Musty/mold smell after carwash/rain

[Porpoise Hork]

So I had this exact same issue on my 2020 Ranger. After a year 3 dealerships, (6 of that the truck sat at the last one waiting on parts) two rear windows, door seals, AC accumulator housing replacement they still couldn't fix it. They literally stripped the interior out three times. They'd say it was fixed, only to have it return a couple weeks later. I had also spent hours with a water hose, systematically running water on section after section waiting between each one desperate to find the leak(s) but never could. This was mostly due to the carpet in the ranger having a rubberized backing on it so there was never the tell tale wet spot. Just the gods awful smell.

I finally said screw it and traded it in for the PB. Now after 2.5 years and 13K miles later with no mold smell after a rain shower or car wash the F150 has suddenly started having the same issue as the Ranger. ? I have checked the cabin filter (brand new), carpet, back wall liner, cab rear pressure vents, headliner (no sunroof) in case the sat antennas or 3rd mount has developed a leak. Basically all the usual suspects and nothing no damp/wet spots anywhere.

This is without the AC or truck on. Open the door climb in close the door and BAM! dirty slapped in the face with dirty cat box smell. The smell will linger for a couple minutes then fade away. Close the truck up and let it bake for 30 min to an hour, come back and it's there again. The AC drains well and no smell form the vents when you first kick the AC on. The Ranger would do the same thing but get progressively worse to the point where it would smell for a solid week after the smallest of rain showers or car wash.

This has me really irritated because I already had one Ford truck with a leak issue, I really do not want to go through this again. Nor do I want to mention this to my wife as she will probably want to set fire to the damned thing. Anyone have any ideas or had the same issue?

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[r6express]

I had the same problem with my PowerBoost. It ended up being a leak in the coolant line running under the engine back to the battery pack. The moisture was being pulled into the cab by the HVAC system.

See this post for more information and pictures: https://www.f150gen14.com/forum/thr...ley-not-covered-by-warranty.21925/post-421928

 

[Porpoise Hork]

Thanks for the info. I'll check this out to make sure but I don't suspect this will be the cause. There has not been any detectable coolant loss, or associated smell in the engine bay. As of now it seems to be related to external moisture like that from rain or a car wash etc.

 

[Dunthupl]

Fighting it myself. You mention cab rear pressure vents, but did you just check for carpet moisture or actually see is the vent was fully seated/clipped in. I'd pull the carpet and hose test it. Most commonly related to sunroof which seems like you dodged that bullet.

 

[Ford Motor Company]

So I had this exact same issue on my 2020 Ranger. After a year 3 dealerships, (6 of that the truck sat at the last one waiting on parts) two rear windows, door seals, AC accumulator housing replacement they still couldn't fix it. They literally stripped the interior out three times. They'd say it was fixed, only to have it return a couple weeks later. I had also spent hours with a water hose, systematically running water on section after section waiting between each one desperate to find the leak(s) but never could. This was mostly due to the carpet in the ranger having a rubberized backing on it so there was never the tell tale wet spot. Just the gods awful smell.

I finally said screw it and traded it in for the PB. Now after 2.5 years and 13K miles later with no mold smell after a rain shower or car wash the F150 has suddenly started having the same issue as the Ranger. ? I have checked the cabin filter (brand new), carpet, back wall liner, cab rear pressure vents, headliner (no sunroof) in case the sat antennas or 3rd mount has developed a leak. Basically all the usual suspects and nothing no damp/wet spots anywhere.

This is without the AC or truck on. Open the door climb in close the door and BAM! dirty slapped in the face with dirty cat box smell. The smell will linger for a couple minutes then fade away. Close the truck up and let it bake for 30 min to an hour, come back and it's there again. The AC drains well and no smell form the vents when you first kick the AC on. The Ranger would do the same thing but get progressively worse to the point where it would smell for a solid week after the smallest of rain showers or car wash.

This has me really irritated because I already had one Ford truck with a leak issue, I really do not want to go through this again. Nor do I want to mention this to my wife as she will probably want to set fire to the damned thing. Anyone have any ideas or had the same issue?

Can you please send over a message with your VIN and the name/location of your local Ford dealer? I would like to take a closer look into your F-150's odor issue.

 

[jmcgurl]

Curious to know if there have been and resolutions. I am fighting this myself in my 21 PB and it's getting very frustrating. Thankfully it only seems to last a few minutes but it can be embarrassing when getting into the truck with friends and family.

 

[HammaMan]

Check your door drains to make sure stuff hasn't accumulated in the doors and is trapping water in them. You can run water into the doors by carefully pulling back the window rubber that the window travels against as it goes up and down and running the hose on it / pouring water in. If you have a sliding rear window inspect it as well.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

Check your door drains to make sure stuff hasn't accumulated in the doors and is trapping water in them. You can run water into the doors by carefully pulling back the window rubber that the window travels against as it goes up and down and running the hose on it / pouring water in. If you have a sliding rear window inspect it as well.

Well all 4 door drains are clear. No indication the rear slider is leaking and was one of the first things I checked. What's messed up is it stopped producing the odor. But then it did pour close to 3" of rain on it today and has been baking in the sun all afternoon so I may as well go see if I'm gonna be pissed off for the rest of the night or not.

Edit:
Not pissed tonight.

 

[Calson]

Often it is the vent hose for draining AC condensate that is plugged an push up a coat hanger wire from below can open it back up.

For odors nothing beats the Febreze product. $10 and the problem is going to be fixed.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

So between Thursday and Saturday we got 7.7 inches of rain and no smell...

Then this morning we got .25" of rain and now it's got the smell again. Pulled the truck into the garage and removed the rear seats, and inspected every inch of carpeting... Absolutely dry... Then I got distracted by something on the middle of the tonneau cover near the cab and that's when I smelled it. A strong musty odor coming from between the bed and cab... Looking down there I see this...

Another absolutely BRILLIANT idea by Ford engineering..

They decided to install a jute liner to the exterior back wall of the cab... I reached down with my gorilla biscuits to find it was absolutely soaked... Curios, I sniffed my fingers just to see and and YUP! My fingers now smell like I was playing in the cat box...

So instead of installing a water proof material like say butyl rubber on the exterior of the cab Or install this crap on the INSIDE of the truck they deiced in their infinite wisdom to install an absorbent material on the exterior of the cab just above the vents... ?

REAL FRICKEN SMART FORD...

 

[Skier167]

So between Thursday and Saturday we got 7.7 inches of rain and no smell...

Then this morning we got .25" of rain and now it's got the smell again. Pulled the truck into the garage and removed the rear seats, and inspected every inch of carpeting... Absolutely dry... Then I got distracted by something on the middle of the tonneau cover near the cab and that's when I smelled it. A strong musty odor coming from between the bed and cab... Looking down there I see this...

Another absolutely BRILLIANT idea by Ford engineering..

They decided to install a jute liner to the exterior back wall of the cab... I reached down with my gorilla biscuits to find it was absolutely soaked... Curios, I sniffed my fingers just to see and and YUP! My fingers now smell like I was playing in the cat box...

So instead of installing a water proof material like say butyl rubber on the exterior of the cab Or install this crap on the INSIDE of the truck they deiced in their infinite wisdom to install an absorbent material on the exterior of the cab just above the vents... ?

REAL FRICKEN SMART FORD...

Interesting. I’ve noticed this same smell getting into my truck as well before starting it and couldn’t figure it out since my truck is kept in a garage. “Gorilla biscuits” ??

 

[Porpoise Hork]

Well update. It's only PARTIALLY the jute liner on the back of the cab. The driver's side cab vent is the source of the leak. I ran a bunch of water across the back and waited a few hours letting it bake. Checked it again and strong mildew smell coming from the carpet directly under the cab vent.

Now I can either battle the dealership to get them to replace it or just buy the vents and do it myself. Providing I can find the part numbers for them of course.

 

[HammaMan]

Well update. It's only PARTIALLY the jute liner on the back of the cab. The driver's side cab vent is the source of the leak. I ran a bunch of water across the back and waited a few hours letting it bake. Checked it again and strong mildew smell coming from the carpet directly under the cab vent.

Now I can either battle the dealership to get them to replace it or just buy the vents and do it myself. Providing I can find the part numbers for them of course.

Did you check to see if the vent is seated properly? I tried to push one and I believe it hit the bed so getting full access to it quite the task. It's been a minute since I played with it but that's what I remember.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

Did you check to see if the vent is seated properly? I tried to push one and I believe it hit the bed so getting full access to it quite the task. It's been a minute since I played with it but that's what I remember.

Yes sir. Pulled the back panel cover out and double checked everything to find this. The carpet itself is dry and has almost no smell. The panel directly in front of the vent sticks to high hell. The rear panel cover must have been touching the vent or was close enough for water to wick across to it. So I'll be ordering another vent as soon as I can find it on the parts site.



I also checked the rear sliding window and passenger side vent. No leaks.

And the jute material on the external wall of the cab also stinks but Now that I know that water was poring in on this one vent I'm not too concerned about that.

Edit, The PN from what I can best tell is HC3Z25280B62B Just in case anyone else has an issue like this.

 

[HammaMan]

The issue is that I don't believe there's enough room to get the vent out. The bed has to be removed. I tried to push mine through and it just hits the bed. When I was working on a box I'm pretty sure I tried to remove it to see if I could just seal it up but it goes back a little bit and then stops.

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