Super Stinky A/C

AceRock · September 5, 2006

I have a 2004 Silverado 2500 Crew Cab and this summer has givin me the smelliest air conditioned air yet. This is my 3rd summer with this truck and I have never experienced this. It smells like urine when I start the truck and it starts blowing air. This smell goes away in approx. 5 minutes but it really is offensive. I had this problem in the past with my ford ranger but never with this truck. Could this be mildew or mold? If so how do I get rid of it?

SoCalChris · September 5, 2006

Any chance you have a mouse living in your dashboard? That happened to our Safari, we had a mouse get up in the dash, and chew a hole in the ducting. It took forever to get the smell of mouse pee out of the A/C.

NothinButBowTies · September 6, 2006

I have used Lysol(sp) in the vent where the outside air comes in. That stuff works great to kill the mildew. If that doesnt work, you could try getting to the evaporator and cleaning that.

You think a mouse is bad?

My cat pissed all over my seat last year during the hurricane evac! That took 6 months of scrubbing and vent cleaning to get that out!

KICK · September 6, 2006

mold and such tend to grow on evaporators due to the wet environment.

if you can find a way to access the evaporator it is possible to spray a diseinfectant or bleach on it, otherwise some A/C places can clean it for you.

opsbear7 · September 6, 2006

Where is the intake/vent opening for the air and heat coming into the truck?

AceRock · September 6, 2006

No rats. This is not caused by rats. This smell is not there all the time I should add. If I do not use the a/c and drive the truck and park it and then get back in, there is no smell at all even if the fan is blowing air through the ducts. It only smells if i run the a/c and then park the truck for a few hours and then get back in and start it. That is when the air smells really bad. I think i will just take it to an air conditioning shop and see if they can clean it. It has to be mold or mildew. I wonder how bad this could be to breath in?

deadmeat · September 6, 2006

I have had this in the past with other vehicles. I believe it is from the moisture getting trapped in the vent system causing mold to grow.

I always make sure I leave my vents in the open air position instead of recirculateing when I leave the truck. Also, I switch the vent postition to a non/ac position such as floor/vent instead of defrost and run the fan for few seconds before shutting down. So far no problems using this method.

C & A s Dad · September 6, 2006

A couple of things to add.

If you have cabin air filters, change them. This will make a huge difference.

We (CARQUEST) sell a product mfgd by Quest that is made just for this. It is part # 760CQ and is made to kill odors, mold and mildew in the intake ducts. It is in a can with a nozzle so you can do this at home.

FYI I once had a male cat that had "sprayed" the intake vents on a can I had. He was sleeping on the hood and evidently had sprayed the vents at the base of the windshield. Once a male cat does this, they will continue doing it. This made a terrible odor in the van every time I turned on the A/C.

KICK · September 6, 2006

.

FYI I once had a male cat that had "sprayed" the intake vents on a can I had. He was sleeping on the hood and evidently had sprayed the vents at the base of the windshield. Once a male cat does this, they will continue doing it. This made a terrible odor in the van every time I turned on the A/C.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

did ya kill the cat?

tgooch · September 6, 2006

I hate to tell you this but I had the same thing happen to me in my ram and it turned out to be my heater core. It smelled just like cat piss and the heater core was leaking a little, It wasn't bad enough to get the carpet wet but it smelled just like cat piss.

CapitalTruck · September 8, 2006

All of these tips are right on, particularly the hint of turning the a/c off a few minutes prior to shutting the car down (but leaving the fan on). Also, there is a product by BG called "fridgi-clean" that should take care of this. There is a video of it here: http://www.bgfindashop.com/bgservices/climate.htm

grayghst · September 8, 2006

GM has a technical bulletin for this. Take it to the dealer. My wife had this problem with her Trailblazer. It has something to do with the coils not drying out and mold growing.