2018 Limited Musty Smell

[MikeTX01]

We bought a 2018 Limited and after a rain there is a musty smell that comes from the front vents. What should I start looking at for the cause of this?

 

[peterk9]

Welcome to the Forum Mike.
How long have you had the Explorer? Prior to the rain was there any smell?
There are a few existing threads on similar issues. Does turning the A/C on make it worse or is the smell constant no matter whether it is A/C or not?

Peter

 

[texsn95]

Clogged cowl drains would be my guess. Try some hot water on each end first to see if that will help things loosen up.

 

[MikeTX01]

Welcome to the Forum Mike.
How long have you had the Explorer? Prior to the rain was there any smell?
There are a few existing threads on similar issues. Does turning the A/C on make it worse or is the smell constant no matter whether it is A/C or not?

Peter

Only a couple of weeks. It is only an issue after it rains and then it clears up.

 

[MikeTX01]

Clogged cowl drains would be my guess. Try some hot water on each end first to see if that will help things loosen up.

Hot water wont mess anything up? Would it just be easier to remove the cowls?

 

[peterk9]

Only a couple of weeks. It is only an issue after it rains and then it clears up.

I guess it might be the drains. I really never gave that any thought. GIve it a try and see. I don't know of their exact location but I guess once you've located them you could see if they are draining or not before doing anything. I actually don't recall reading any posts on those drains before.

Peter

 

[MikeTX01]

Clogged cowl drains would be my guess. Try some hot water on each end first to see if that will help things loosen up.

Where exactly would the cowl drains be? I like to see schematics before i start digging. Not having much luck finding any.

 

[texsn95]

The cowl is kind of a pain to remove, as you have to remove the wiper arms from the spindles. Mine were stuck on and didn't want to pop off, but some penetrating oil would probably loosen them up. I believe each end of the plastic has some small holes that drain down into the main drain. Here's a good video on it.

If the passenger one is clogged, then it will mildew up after a rain and the hvac air intake is right on the other side of the firewall, so may contribute to the bad smell until it dries out.

Peter I'm just trying to post a Youtube link and the forum keeps changing it to a MEDIA link and screws it up. Why is it so difficult to post a simple link? I have to add a space to get it to stay.

https://w ww.youtube.com/watch?v=GJ_93Uc7NG0&t=161s&ab_channel=LivinWith3MAutoVlogging

 

[texsn95]

Good idea to check the in-cabin filter too behind the glove box. Plenty of videos on that. Be careful that you don't let the glove box fall forward too much or it will break those plastic pins that hold it in.