Here is my story--Back in August it came a good rain one Friday and I did not drive the truck again till Monday morning. Well, I get in the truck Monday morning to go to work and it smelled like something had DIED in the truck. I get out and started pulling up floor mats expecting to find a dead mouse/ lizard or something like that. What I did find was my back seat and rear floorboard was soaked with water that had come through the 3rd brake light. I guess it sitting for three days in 100 degree heat made it smell like that. Well, took it to the dealer and they cleaned up everything and I got the truck back. It still stunk but they said it would get better in a few days---wrong, it got worse and got in the A/C. I took it back and they had it for 2 weeks. They re-shampooed everything including replacing the evaporator on A/C. Got the truck back about 10 days ago and it still stinks. My wife won't even drive it anymore. So I guess I will take it back for a third time and see what they can do.



Have any of ya'll ever had this happen--as far as not having a mildew smell but it smelling like something died in it from a water leak? BTW, it is a 2011 XLT 4x4 with 22k miles.


Thanks for your time,

Brian

 

Go to Home Depot and buy a spray bottle of Odo-Ban. That stuff does an excellent job of killing nasty odors.

 

Maybe some crawled in to the a/c system and died. Its actual pretty common for small critters to get into the venting and die. Does the smell come from the vents or the back? I would think standing water would have that mold smell, not a rotting smell

 

Did they shampoo the headliner as well? I had a leak in my 05 thanks to an aftermarket 3rd brake light with shoddy seal, and actually had mold growing up there when I pulled it all down to figure out what stank. I imagine they won't jump at the suggestion, but I say have them pull the headliner and check it out if they haven't already.

 

It is not in the vents anymore--It seems to be stronger in the back of the truck. They did clean the headliner but I seriously doubt they pulled any of it out to look behind. Im going to take it back tomorrow and see what they can do about the smell. It is much worse when it sits out in the heat all day while Im at work--makes it pretty bad when I get in it to go home. My AC blend door is not working now so thats something else they have to fix while its there.

 

I bought a 1978 E-150 that leaked from day 1 from various sources of water intrusion.

Long story short, the van smelled like a locker room until I sold it.

My '10 XLT had the same leak.

I happened to notice the high brake light had water inside so I spread a bunch of towels down until I got to the dealer.

They replaced the light fixture, headliner and repaired the Sirius antenna before it leaked, too.

I used to spray 'Ozium' inside my van which helped quite a bit.

 

Since it's a well known potential issue with the third brake light leaking, I inspect the rear area for leaks fairly frequently. Even though it's not leaking, I am going to replace the third brake light in my 2010 Screw before the warrant expires.

 

You could take everything apart ,headliner and everything that had gotten wet and hang it out in the sun for days. A ozone generator would be a could thing to try also.

 

I know a couple of guys that tried that but there are some chemicals in the headliner material that left a stain in both cases.

 

Mine leaked before I got it previous owner had it fixed under warrenty but I used to get the smell once in a while... Best way to get rid of it... (Fixed several vehicles with this method including a civic full of cat ****) pull the seats, pull the plastic trim outta the floor it's all just pop in clips and pull the console. Pull the carpet and pressure wash it, wet vac as much water out as you can and hang over fence over night and thru the following day and reinstall will be fresh and new again...