Moisture build-up in cab?

This is a new one to me. I've had a bad rotten milk smell coming from my truck that has been getting worse and worse the last two weeks when I get into my truck. once the air is on it goes away. I've been all over, under, and in between everything in my truck and can't figure it out. today I decided to vacuum out the taco to maybe find the problem. After removing my weathertechs (had them for about two years now) I noticed that the carpet is moist in the front and back. It's not soaked but moist to the touch even after vacuuming. It doesn't smell rotten just a little off. I just started college this past quarter and because of it I rarely drive anymore than thirty minutes lately and even that is rare. Could there maybe be moisture building up in my truck and it not drying because of the cold weather and lack of driving. I know I haven't had anything spill in the truck.

Anyone have this experience with this before?

 

when was the last time you changed your in-cabin air filter?? I finally just replaced my for the first time a few weeks ago after having the truck for almost a year. It was way way worse than i ever expected it to be. The new one made my truck smell much better. Try it!

 

check ur evaporator drain tube. when the a/c is on or the defrost is on, the evaporator under the dash attracts moisture. this moisture drains down a little rubber tube which exits the floorboard through a small hole. if this tube isnt through the hole and is laying out on the floorboard u are draining this moisture/water into the cab.

 

I replace mine pretty frequently and just checked it. Besides a few little leaves it's clean. Thanks!

This might be the case. It's just on the drivers side that the floor is wet and not the passenger. I just vacuumed the carpets really good with my shop vac and got about 8oz of water out of the carpets. It's in the back seat drivers side as well so I don't know how it would reach back there but I'm going to go check this out now. Thanks!

 

are you sure the heater core is not leaking?

 

I have cool air coming out of the evaporator drain tube on the fire wall in the engine bay. I'm not sure how long it'd have to run to start producing moisture. Anyone know where I can look to follow this line to make sure it's connected all the way? I was up under the dash but the fan motor is in the way. I don't see or feel any moisture coming out from anywhere from up under there but like I said, I don't know how long it'd have to run to start producing moisture. No idea as of yet what could be causing this but I'm going to keep looking as to where that drain tube comes from.

 

No idea It's on the drivers side only, front and back. I'm not sure if maybe there's some kind of crack or hole in the cab that water is coming up from the road or what. I do live in Washington. << Just substitute the poo for rain.

 

Do a search and there are a number of threads that are out there for a leaking seam on the roof running front to back, rear window or front window poorly installed, but the main and typical leak causing water on pass side is water coming through the fresh air intake for the HVAC system. If you pull the cowl covering just below the windshield you will see the opening. You can make a cover to go over it.

What happens is water and leak in there and it will make it to the floor, generally the cabin filter is wet/damp.

 

Hoo boy. I'd pull up the carpet just to see what's under there...

 

Operator: Did you ever figure out what it was? Were you able to fix it? I seem to have a similar problem. Weathertechs with moisture underneath. And it's on the drivers side... so none of the fixes for passenger side water really pertain to my problem. Please help

 

I have not tackled this project yet. I've been so focused on school lately. The smell seems to just sometimes pop up. I haven't vacuumed my truck again yet to see if I can still pull up water but the stale smell leads me to think theirs water again. It's just drivers side front and back and the problem doesn't exist on the passenger side. I'm thinking it's one of two things for me: When I wash my truck I spray up underneath to knock off the mud and build up snd maybe theirs a plug loose leading into the cab (probably not but it's a quick check) I'm leaning more towards and improperly installed front windshield. I had mine replaced about 2 years ago n maybe theirs been a slow leak. I'm going to check this out in the next few days. Like you, I'd like to get this fixed. It's a stupid problem to be having with a new truck. I'll keep you up to date on anything I look into and maybe find out. Please do the same. Good luck!

 

I may have found the source to my leak. Maybe yours is something along these lines.
I recently had an alarm system installed on my truck. They routed the wire for the horn through the hole in the firewall where all the other wires from the engine compartment come through. It's up and to the left of my clutch pedal. When they did this they popped the grommet off this hole, routed the wires around it, not through it, then left the grommet off. When it rained or when I washed the truck, water would drain down through the windshield cowl and leak through this hole. I rerouted the wires and popped the grommet back in. Hopefully now it is fixed.

Suggestions for you for finding the leak:
1. Pull the carpet up and check the plugs for the holes in the floor
2. Pull off the cowl between the hood and windshield and look for leaks
3. Check the same firewall hole that I am talking about
4. If it is water and not coolant(assuming you have antifreeze in your radiator) then its not the heater core
5. Check the ac drain tube even though its on the passenger side

Im sure there are other sources of leaks but thats all I did to find it

 

Nice, you found it! I did the same thing when I installed my off road lights. I cut into one of the grommets on the firewall to run the wires for the switch. Maybe now that I'm in Washington it's finally becoming a problem for me. Thanks for the advice and congratulations on finding the source to your problem.

 

Take it to a car wash place that has a carpet steam cleaner. Then put it in a place that you can leave the windows down for a night and put a fan inside. I pulled mine out the other day to get some dirt off and had condensation on the bottoms of them and its only 3 months old.

 

WTF.... my shit only gets wet when I swamp it. The only issues I have heard of concerning water penetration was from the HVAC system and it was under the dash on the pass side.




There is NO need to steam clean the carpet. Just wash it with antibacterial dish washing soap and make sure it's 100% dry before installation. Steam cleaning just introduces MORE water into it.

Dish washing soap got all the coffee stains and mud stains out of mine. Looked brand new when I put it back in and it now smells great