Bad odor in passenger compartment!!.

[reattaone]

I have a 88. There is a very strong smell in the passenger compartment. It smells like dry heat , if you know what I mean. The water temp is fine , you can't smell it in the engine compartment. It does not smell like sulpher so I am assuming it is not the cat. It does not smell like rubber or anything electrical burning. There are no driveability issues at all. Car is running fine with the exception of the smell.. Any ideas what to check?? Thanks

[Ronnie]

Describing smells can be difficult.

Antifreeze is a likely cause. To me it has what I would consider a sweet smell. Do you feel high humidity (a sticky feeling) when the heater is on and you have driven for a while? Do you have problems with the windows fogging up? If so you may have a cracked heater core.

Could you define the way dry heat smells?

[Booreatta]

does it smell like rotten eggs? check your smart box

[reattaone]

No it doesn't smell like rotten eggs or anti-freeze. My son seems to think that the cat is clogged and overheating. But , wouldn't that be noticeable by a power loss? Now that I have gone out and driven the car again until it is hot, it seems to smell more like an adhesive that is hot , melting or burning.

When trying to describe the smell I said dry heat... anybody who has worked in foodservice where they use warmers that have water in bottom of them- when the water evaporates and the heating unit is still on there is a definite smell and you know right away that it is a warmer that is out of water. Then the heating element is just heating up the metal in the bottom of it. It gives off a terrible odor and that is exactly what my car smells like. You cannot smell anything in the engine compartment , trunk , or outside of the car. It is only inside. I checked and it definitely is not coming from vents.

What would I be looking for when checking the smart box??

[Guest CL_Reatta]

electrical wires overheating?