Interior Smell

I bought my 95 Riv this past winter and love it. Winter here in Maine can be rather cold but the car ran great even with a number of issues. This car only has 63K on it and it came from Florida. Now that the weather here has warmed up I am experiencing a new thing. A few weeks ago when it was quite warm the weatherstripping on the driver's side of the windshield started flapping in the wind and black weatherstripping goop was getting all over the place. I got out and sort of realigned it and it seemed to be OK after that. Now that it is getting warmer the car really stinks inside and it smells like that black stuff. In the morning when it is 50 degrees it doesn't really smell but by afternoon it takes over and I mean really smells bad. How am I going to remedy this? Anyone else ever have this problem?

Yes, I currently have the same problem, but no smell. I'm going to replace the windshield, it's old and warn. When they do it I'll tell them about the black adhesive problem. I think it was a poor product choice for windshield caulk by Buick in the mid 90's.

The reason you smell yours is when it gets hot it loosens and air is going through the crack and blowing the smell right at you, or by you.

Paul, Are you and I the only ones who have experienced this? My windshield is in good condition and does not leak to my knowledge. This thing just stinks. Do you think it could be coming from somewhere else besides the windshield? It almost makes the car useless when the weather heats up. Should I have the windshield reinstalled?

I had issues after having my cracked windshield replaced - the insurance company would only play for the "universal windshield gasket" which comes in "narrow" or "wide". The wide was mainly for trucks, the narrow was mainly for cars. The narrow ended up being too narrow for the Riv, and came loose across the top of the window, flapping around like you said. After having the windshield place re-do the job for the 3rd time, I bought the OE gasket from Buick directly and had them install that. Problem gone. It was about $100 for the correct gasket (ripped off at full stealership retail pricing at the time, before I knew better)

deekster_caddy wrote:

I had issues after having my cracked windshield replaced - the insurance company would only play for the "universal windshield gasket" which comes in "narrow" or "wide". The wide was mainly for trucks, the narrow was mainly for cars. The narrow ended up being too narrow for the Riv, and came loose across the top of the window, flapping around like you said. After having the windshield place re-do the job for the 3rd time, I bought the OE gasket from Buick directly and had them install that. Problem gone. It was about $100 for the correct gasket (ripped off at full stealership retail pricing at the time, before I knew better)

sounds like an insurance company trying to save money. sometimes it works, sometimes not.

For those of you chasing aromas - sometimes it is as jbeganny says, the sealant. What jbeganny does not know is that his problem is not typical at all, and is most likely related to an incorrect repair.

Thing to do is order the correct gasket from gmpartsdirect.com or monsterpartsonline.com, or a local dealer (they may extend you a discount, everyone knows the parts prices are inflated and a dealer with enough volume can give you a "jobber" or trade price and it won't cause agitta). Any windshield installer, or auto body shop for that matter, can remove and reinstall your windshield for short money, you use a hot knife to cut the old one out, a solvent to remove the old adhesive, then the Buick gasket and some urethane sealant and you're good to go.

jbeganny's problem smells like a home repair made with gutter asphalt sealer, which is the right color but completely wrong composition.

As for other smells (decaying organic matter) thing to do is make a gallon of warm enzyme/disinfectant solution (Odo Ban from Sams Club works for me) and pour it down thru the cowl vents. Odor by and large will be gone in a few days.