Disgusting Smell... please help.

[K Grimes]

Lately my Camry has been giving off disgusting odors as soon as I turn on the fan or the AC. Even with the fan and AC off I still experience this smell that smells like a dead animal. I opened the air filter and noticed a rats nest below it. No rat to be found. The nest is below the air filter, and the filter does not have a hole in it, nor bitemarks, so he didn't get through and crawl in those pipes. I cleaned out the AC hose under the passengers side carpet, it didn't have build up in it. The smell is awful, I can barely drive in the car without gagging. If you have any ideas or tips on how to rid my car of this smell without having to pay money at a dealership (the closest is two hours away), I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks!

[Mike Gerber]

Try spraying Lysol in to the vents just in front of the windshield. Do this with both the engine off and also with the engine running and the air conditioner turned on. The smell usually comes from mold buildup inside the duct work of the air conditioning. Moisture builds up in there while the A/C is running and stays after the system is turned off. All that moisture eventually forms mold.

Mike

[Daniel M. Dreifus]

Sounds like you actually have a dead animal somewhere.
Have heard of people finding small deceased rodents in the fan blower under the dash, so you could try looking there (passenger side).
Usually, if they're inside the fan, you'd hear a noise with the fan running.
Would go with your instinct about the source of the odor and just look around, under and inside everything with a flashlight.
Sometimes the air in the A/C vents just gets mouldy if you turn off the car without running the fan only (air off for a while), but sounds like your problem goes beyond that.