AC ODOR ISSUE

[Stangman570]

Ouch. That's awful. Going to catch up on the thread tonight and see where it's at. For me the squeak seems to be at the passenger side rear wheel.

Just went to the dealership yesterday for this very issue of the passenger rear brake squealing. It was mud packed in the grove on the brake pads. This grove is used to help outgas brake dust to keep it away from the rotor and the pads. However, this only serves as a catch all for mud and difficult to rinse out. I'm changing to solid rear pads to help eliminate this problem. After they got the dried up mud out of the pads, no more noisy rear brakes.

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[dangerranger16]

Just went to the dealership yesterday for this very issue of the passenger rear brake squealing. It was mud packed in the grove on the brake pads. This grove is used to help outgas brake dust to keep it away from the rotor and the pads. However, this only serves as a catch all for mud and difficult to rinse out. I'm changing to solid rear pads to help eliminate this problem. After they got the dried up mud out of the pads, no more noisy rear brakes.

Hmm, interesting. Thanks for letting me know! I think I'll go ahead and try to check this out myself before bringing it in. Will post back my findings.

 

[Brisko_Michigan]

I thought that smell was in my head. Sweat socks. AC on. Upside, I’m not crazy and it’s not a dead rodent.

Great...

 

[Tracy Bowman]

Do we know if every vehicle has this odor or if we are the unlucky few?

Mine has never had it. Hope you get this resolved.

 

[Buckeye2782]

I’ve been waiting for cooler weather to give a better chance at the dealer. It is easily replicated but I want to be with them to confirm.

 

[pull string get cookies]

My dealership is waiting on guidance from Ford as to how (apparently) others have had this issue and what they advise to fix it before they remove dash to get at heating element. The smell has gotten worse over time and gives me headaches on longer trips. Who knows what chemicals are burning off.

This is a common occurrence in Hawaii (tropical climate). Have you checked the a/c drain tube? If the condensation is not draining out and is accumulating the musty smell is inevitable. Also, you could use an a/c deodorizing product which works well. Another thing that may help is to run the a/c system on outside air instead of recirculate once in a while. Hope this helps.

 

[canigetadollar?]

I too have the BO smell with the AC on at 18k miles. I thought it was from the previous owner being a smoker but now I'm not so sure. I smelled the old cabin filter after removing it, and discovered it stank just like my AC vents. Replacing the cabin air filter did seem to fix it at first, but now it's definitely back.

I've tried ozone too, which helped a ton but not enough. This totally sucks.

 

[stringbreaker]

On start up first thing after sitting all night my A/C smells like silicone caulking for a minute or less. Just started this since the weather here in the PNW got warm. My truck has a shade over 5000 miles on it. Not really all that bad but a bit annoying.

 

[Aftermath865]

I just bought a new 2019 June 23rd. Had been combing this site for weeks prior to purchase so I could look for some of these issues during the test drive. I Thought I was lucky!
I’ve had the truck 1 month and it now has 1,700 miles on it. I live in E TN and it’s been stupid hot here so I’ve been running the AC on “Max”. I have an STX so it’s just the basic climate control and no dual zone. On Max it’s absolutely perfect. Turned it off max for the first time the other day and Boom. There it was. Almost immediately. Like burning crayons. Can’t stand it, very strong. Does it on normal AC, and defrost as well. It Does it whether it’s on recirculation or not. Turn it back to max, and the smell is gone Within seconds. According to the TSB, this affects trucks from August to September 2019 mfg date. Mine was built in July 2019. But the TSB says not to use replacement parts with a build date of July-September 2019.

 

[P. A. Schilke]

I just bought a new 2019 June 23rd. Had been combing this site for weeks prior to purchase so I could look for some of these issues during the test drive. I Thought I was lucky!
I’ve had the truck 1 month and it now has 1,700 miles on it. I live in E TN and it’s been stupid hot here so I’ve been running the AC on “Max”. I have an STX so it’s just the basic climate control and no dual zone. On Max it’s absolutely perfect. Turned it off max for the first time the other day and Boom. There it was. Almost immediately. Like burning crayons. Can’t stand it, very strong. Does it on normal AC, and defrost as well. It Does it whether it’s on recirculation or not. Turn it back to max, and the smell is gone Within seconds. According to the TSB, this affects trucks from August to September 2019 mfg date. Mine was built in July 2019. But the TSB says not to use replacement parts with a build date of July-September 2019.

Hi Clint,

Take it to the dealer....This needs to be fixed.

 

[AzScorpion]

Any chance you used a valet?

 

[Aftermath865]

Took mine to the dealer, service writer smelled it right away. Of course, the technician didn’t smell it. I ended up speaking with the service manger and they are going to replace the blower motor. Even though my truck doesn’t fall under the recall. No one at my dealer had ever heard of this problem yet either. I saw above that someone mentioned Ford now knew of a fix available July 27th and that it was for 2 parts. Does anyone have an update on that info that I could give to the service writer to make sure the right parts are ordered?

 

[Jbart13]

I have brought it to two dealers a total of 3 times. One dealer didn’t smell it at all ? all lies after I told them I called ford direct and they wanted a second opinion (my fault). The original one had no solutions, stated it doesn’t fall within recall, they smell it, but don’t understand where it’s coming from. They suggested I call ford direct for solutions. They had zero, now I’m on a month long roadtrip with my camper. Hopefully when I get back there will be a readily available fix ??‍ Anyone else have updates?

 

[Porpoise Hork]

I too have the BO smell with the AC on at 18k miles. I thought it was from the previous owner being a smoker but now I'm not so sure. I smelled the old cabin filter after removing it, and discovered it stank just like my AC vents. Replacing the cabin air filter did seem to fix it at first, but now it's definitely back.

I've tried ozone too, which helped a ton but not enough. This totally sucks.

My wife's car had a real bad problem with pulling in exhaust odors form other cars while driving. So much so that she hated driving it. The fumes would regularly give me a headache as well. I found that the Spearhead Premium Cabin Filters did an amazing job at odor control.

Since mine would sometimes have this mildew scent when first starting I decided to look to see if one fit the Ranger. I did some cross reference checking and found this one that fits the Ranger perfectly. It doesn't say it does but it does cross over to the PUROLATOR C35519 filter and that one is a perfect fit. Since installing it I have had no issues with the mildew smell or any other odors. It even managed to filter out my 14 year old dog's fart on a recent road trip And let me tell you that poor old girl can peel paint from across the room... Needless to say, I'm sold on these filters since that day.

 

[Rp930]

Mine was just starting to get a little musty odor then I switched to the Purolator Boss. So far so good.

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