Truck smells like a catbox on hot and humid days

[2wheeltraveler]

I've read dozens of posts about musty and other smells and all were fixed by cleaning the condenser coils, and when they did come back (nearly everyone said it did), it was after 6 months or longer.

My situation seems to be different. I first paid to have the truck fully detailed by a 3rd party ($400 it was due for a good cleaning) and that didn't fix it, then the dealer performed an HVAC clean ($200) that resulted in some foaming in the vents and such. It smelled nice for a day and the smell returned.

Now they have a technician looking at it and they can smell it (they described it as musty, but you have to trust me when I say there is a distance difference between a musty/moldy/mildewy smell)

This has been getting worse for over a year, only to subside during the colder months.

Anyone else have a similar situation and can offer guidance? I'd hate to keep paying to investigate things without formal resolution... this could get expensive but it's embarrassing to have people get into your vehicle and ask what the smell is.

PS. I did notice that a neighbor a block away leaves their garage door open and they have a couple cats that come and go. I'm wondering if they may be going up under the truck and leaving scents that are somehow coming in through the vents.

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[TaxmanHog]

PS. I did notice that a neighbor a block away leaves their garage door open and they have a couple cats that come and go. I'm wondering if they may be going up under the truck and leaving scents that are somehow coming in through the vents.

The outside air intake is on the passenger side between the frunk & windshield, if they're napping or marking on top of your frunk that could be an issue.

As far as the mold smells, it's been a nature of the Ford HVAC system for decades, all my F-series trucks eventually develop this, it's probably worse for folks in the south having a longer AC season than folks in the north like me.

 

[Zprime29]

My A/C gets used between March and November, haven't had this problem. Only time it smells bad is when we drive by a dairy farm or someone who has clearly neglected their exhaust system. These are usually rectified by switching to inside air. ( Note: Inside air circulation does not say on while using auto )

That said, humidity is in the single digits most of the year so that may have something to do with it.

 

[kf59]

I've read dozens of posts about musty and other smells and all were fixed by cleaning the condenser coils, and when they did come back (nearly everyone said it did), it was after 6 months or longer.

My situation seems to be different. I first paid to have the truck fully detailed by a 3rd party ($400 it was due for a good cleaning) and that didn't fix it, then the dealer performed an HVAC clean ($200) that resulted in some foaming in the vents and such. It smelled nice for a day and the smell returned.

Now they have a technician looking at it and they can smell it (they described it as musty, but you have to trust me when I say there is a distance difference between a musty/moldy/mildewy smell)

This has been getting worse for over a year, only to subside during the colder months.

Anyone else have a similar situation and can offer guidance? I'd hate to keep paying to investigate things without formal resolution... this could get expensive but it's embarrassing to have people get into your vehicle and ask what the smell is.

PS. I did notice that a neighbor a block away leaves their garage door open and they have a couple cats that come and go. I'm wondering if they may be going up under the truck and leaving scents that are somehow coming in through the vents.

Cats love sardines. Get yourself a live trap and see what you catch. Fair warning however, raccoons and skunks also enjoy sardines.

 

[2wheeltraveler]

Shop foreman went through the truck, found no sign of critters leaving presents or other activity. No water penetrations found. Blew out the (newish) filter. He personally re-did the clean, this time there wasn't much of the foam coming from the vents as before but the smell was gone. Will wait a few days and see, will drop updates here if it comes back.

They didn't charge for this trip or loaner, no haggling was needed which I really appreciated. So far Covert Ford in Austin is handling it well.

 

[johnkelley1]

I've read dozens of posts about musty and other smells and all were fixed by cleaning the condenser coils, and when they did come back (nearly everyone said it did), it was after 6 months or longer.

My situation seems to be different. I first paid to have the truck fully detailed by a 3rd party ($400 it was due for a good cleaning) and that didn't fix it, then the dealer performed an HVAC clean ($200) that resulted in some foaming in the vents and such. It smelled nice for a day and the smell returned.

Now they have a technician looking at it and they can smell it (they described it as musty, but you have to trust me when I say there is a distance difference between a musty/moldy/mildewy smell)

This has been getting worse for over a year, only to subside during the colder months.

Anyone else have a similar situation and can offer guidance? I'd hate to keep paying to investigate things without formal resolution... this could get expensive but it's embarrassing to have people get into your vehicle and ask what the smell is.

PS. I did notice that a neighbor a block away leaves their garage door open and they have a couple cats that come and go. I'm wondering if they may be going up under the truck and leaving scents that are somehow coming in through the vents.

Thanks for posting this. I thought it was only me. My truck lives outside in my driveway and it sometimes smells like a cat litter box / cat urine. There are no cats getting into my truck as there are few in my neighborhood and I have a video camera that covers the driveway and I have reviewed many hours with no animals near my truck overnight. I guess I will have to try the $200 dealer HVAC clean, but I am wondering what is causing this unique smell? I have had F-150s for over 40 years and they do get musty, but not like this. This is unique. It may be the same humidity issue, but it is a different smell than I have ever smelled before. Almost like some sort of chemical smell. Cat urine is what comes to mind, but I am as certain as I can be that it is not related to actual cats. I do park near a dogwood tree and I suppose it's possible that tree droppings are getting into the fresh air intake ducts. But somehow I feel like it is related to HVAC and maybe a seal or refrigerant smell?
Thanks everyone for considering the options. I have a 2023 Platinum Lightning with 7000 miles. Does not have the new heat pump but rather the original system.

Thoughts?

Thanks for your reply.

 

[Randall Stephens]

My frunk has a strong scent after charging.

 

[Hank42]

I actually had cat box smell after a cat pissed on the rear floor. No amount of cleaning oxy clean etc helped. But I bought a cheap air ionizer from Amazon and let it run for 6 hours with the truck on recirculation. THAT did the trick. Been a year and that smell has not returned.

 

[chl]

I've read dozens of posts about musty and other smells and all were fixed by cleaning the condenser coils, and when they did come back (nearly everyone said it did), it was after 6 months or longer.

My situation seems to be different. I first paid to have the truck fully detailed by a 3rd party ($400 it was due for a good cleaning) and that didn't fix it, then the dealer performed an HVAC clean ($200) that resulted in some foaming in the vents and such. It smelled nice for a day and the smell returned.

Now they have a technician looking at it and they can smell it (they described it as musty, but you have to trust me when I say there is a distance difference between a musty/moldy/mildewy smell)

This has been getting worse for over a year, only to subside during the colder months.

Anyone else have a similar situation and can offer guidance? I'd hate to keep paying to investigate things without formal resolution... this could get expensive but it's embarrassing to have people get into your vehicle and ask what the smell is.

PS. I did notice that a neighbor a block away leaves their garage door open and they have a couple cats that come and go. I'm wondering if they may be going up under the truck and leaving scents that are somehow coming in through the vents.

You might consider the possibility that there is a leak of coolant somewhere, maybe a bad seal on a compressor or pump. The coolant can smell sort of musty.

One really hot day (over 100F) here last summer I parked for 15-20 minutes on an open asphalt parking lot and when I came back to the truck I started it and turned on the MAX AC and got a blast of musty smelling air from the vents - actually to my nose it smell like AC coolant. I turned off the AC and opened the windows. Drove home, parked in the shade, and a few hours later tried the MAX AC and no bad smell anymore.

When I looked it up I found that AC systems can have intermittent coolant releases when there is a high pressure due to a temperature issue that the compressor can't handle and coolant can leak around seals, that's a summary as I understand it anyway.

So maybe have your heating and cooling system pressure tested for coolant leaks?

good luck

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