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Musty smell in the truck - ideas?
cbxjeff
Member Posts: 17,597 ✭✭✭✭
Maybe I'm just too sensitive since I paid $2K to have my wife's Equonix fixed - sunroof drain. I know what water leaks smell llke. My '15 Silverado has a leak somewhere I think. No sunroof, fixed rear window and I see no evidence of any of the door seals leaking. I thought of the heater coil leaking but the carpet is dry. I'm out of ideas. Maybe I'm just crazy. I may be, but it's got nothing to do with this truck. Any thoughts guys?
It's too late for me, save yourself.
Comments
Put a box of mothballs under the seat!
you might have rust holes underneath, and driving in the rain keeps them wet.
Joe
Agree you have moisture getting in. All you have to do is find it. I know big help.
You already said you checked door seals, window, heater core. I did a heater core leak that where the carpet was not wet but the pad and floor pan under the carpet was constant damp. Perhaps pull back some of the carpet. Something got missed, try again?
Close it up and hit it with the garden hose then check soon after. Good luck.
I had a minor leak in the seal around my windshield on a vehicle I owned. Just enough to put a small wet spot under the carpet after a rain. The windshield had been replaced within a year when the issue happened. I was able to get the glass company to reset the windshield. No more leak.....
My last van had the same issue. Leak was in the area where the roof channel meets the windshield. I just took a tube of clear silicone and filled the front 18 inches of the channel all the way up. Problem solved.
You may have a plugged evaporator core drain hose.
If the condensation water backs up enough......it can drip onto the in-cabin ac/heater air filter......or elsewhere.
Of course......that's only if a 2015 Silverado even has a cabin air filter. My 2008 4Runner does.......under the dashboard glovebox.
Hope this helps.
This, well mostly! Does it get worse when the AC is running? There is something called dirty sock syndrome. If the drain line for the evaporator coil is stopped up......it WILL cause a bad stink. Almost vinegar like!
Just to mask the smell I recommend using dryer sheets. You can choose quite a few different fragrances that suit your likes.
Try replacing the AC filter under the dash. Did this to our Expedition and it worked. I also had a leak through the sun roof. Once that water got into the liner, I couldn't get rid of the smell. I had to replace the whole liner. This is why I will never buy another vehicle with a sun roof. They almost always leak. I like Brookwoods idea about the dryer sheets.
2015 has a cabin filter. Remove both glove boxes, little trap door conceals it. I clean mine a couple times a year.
This !
I vote in-cabin filter too.......😀
"Never do wrong to make a friend----or to keep one".....Robert E. Lee
Wow, I think you guys found the answer. I just started to notice the smell a couple of weeks ago. A couple of weeks ago it finally was getting hot here in scenic Indiana and the A/C was on. It's a small amount of water compared to a heater core leak so the carpet isn't wet (yet) but the pad under probably is. I'll pursue that path first. I hope I don't have to pull the engine to get to the drain. Thanks everyone.
Put a wet dog in the passenger seat?
Just Google it. The drain is NORMALLY under the hood and near the passenger tire. You MAY have to pull a fender liner to reach it. It's probably close enough to drip on the exhaust since it's a newer truck. Old vehicles just dropped it onto the ground, newer ones utilize the exhaust to make it evaporate.
Doesn't have to leak into the cab to stink, the water puddled in the drain pan makes the smell all by itself because it grows bacteria and similar.
Don’t cover up smell… find it. Replace cabin air filter and check all seals, ac system .. Check the drains at corner of windshield too .. run dehumidifier in it 2 days. Coat anything damp in baking soda then carpet clean it dry