We have a 1993 Caprice Classic which was formally a New Hampshire state
police car. We bought it at state auction in 1998 and my wife drove it
with no problems up until about 2 years ago. All of a sudden her
headaches seemed to come on gradually and they seemed to occur every
time she drove the car. We suspected that it could be Co., and inasmuch
as the muffler was leaking a slight amount anyway we went ahead and
replaced the entire exhaust system. I personally checked it carefully
for leaks afterwards and ascertained that there were none. She drove
the car afterwards and almost instantly got a headache. A mechanic
friend suggested that perhaps it could be dampness causing mold. He
gave me a 120V ionizer which I was to place in the car, and plug in
overnight with the windows closed. He cautioned me though not to use it
if the carpets were wet. I first checked the carpets and did indeed
find them wet especially on the front drivers side. We pulled the
carpet and to my disappointment we found that a major portion of the
floor under the pedal area, going into the corner post and running up
the firewall was rusted through badly. New Hampshire uses an
unbelievable amount of road salt in the Winter and cars are destroyed
by this. We did not use the ionizer. It was a great deal of work but
the carpet and padding were both removed and the area was treated with
Por15, sheet metal was replaced, the floor was sealed, new carpet was
installed and the underside was treated as well. I then borrowed the
ionizer again and used it for a full 24 hours. Upon opening the door
afterwards the car really smelled "fresh" and I was hopeful that we had
resolved the problem. But still the headaches came. We did have a
slight residual smell from the Por15 and there was of course that
unmistakeable new carpet smell that only fades with time, so I thought
maybe I had created a new problem. So for the whole winter the car just
sat. This spring I got it out, and upon opening it up noted that there
was no residual smell left. The carpets were dry and I had my wife
drive it two miles and back and she again got a headache. They seem to
start at the top of her head and just go on from there. I mentioned
this to my mechanic friend again and he suggested that it could still
be mold perhaps in the heaing and cooling ducts. I know that moisture
does collect in there and rots the blower resistors out. (we replaced
the resistor in ours already). So he suggested that I take full
strenght bleach in a spray bottle and while the engine is running with
the blower on spray the bleach into the cowl vents. I sprayed about a
quart while working the controls between heat and AC. I also sprayed
the bleach into the vents from the inside of the car as well and also
onto the padding that is still up on the firewall. This is a foam
material and was not replaced but it is very dry. I kept the windows
closed while doing this and the inside of the car smelled really
strong, like swimming pool shock after a few minutes and even the next
day it still did. I would have hoped that would have killed any mold
that might have still been in there. I have driven the car since and
have run it in vent position as well as heat and AC and all the
chlorine smell is now gone. This afternoon my wife and I went out to
the car and just sat in it for 10 minutes with the doors open. The
engine was off. We were listening to the radio and she was reading the
paper. I was hopeful until after about 15 minutes she mentioned that
another headache was coming on again. With the front doors open and the
engine off! I have had many people ride in this car and she is the only
one who can not be near it. This car looks and runs great. I really
want to keep it. Of course I'd like my wife to be around too. The car
has given us great service but I am at my wits end with this problem.
Does ANYONE have any ideas? I appoligize for the long winded story but
I wanted to try to provide all the facts. Thanks for any suggestions.
Lenny Stein.