!

[IvanLaw]

14 hours ago, alant said:

there is a pussy joke surely 

Giving local pussy a lift when raining ?

[IvanLaw]

1 minute ago, IvanLaw said:

Giving local pussy a lift when raining ?

On a serious note, Remove carpets & Clean (Seats to if possible)

Check all openings leading to cab, Air vents, Air con. etc. & clean

Thorough clean of engine bay, (cover electrics)

If no improvement, Goggles on, Windows open, head out

Good luck

[llso]

 When I lived in Thailand (7 years), I noticed the same smell like cat pee in my bathroom. There was no cat or any way for one to get into the house. I have heard of this same thing on here before. My theory is that there is a certain type of mold in SE Asia that gives off a smell very similar to cat pee. 

[Lokie]

As mentioned check first for leaks inside cab under dash from heater matrix (smell from these leaks is not good) but then this would be present all time? so that then leaves the wiff in humidity after rain, damp etc... or your local pussies are marking their territory - so half bottles of water stood around vehicle when parked up puts them off spraying, looks stupid but does keep them away (They don't like water)

[opalred]

a mate hid prawn shells behind  the seat

for days i looked at my new girlfriend when driving

i left here and found new one   . smelt the same

my mate and i still laught about it

[LongTimeLurker]

On Thursday, September 15, 2016 at 8:56 AM, Andyfez said:

It's the smell of wet carpet.

I know it well. Smells bad.

You have a water leak somewhere.

This definitely, had the same problem myself.

[The Dark Lord]

White pepper keeps pussy away?

 

i am pissed off al local pussy using my BMW as a bed and scratching my paint whilst climbing on to the car. If I put white pepper on the car it will keep the pussy at bay yes?

[55Jay]

58 minutes ago, The Dark Lord said:

White pepper keeps pussy away?

 

i am pissed off al local pussy using my BMW as a bed and scratching my paint whilst climbing on to the car. If I put white pepper on the car it will keep the pussy at bay yes?

Cats are fairly smart, so if you can catch them on the car a few times, and scare the living s**t out of them, they'll associate car with danger, and find another place to lay about. 

 

Did read that pepper works in the garden, suppose you could try it on the car, careful how you apply it to avoid unintended consequences.

 

We used a car cover for a while.  Looked as if the cat would jump up onto the car, causing the cover to slide a bit on the paint, making him dig in its claws for more traction =  straight through the thin cover onto the paint....   Not too many cats around our place though, we have dogs, which also helps keep them at bay.  We have more problems with birds perched in the beams/rafters of the covered car park, crapping on the 2 cars below.  We have chickens too (not my choice) and they occasionally jump up on the cars and that's even worse than a cat.