cab smell

[Dom101]

Our first long trip, from Canada to Las Vegas. My wife says she can smell something in the cab (motor, exhaust?) when heat is on and control is turned to floor mode or floor and vent mode, but not in vent mode. It must be only on passenger side as I can't smell. it 2017 37TS Any Ideas?

 

[Kevin Cooper]

Have you checked to see if there is a cabin filter in the system that is dirty? They can cause smells.

 

[JFlightRisk]

If it's a sweet smell, check for a possible antifreeze leak.

 

[Dom101]

Smells more like exhaust of motor. On ly has 20,000 miles so I wouldn't think it would be cabin filter

 

[Kevin Cooper]

Smells more like exhaust of motor. On ly has 20,000 miles so I wouldn't think it would be cabin filter

You might look at the engine and see if you have an oil leak. You would most likely hear a different sound if exhaust leak.

 

[pconroy]

Maybe the ol' "I dripped a little something on the headers last oil change"???

 

[DazednConfuzed]

I had the same thing happen to us. I normally just run the heat on "vent" and use the temp control to increase the heat. This time I decided to use "heat" and "floor" mode and over time got a very strong possibly antifreeze type smell. I actually pulled over to make sure nothing was burning. It seemed to clear up after a while, but it was so acrid that it was hard not to smell.

I tried to duplicate the issue the follwing week, running the heat on those settings, and could let a little residual faint smell, but nothing close to the way it was the first time.

I described the issue to an auto tech that comes into the store where I worked and he said its possible there was some condensation in the ductwork and it may have evaporated. It's a 2013 Greyhawk 31FK with about 22K miles, Ford V10 Triton. We've had it about 3 years. Up to then I had never run it on those settings and the smell seemed to come from the lower vent outlets. There were no alarms or unusual readings on any of the dash gauges. I have not been able to make it happen again on several trips.

 

[craigav]

Dead mouse?

 

[Scoutmaster253]

Maybe the ol' "I dripped a little something on the headers last oil change"???

X2

 

[Dom101]

Update

I finally smelled the smell myself,and it smells like phosgene gas. You other reftrigerant techs will know what I mean. Thought that might be a helpful clue

 

[Dom101]

New development

Today I had a look under hood. Underneath the heating/ air conditioning coil box, there are two duck bill drains for condensation. I poked my finder in one and found some dry flaky residue. I suspect air was getting sucked in there as it is just above the hot exhaust pipes. I cleaned it out and so far, seems to be little or none. I think I will order two of them and replace.

 

[Bugman-JAY]

Get a carbon monoxide detector Pronto! Put it in there while it's running and be positive there's no problem. Although it's odorless, it could be there in addition to other gasses. Do this before you drive it again.

 

[Dom101]

Always have a co meter as well as smoke detector. It just smells like phosgen. As you know co is odorless but thanks for the concern