Hi guys, new here and have some questions regarding a funky smell coming out of the A/C vents.

I get a bad smell when I turn on the A/C and then it goes away, this also happens when I'm not using the A/C or heater. Just driving with the windows down and get into a hill / pull. I know I have a vacuum loss as the flaps directing air flow default to defrost vents when I accelerate or get into a hill.

'98 Ram 1500 Club Cab, 5.2L Auto

It's driving me crazy trying to find the cause(s). I've checked all the lines in the engine compartment, nothing appears/feels brittle, cracked, missing or came loose. Can't find the vacuum resevior to make sure it is OK.

Any suggestions
Thanks
Tim

 

If it's a musty type smell you might have a mold growing in the heater/AC box. It grows on the condensate that doesn't drain off from the prior use. I've heard people spraying Lysol and stuff in the outside air intake to help with the problem.

 

Maybe the previous owner was a psycho killer and cut somebody up and stuffed them in your air ducts. [sm=crossbonesgif.gif]

 

I'd agree with Todd - make sure your AC drain isn't clogged or otherwise failing to drain (hose routed up for some reason, etc). I couldn't tell you where to look for it, but perhaps somebody with a similar truck could help out.

 

My 95 has the same problem, only at the beggining of summer though when i havent ran my a/c for a while, or if my truck sits for a few weeks. Mine goes away but yours must be diffrent.

 

i could swear mines on my firewall. 1997 5.2 club cab

 

the tube is on the pass. side firewall, near the bottom.

 

Everyone in the above posts is right. I did heating and Air work before joining the military and it is mold and bacteria building up in there. I made a small hole in the airbox that held the air exchanger because on my ford ranger the darn hose was higher than bottom of the airbox. It seemed like they wanted water to build up in there. Crazy.... Anyhow after I made my own drain hole the smell went down 90%


Inside your house this happens also. I used to make a killing sparying down the A-coils in home systems with this special formula we had. People would turn on the AC and the whole house would smell like rotting eggs. Not nice to smell.

 

when my Cat failed i got the sulfur smell. not sure if thats what your talking about by it might be possible. smells like rotten eggs. but you shouldnt be smelling this through the AC vents.

 

Johnson controls makes an anti-bacterial spray that you can spray down your vents with the supplied tube. It will kill the bacteria in the air box and give a "nice fresh sent". Tried it and it works.