Why does our 2001 Jetta smell like burnt crayons?
How do we get rid of the “burnt crayon” smell from the inside of our 2001 Jetta? The car only has 20,000 miles and the dealership serice department just looks at us like we are crazy! We have replaced the floor mats and have had it professionally detailed. For the past 1.5 years, the crayon smell has remained. Headaches and dizziness constantly occur while in the car. Please, please, please……….. Any advise is welcomed……Getting desperate……
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297 Said,
December 2, 2005 @ 12:31 pm
Why does our 2001 Jetta smell like burnt crayons? – Some love it, some hate it, but 2001 and 2002 models do have that crayon-like smell (I don’t notice it in mine, mostly because the treatment I give the leather tends to overpower it).
There are two culprits, one is easy and one is hard.
The easy: get down on the floor carpet of your car and smell under the mats. Is the crayon smell stronger? If it is, then it’s the carpet padding made from jute that’s generating the smell. You can verify by peeling a bit of the carpet back where the pedals are and sticking your fingers in to pick up the smell. You can try completely detailing the carpet, steam cleaning, the works; or you could replace it completely. I hear it’s a bit of a pain but it’s not expensive (~$150). There will still be some jute padding inside the dashboard and the doors, but the carpet is the major source.
The hard: it can also be coming from the firewall. Unfortunately, replacing the firewall is no small task and it’s not cheap, either. If this is the case (in other words, if your carpets don’t smell) you could try replacing the pollen filter first to see if it reduces the smell enough that it doesn’t affect you. If it continues to do so, then you may have to spend the cash to replace the firewall.
Note: The carpet bit was discovered by a NewBeetle.org user. The firewall bit was witnessed by a VW tech who posted on VWVortex.com that he replaced it in a customer’s car specifically because of the crayon smell.
Post edited 12/02/05 12:32 PM by paultakeda
DDW12Phaeton Said,
December 3, 2005 @ 3:23 am
Jetta – Mine doesn’t. Maybe you stepped in shit, didnt know it, and it just got embedded into the car?