Strong Mildew Smell After Rain. Two Dealers Can't Find Source/Leak

[Porpoise Hork]

No problem. I figured I couldn't be the only one with this issue so may as well document it so others like yourself won't have to fight as hard. Hopefully yours is easier to find than mine was. Just keep after them if they are not able to locate it right away especially if there's no wet carpet.

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[D Fresh]

It has a rear slider and I already asked them if the non slider window is available that I was OK with having that installed instead. Unfortunately Ford won't authorize that as it would cause a mismatch with the vehicle VIN. I also asked if they could just pull the rear window and reseal it but Ford also refused said the window needs to be replaced. ? So I get to keep waiting for the parts.

Damn. I suppose aftermarket glass is out of the question on their dime, if it's even available.

If it is available I'd consider telling them thanks for the diagnosis and taking it elsewhere out of pocket. Ford doesn't make their own glass anyways.

BTW, I live in a semi arid environment, my truck is garaged so it doesn't see much rain. Did brushless carwashes cause your smell to return? Just curious about my own truck.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

It never did it after going through the wash. Probably not enough water made it in and down to the jute lining under the carpet.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

Well after what seems like an eternity I finally have my Ranger back. Everything looks just as good as when I took it in, and not a single rattle. I even purposely went down some rough old asphalt back roads and nothing. The tech did an amazing job at reassembling everything. As for what they did to fix the leaks. They replaced both driver's door seals, the inner inner weather seal and speaker. They also replaced the carpet and jute liner. The back glass was also replaced. From what they said Ford uses a combination gasket urethane seal on the back window. The gasket is bonded to the top center of the glass under the third mount light area. The gasket had a small tear in it and was allowing water to leak just past it and around to the driver's side and down the back wall. The reason it didn't produce the smell when I was testing at home with the tape on the roof rail is where I had the tape placed prevented water from reaching the where the damaged section was. They also treated the truck with ozone to eliminate any trace of mildew smell in the truck. The service director assured me that the truck was extensively leak tested after replacing glass and seals before the carpet was put back in and absolutely no leaks were found. I'm hopeful that they got them all, but if not it'll turn up soon as it's still 95F+ down here in Houston with nearly daily rain showers in my area.

I'll give it a few weeks before I am 100% convinced they were able to finally fix it.

 

[gwhalin]

So, have been following this and now have a question / concern with my truck that curious if anyone has an opinion on.

I took all my doors apart today to install Dynamat on the inside of the exterior sheet metal to sound deaden. On the passenger rear door, when I carefully removed the foam seal from the inner panel, a bunch of water spilled out at the bottom. No water had made it past the foam seal, but I can't imagine that this is normal or expected yeah?

 

[Porpoise Hork]

So, have been following this and now have a question / concern with my truck that curious if anyone has an opinion on.

I took all my doors apart today to install Dynamat on the inside of the exterior sheet metal to sound deaden. On the passenger rear door, when I carefully removed the foam seal from the inner panel, a bunch of water spilled out at the bottom. No water had made it past the foam seal, but I can't imagine that this is normal or expected yeah?

It shouldn't be holding water between the foam weather barrier and the door. It's been a while since I had the door skins off on mine, but I want to say that there are pass through holes along the bottom of where the foam seal is adhered to the door. I'd keep a close eye on that area just in case it starts to leak inside.

 

[Randy]

I have read this entire thread, to my disappointment and my 1 week old truck I too have a water leak issue. The smell I noticed today and the floor carpets were soaked. Already contact the dealer stating this is unnaceptable in hopes they move quickly to get me into another unit, as really with only 500 miles I don't want to keep this unit. To make matters worst, the dealer I went to is 1.5 hrs away... so the process starts tomorrow. The sales rep already called me and stated he will have a talk with the manager to locate another unit, he agrees is un-acceptable.

I am glad to have yet schedule bed spray and the front end lift kit...

 

[Porpoise Hork]

Well after the "hurricane" we got down here the other day and close to 6" of rain dumped on the truck, no hint of mildew or wet carpet anywhere. So it would appear that they successfully fixed it.

I have read this entire thread, to my disappointment and my 1 week old truck I too have a water leak issue. The smell I noticed today and the floor carpets were soaked. Already contact the dealer stating this is unnaceptable in hopes they move quickly to get me into another unit, as really with only 500 miles I don't want to keep this unit. To make matters worst, the dealer I went to is 1.5 hrs away... so the process starts tomorrow. The sales rep already called me and stated he will have a talk with the manager to locate another unit, he agrees is un-acceptable.

I am glad to have yet schedule bed spray and the front end lift kit...

That sucks. Trust me there's nothing worse than discovering your brand new truck has a water leak. Hopefully they will be able to get it sorted out quickly. If however they cannot get you into a new truck and seem to be taking too long to get it fixed don't hesitate to contact Ford Customer Support. They ended up not only giving me a gift card with 2 months worth of truck notes and just let me know yesterday when they were closing the case that they were also extending the warranty to 60 months 72K miles by giving me Ford Premium Care for free because it took so long to get fixed. So if thing else, For will try to make up for the inconveniences you may face.

 

[Randy]

Here is the culprit. Back panel cabin passenger side. If there are union workers here, don't take this personally, but I expect better build quality at your wages.

This lid has a seal around the edges, is installed on the back panel of the cabin, most likely before the truck bed is mated with the cabin. The top clip was not latched securely and therefore as water dripped down the rear on the outside it hit that top clip/opening and water was being let in.

The front passenger is soaked, smells like rotten eggs of course. I got the carbonized Tremor build and of course this is nowhere available unless ordered, which I do not know what the dealer will offer.

Process of elimination, seal the slider, perimeter of the glass and brake light and water was still able to get in, then I thought, this is coming from below the glass unit, took apart the rear cabin covers, jack etc and viola! there it was.... I then checked the driver side which is the one with the cabin flappers to let the air pressure out, now that one has what it looks like a collection tray at the bottom and does not let water in, rather expels it out via that small tub at the bottom, all clips there were latched, and it was snugged.

Now, wait until Monday so I can go bring this unit to the dealer and let them have it. At minimum and I already have the feeling that a new unit will not come by or offered, I would want the entire seats, and cabin removed, dried with a humidifier for a few days and a brand new floor carpet unit installed. I already marked this carpet unit to verify that in fact it will be change and this is unbeknownst to them.

Tremor, 1,237 miles smells like rotten crap. UGH!!!!!! You go Union worker watching the secure placement of these lids LOL. I gotta laugh at this after forking the entire purchase cash on the spot....

 

[Randy]

Well after what seems like an eternity I finally have my Ranger back. Everything looks just as good as when I took it in, and not a single rattle. I even purposely went down some rough old asphalt back roads and nothing. The tech did an amazing job at reassembling everything. As for what they did to fix the leaks. They replaced both driver's door seals, the inner inner weather seal and speaker. They also replaced the carpet and jute liner. The back glass was also replaced. From what they said Ford uses a combination gasket urethane seal on the back window. The gasket is bonded to the top center of the glass under the third mount light area. The gasket had a small tear in it and was allowing water to leak just past it and around to the driver's side and down the back wall. The reason it didn't produce the smell when I was testing at home with the tape on the roof rail is where I had the tape placed prevented water from reaching the where the damaged section was. They also treated the truck with ozone to eliminate any trace of mildew smell in the truck. The service director assured me that the truck was extensively leak tested after replacing glass and seals before the carpet was put back in and absolutely no leaks were found. I'm hopeful that they got them all, but if not it'll turn up soon as it's still 95F+ down here in Houston with nearly daily rain showers in my area.

I'll give it a few weeks before I am 100% convinced they were able to finally fix it.

So if they replaced your OEM carpet kit, then these parts are available, which some sort of relief for me as I will most likely be in this same situation with mine.

If that so, they must've removed all seats, center console to replace it all... notice any trim parts lose? clips broken etc?

Are you concern at all of water damage to any of the two wiring harness that run the side bottom of each door? These seem well packed and I did not see any connectors in between front and the middle of the truck. This is one of my concerns, is the hidden damage, electric malfunction 2-3 yrs down from now. I am not knocking on the brand or model... I love the looks and how this Tremor handles, but damn... workers need to really pace themselves and take pride representing that union and those high paid salaries.

 

[D Fresh]

Glad to hear it. Back to enjoying your Ranger.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

So if they replaced your OEM carpet kit, then these parts are available, which some sort of relief for me as I will most likely be in this same situation with mine.

If that so, they must've removed all seats, center console to replace it all... notice any trim parts lose? clips broken etc?

Are you concern at all of water damage to any of the two wiring harness that run the side bottom of each door? These seem well packed and I did not see any connectors in between front and the middle of the truck. This is one of my concerns, is the hidden damage, electric malfunction 2-3 yrs down from now. I am not knocking on the brand or model... I love the looks and how this Tremor handles, but damn... workers need to really pace themselves and take pride representing that union and those high paid salaries.

Glad you located the leak and it was something simple to fix.

Surprisingly the jute and carpet were not on back order. They got those delivered in about 4 days. It was the rear glass and driver's door foam weather seals that were on back-order.

For mine they basically stripped the interior out in their quest to find/fix the leak. The dashboard was removed to replace the AC accumulator assembly (didn't fix it) They removed the headliner to make sure the rivet bolts for the rails were not leaking. After that they pulled the interior trim, door panels, seats, center console, carpet and jute under liner. The only place that water came into contact with the harness, was inside the driver's door, but no where close to any connection point. They even replaced the driver's door speaker because water had gotten onto the mounting trim. The rear window leak never came in contact with any of the harness, so I'm not too concerned there.

As for re-assembly, they did a fantastic job. You cannot tell it was ever apart. Nothing out of place, no loose panels or rattles. In fact they even fixed a small rattle in the passenger front door that had been there since I applied the sound deadening mat.

For the smell request to have them do an Ozone treatment on it after they replace the carpet/jute. They should know what you're talking about. Basically they setup an Ozone generator and run it for about an hour filling the cabin. Ozone is a powerful oxidizer and will neutralize any remnant of that mildew smell. Just be sure to take a few damp cloths and wipe any leather/plastic parts down when you get it back. Then treat the leather and dash with conditioner. This will help remove the lingering ozone smell as well as re-moisturize the leather after the treatment. After doing that to mine it still has a faint ozone smell to it, and honestly I kind of like it. The ozone after smell mixed with the new carpet/jute makes it smell like it's a brand new truck again.

 

[Randy]

Glad you located the leak and it was something simple to fix.

Surprisingly the jute and carpet were not on back order. They got those delivered in about 4 days. It was the rear glass and driver's door foam weather seals that were on back-order.

For mine they basically stripped the interior out in their quest to find/fix the leak. The dashboard was removed to replace the AC accumulator assembly (didn't fix it) They removed the headliner to make sure the rivet bolts for the rails were not leaking. After that they pulled the interior trim, door panels, seats, center console, carpet and jute under liner. The only place that water came into contact with the harness, was inside the driver's door, but no where close to any connection point. They even replaced the driver's door speaker because water had gotten onto the mounting trim. The rear window leak never came in contact with any of the harness, so I'm not too concerned there.

As for re-assembly, they did a fantastic job. You cannot tell it was ever apart. Nothing out of place, no loose panels or rattles. In fact they even fixed a small rattle in the passenger front door that had been there since I applied the sound deadening mat.

For the smell request to have them do an Ozone treatment on it after they replace the carpet/jute. They should know what you're talking about. Basically they setup an Ozone generator and run it for about an hour filling the cabin. Ozone is a powerful oxidizer and will neutralize any remnant of that mildew smell. Just be sure to take a few damp cloths and wipe any leather/plastic parts down when you get it back. Then treat the leather and dash with conditioner. This will help remove the lingering ozone smell as well as re-moisturize the leather after the treatment. After doing that to mine it still has a faint ozone smell to it, and honestly I kind of like it. The ozone after smell mixed with the new carpet/jute makes it smell like it's a brand new truck again.

wow... they took the entire dash unit out? Thank you for the mentioning the Ozone treatment, I will sure demand that, even though I honestly would like a brand new unit due to electrical concerns and knowing in the future this unit was not leaking.... Monday for me can't come fast enough to get some answers.

 

[RecoilOperated]

So, have been following this and now have a question / concern with my truck that curious if anyone has an opinion on.

I took all my doors apart today to install Dynamat on the inside of the exterior sheet metal to sound deaden. On the passenger rear door, when I carefully removed the foam seal from the inner panel, a bunch of water spilled out at the bottom. No water had made it past the foam seal, but I can't imagine that this is normal or expected yeah?

Off topic but how happy are you with the Dynamat, was it worth the effort?

 

[gwhalin]

Off topic but how happy are you with the Dynamat, was it worth the effort?

Yep it was. An easy install and the doors just “sound” much better. Not even bothered by my wife slamming the door anymore.

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