[jmoore19]

My 2001 Silverado smells bad in the interior. I suppose I better explain a little bit more. Its not the cab itself, but the air coming out of the vents. I have tried changing the cabin air filter under the glove box and everything, however it does not really change the smell for very long. What actions can I do? It doesn't smell (as bad) when I have the A/c function on, however I do not want to keep running the A/c all the time. What can I do to fix it?

 

[judsonlimited]

Could be mildew. Has it sat for a long time without the fan/ac/heat running?

Also could be a critter in there.

 

[ricka182]

You may have some funk in the vents or in the blower. I've used a whole car/truck refresher and it was too strong. It's basically a can of smell good spray with a lock button. You start the truck, set the air to recycle from cab on vents at max power, then set off the can like an insect fogger on the floor, and close the doors, windows up. Let it run for 10-15, then open windows and another 15-20. It worked, but the new clean smell was way too much for me.

Now I use Ozium, which tends to better and longer kill the odors. It pulls the recycle air from right below the dash, so you can put the blowers on and just spray it a few times. You can also spray it directly into the vent, obviously with the vent off.

If none of that works, you may have something bigger that is causing the smell..

And if you smell coolant, you have a really big problem...

 

[jmoore19]

Could be mildew. Has it sat for a long time without the fan/ac/heat running?

Also could be a critter in there.

I don't think that it would be mildew.. It's my daily runner, so It gets a lot of use. And I don't think it would be a critter lol. At least I hope not. I might check out the cabin air filter again tonight since its been a couple months since I had those out. Maybe some gunk got in there.

You may have some funk in the vents or in the blower. I've used a whole car/truck refresher and it was too strong. It's basically a can of smell good spray with a lock button. You start the truck, set the air to recycle from cab on vents at max power, then set off the can like an insect fogger on the floor, and close the doors, windows up. Let it run for 10-15, then open windows and another 15-20. It worked, but the new clean smell was way too much for me.

Now I use Ozium, which tends to better and longer kill the odors. It pulls the recycle air from right below the dash, so you can put the blowers on and just spray it a few times. You can also spray it directly into the vent, obviously with the vent off.

If none of that works, you may have something bigger that is causing the smell..

And if you smell coolant, you have a really big problem...

I might have to check out some of these ideas. And it doesn't seem like its coolant. I just replaced my heater core about a year ago.

 

[dRewville]

Also, next time.... try to put a more descriptive title for your thread.

For many reasons more than just the simple idea of give us an idea of what we are about to read. Two - others in future may find this thread useful and if they scroll by the title of Help... it wont tell them anything

 

[GR2017]

.....I don't think that it would be mildew.. It's my daily runner, so It gets a lot of use. And I don't think it would be a critter lol. At least I hope not. I might check out the cabin air filter again tonight since its been a couple months since I had those out. Maybe some gunk got in there.....

If you don't use the AC most of the time, especially if you have the auto system, it is mildew.

 

[BigBlueLB756]

You will be surprised at what a couple of socks filled with charcoal briquets and placed under the seats will do for interior "freshness".

Works for me.

 

[ASTE25]

Try spraying a product like this https://www.bgprod.com/catalog/climate- ... igi-clean/ into your air vents and evaporator core to kill the mold.