hey.. well winter is upon us and i had to use my heater for the first time today... and since i bought the truck used at beginng of year...

well let me say... i couldnt even breathe the air in.. it took my breathe away.. it smelled really stail and bad.. like old .. i literally had to roll the window down... and even on 4 setting the air wasnt blowin that hard at all and wasnt very hot either......please help guys

04 f150 supercrew fx4 70k.. dont know if the radiators ever been flushed or not... could it just be old fluid..

i bought the truck from FLorida,, so they probably rarely ever used the heater but who knows

 

digg are you serious? It was in the 70's yesterday and it dropped to about 63 last night. Thats not heater weather.

 

dude im serious.. it was 51 this morning... no lie...

 

well 55 around the bay, but up by stennis is was a bit cooler,, around 630 this morning,

 

You out by Diamondhead or Bay St.?

Still not heater weather.

 

bout 5 min from slidell. but i live in bay st. louis.

 

anyone????

 

Your coolant would have nothing to do with the smell, unless it was leaking. Then it would be a sweet smell. It sounds like there is problems with the vent system itself, possibly mold and/or dead animals. I think you are going to have to dig into it.

 

Or the truck was a hurricane Katrina victim.

 

i lost my truck in katrina,,, this one came from florida so i didnt really flood,, i inspected all that,, and it checks out.... were would mold be at ??

 

It would be inside the duct work. Especially if it is not draining the AC condensation. Also if you are not getting air through, it tells me either the heater core is blocked, not internal, but external that the air can not pass through it. Until you open it up, there is no way to tell. Do a search in the 04 forum. I believe some have put out instructions on how to open it up.

 

well,, whene the A/C is on it blows hard and doesnt smell, so that rules out some things,,, so what would be left? what is the heater core

 

The heater core is a mini radiator inside your vehicle. Antifreeze flows it and as air flows through, it heats the air. Just like the reverse on the radiator

 

ok,, so what if its just the old stail water in the mini radiator? that what i was told..

 

Just like in the radiator, the air and antifreeze do not mix, unless there is a leak. Then you would smell the sweet smell of antifreeze. Think of a small radiator in a house. Air is heated by passing around the radiator.