forum thank-you;mold smell in cruiser

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B

Bart2

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
Nov 11, 2010
Threads
7
Messages
17
Hello all-
First of all, thank you for all of the knowledge I have received since I brought my cruiser- I have been able to baseline, change headlamps, trouble-shoot codes and change differential fluids- all thanks to the knowledge here! In addition, I knew to have the dealership "throw in" a timing belt change when I first got her....

My current issue is this: there is a pervasive (read- yours eyes tear up a little when you get in) odor of mold in the cabin. We haven't had rain in, well, forever, and there is no water discoloration around the sunroof, or any of the interior. This started about a month ago, and nothing seems to work- I have cleaned the carpets, left the windows open, made sure there were no "presents" from the kiddo, etc....

Has anyone else had this issue? Is there something I can use to better clean the interior to kill the mold?

Thank you!

Jordan
 
The underside of the carpet is rubberized, so water may be getting under the carpet and since it doesn't breath this may cause the smell. Poke around under the carpet and see what you can find? Have to kill the moisture or the smell won't go away.
 
Often times the carpet underlay can absorb and trap moisture. Peel the carpets back and see if any moisture is under between the underlay and the floorboards. If the smell persists, i'd recommend checking the cabin filter... if nothing... then look in the low spots for where moisture can accumulate. Mold will not grow if moisture is not present. (I do mold inspections for a living). Good luck.
 
Take apart and clean your second row seat bottoms. I found tons of snack foods, soda, juice, $1.25 in change and a DS game cartridge in mine. The PO kids were pigs.

It's a lot of work but it really got rid of the funky smell in my '05 when I bought it last October.

Pull up the rear carpet and make sure there's not dog wiz or something back there. Also, make sure the front and rear a/c drains aren't leaking into the carpet.

Good Luck!
 
Did you check the pass side floor under the dash? Could be the ac drain clogged and water accumulating in the evap housing. Also could be a leaking heater core.
 
After you've nailed down the source of the moisture and sorted that out place a dish or two of white vinegar in your truck for a few days. It really kills dank smells, got this tip from here.
 
Thank you for the suggestions! I have searched in the forum to find the location of the drain plug, but to no avail...

Could you please take a look at this picture, and tell me if i am in the right place?

Thank you!
IMG_2617.webp
 
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