2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission how do you get rid of the nasty smells coming from vents?

[C. Harlan]

It is not a mildew smell. . I dont know how to describe it, but it reeks!!! how in the heck do I get rid of this??? someone chime in!



-Chris-

 

[CumminsPuller]

I hear ya!!!!!!!!

Mine has a smell aswell. Even after I clean my truck eventually the smell from the vents will come back. Passing gas with the A/C on and recirculating the air does not help either. :{ I think it is permanent damage now. Help Us.

 

[illflem]

My bet it's mildew but smells like something dead. Mine smelled just like a dead mouse. When it started happening to me all I did was start turning my A/C off and switching to vent a few miles before parking to dry up the moisture the mildew needs to grow.

Some people spray disinfectant such as Lysol into the vent intake at the rear of the hood with the vent fan running to further kill it.

 

[CumminsPuller]

I'll try it!!!!!!!

 

[bighammer]

You may actually have a dead mouse in there.

 

[Whitmore]

Illflem hit the nail on the head, one other advantage of his proceedure is the compressor gets unloaded while in the vent mode, this will help to rid the CLUNK when you go to AC next time as the compressor willnot be loaded right off the bat, kinda like starting your truck in nuetral vs. in-gear.



Cheers, Kevin

 

[Newf Limo]

Is that what that clunk is?!?!?

I had been wondering about that.



I thought the AC compressor will actually dry the air. Doesn't mean you have to have a cold setting, but it was my understanding that it dries the air out.

 

[RustyJC]

Re: Is that what that clunk is?!?!?

Originally posted by Newf Limo

I thought the AC compressor will actually dry the air. Doesn't mean you have to have a cold setting, but it was my understanding that it dries the air out.

The evaporator coil does dehumidify the air, but what happens to the moisture it pulls out of the air? It drips off the evaporator coil and eventually goes out the condensate drain. If you are running the A/C compressor when you shut the truck off, the evaporator coil and condensate drain area will still be damp - this is what promotes the algae growth. As Bill said, turning off the compressor and running the system on Vent prior to shutting down gives the incoming air an opportunity to evaporate the residual moisture from the evaporator coil/condensate drain area before the truck is turned off.



Rusty

 

[Loren]

I agree with pretty much everything all have said here. My experience was with the 1995 truck and the smell started when the truck was fairly new. I took it to the dealer to address the problem.



I don't know if it was an actual TSB, but there was some sort of service bulletin about the smell back in 1995. The fix was to spray some sort of disinfectant (Lysol?) into the air intake. The idea was to kill the mildew.



They also suggested turning off the air conditioning a minute or so before shutting the truck off for the reasons stated here.



That fix worked for me. The smell hasn't been back in eight years.



Loren

 

[AggieJustin]

It probably is the mildew smell. The actual smell seems to vary, but I can always treat it with the same method.



At the end of the day with the truck running, turn on the A/C (not Max A/C as this will only recirc inside air) and put the fan on high. Get a can of Lysol disinfectant spray with your favorite scent. Start spraying it into the intake vents on the cowl. Get a pretty good dose in there and shut the truck down for the night.



I can usually fix the problem with only one treatment, if it's really bad I'll do it 2-3 nights in a row.



Turning off the A/C a few miles before you get to your destination before a long shut down does help. Since I've been doing this I haven't had any trouble with the smell returning. There's no need to do this each time you stop, just whenever you stop and the truck will be off for a while (overnight, all day at work, etc. )

 

[Gene Arnold]

Haven't had a stink in my Ram, but when I bought my '95 Continental two years ago it was BAD! It was very low miles and hadn't been driven much in the past year or so and stuff had grown over the intake air filter (mold, etc. ). Don't know what the evaporator or the drain pan may have had in it. I bought a new filter and a can of Lysol spray. For several days I rode around town with all the windows down, heater set to maximum heat setting and high blower, sprayed Lysol into the intake periodically and got rid of the stink. It occasionally gives evidence of returning, but a few minutes of high heat usually fixes the problem. I try to run high heat setting periodically as a preventative.

 

[CJ Johansson]

Add tubing to the drain

A long time ago, someone suggested putting a length of tubing on the evaporator drain. I finally got around to that last year, and it seems to work. The basic problem is that the drain, which faces forward on the bottom of the evaporator housing, doesen't let the water out due to air blowing in in when you're driving.



Adding a foot or so of 5/8 inch heater hose and routing it straight down makes it so the water drains better. I used to turn off the AC a mile or so before home, but it still smelled sometimes. This last summer, I forgot to turn it off a number of times, and never had the bad smell. I still try to turn it off a bit before I get home, but with the hose, it doesn't seem to matter as much.



-cj