Odor/Sprinter

[wet noze]

My friend Elizabeth (elizo here on petgroomer) is driving the 2008 sprinter home she just bought (used) and is noticing a strange odor. She thinks it is coming from the batteries in the back of the van. It smells like the chemicals you use when you develop photographs. Does anybody know what this might be? Any ideas, thoughts? Thanks!

[felzenhaus]

Can't say that I know what it is, but sometimes when my husband's truck gets oil, antifreeze or other liquids spilled on the engine there is an odor. Could possibly be some plastic melting that shouldn't be on something hot, but not a lot of it. That sometimes can cause a smell until it burns off. Shouldn't be the batteries, but you never know.

[karense]

odor in sprinter

Sounds like something that happened to me. I thought it was from my batteries also, but I wasn"t 100% sure so I tried a cup of beach in my waste water holding tank in the morning and let is slush around all day and emptied it at night.

Turns out that got rid of the smell now I do it once a week. Hope that helps.

[Gracy Rose]

In the back, there is a silver box where hoses go to (hot water) if the grey water tank has moved any, I find that it can hit this hose. Make sure it is tightened, I think the fluid is an coolant type but it smells like chemicals and has a slight oily feel if you rub your hand around the hose.

[kats_melody]

You will know if it is the batteries, if you get a hydrogen sulfide smell (rotten eggs). This can happen when the electrolyte in the batteries is being boiled off due to a malfunction in the charging system or if one of the cells in a battery has shorted.

As Kristin mentioned, a slightly oily, sweet smelling chemical is leaking engine coolant. Hanvey uses an engine coolant loop to heat fresh water.

A dirty gray water tank can give off a musty smell. Bleach, vinegar, or commercial RV gray water treatment (available at a camping store or the RV section at Walmart) can cure this.

Vinegar is also good for the recirculating system to keep those bad smells at bay, along with daily flushing.

Just a few things I learned on the job and through asking my hubby about things.


Laura

[elizo]

Just a quick update on my stinky problem: when I got in the van to start cleaning it up, disinfecting and getting it ready to hit the road, I found that there was some grey water left in the tank in the back. Drained it out and oh GAAAAK.....yup, that was the smell! Kathy at Hanvey told me I could drop some of those Tidybol toilet tablets in there to kill the smell. As soon as it stops raining I will figure out how to get the grey tank out and clean it thoroughly. Thanks for all your help!