Moldy smell after rainfall and a headliner rattle.... love it otherwise!

[CorvetteGuy88]

We have a '23 platinum max 4x4 purchased new with 19,000 miles. We love the rig, it's our second Expedition. LOVE IT.. except... we have a persistent moldy smell after car washes or rainfall (dealer checked drains and says all OK), AND the headliner rattles like a '94 suburban over any road disturbances. Anyone else deal with these issues? I've checked the floor boards, no moisture on my hand, and have checked rear seat belt rollers and it doesn't seem to emanate from there. Headliner has been "foamed" twice by dealer but keeps coming back with the same rattle. Want to keep this rig for 5 years or more, but these quirks would probably drive me nuts before then. Thanks for any thoughts / POV.

Corey

 

[Fastcar]

The mold smell. Run your heater full blast for 20 minutes with the car closed up and see what happens.

 

[99WhiteC5Coupe]

We have a '23 platinum max 4x4 purchased new with 19,000 miles. We love the rig, it's our second Expedition. LOVE IT.. except... we have a persistent moldy smell after car washes or rainfall (dealer checked drains and says all OK), AND the headliner rattles like a '94 suburban over any road disturbances. Anyone else deal with these issues? I've checked the floor boards, no moisture on my hand, and have checked rear seat belt rollers and it doesn't seem to emanate from there. Headliner has been "foamed" twice by dealer but keeps coming back with the same rattle. Want to keep this rig for 5 years or more, but these quirks would probably drive me nuts before then. Thanks for any thoughts / POV.

Corey

The moldy smell would be unacceptable as you probably have mold due to a water leak. It will not get better.

I would hound the dealer to find and fix the mold issue, and the rattling headliner (which may be connected).

 

[mdeniz95]

if you need to have hard evidence, you can hire a home inspection company to do a air quality test of the inside of the vehicle that will detail definitively the presence of mold

 

[CorvetteGuy88]

Thanks for the suggestions, and I guess kind of encouraging that it doesn't seem my issues are common. Hopefully can get it addressed on next service. Will keep the thread posted.

 

[texsn95]

Ours smells like cat pee after it gets wet, and it's not coming from the HVAC. It's been dry as a bone here lately and I washed it the other day, and sure enough there's a bad smell emanating from inside, and I tracked it down to the 2nd row driver's side seatbelt area. You can pull the seatbelt out and smell it on the belt itself. I checked all 4 sunroof drains and they are clear and drain freely. Once it dries back out, the smell goes away. Maybe there's water getting in from the roof racks, so next I'm going to try and isolate some water on different areas of that rack and see if it comes back that way. It's the damnest thing I've ever seen.

 

[cullinan18]

My 2017 gets water from wet roads under the driver's floorboards. I haven't found the source and it doesn't happen from car washes. I keep the plastic driver's floor trim off and have fans blowing under the carpet to dry it after driving in a rain. (I don't have any issues with the car parked in the rain.)

 

[z71kris]

Check out your wind guard in your sun roof. Mine gets like that as well and I’ve traced to that. I just need to clean it and I keep forgetting.

 

[Gerben]

My 2016 f150 has that nasty smell since i bought it with 195000km
had it professionally detailed on the dealers cost at 2 different places, even did ozone cleaning, it's a bit better now, but always smells after it rains
Smells like sweat, it's gross but whatever
I learned to live with it

 

[Mr Big]

So many Expedition owners, including myself, have had the smell issue.
I assume, if you have a Sun or Panoramic Roof, you did check the drain holes to make sure they are not clogged?
There was a TSB about the AC drain elbow not being installed. But it was for previous years. I would not rule it out. If your AC drain on the passenger does not have the proper elbow tube, it could possibly leak into the cab, on the passenger side and cause a smell.
Every door, windshield and back hatch has the potential to leak under certain conditions, such as hard rain or automatic car washes.

 

[texsn95]

Yes all 4 drain holes are clear, I can pour a bottle of water down each corner and they immediately drain all the way out. The smell originates from the driver's side seat belt area, and isn't dependent on HVAC usage.
This wekeend I'm going to wet the roof rack on that side and re-check. I did rig up my ozone generator with a tube and shoved it into that seat belt cavity and let it run for an hour. It's been dry as a bone here the last few months, and has only been wet once when I washed it, and the smell showed right up. Even when I washed it, I didn't even get the top that wet. Crazy s**t!

 

[99WhiteC5Coupe]

Yes all 4 drain holes are clear, I can pour a bottle of water down each corner and they immediately drain all the way out. The smell originates from the driver's side seat belt area, and isn't dependent on HVAC usage.
This wekeend I'm going to wet the roof rack on that side and re-check. I did rig up my ozone generator with a tube and shoved it into that seat belt cavity and let it run for an hour. It's been dry as a bone here the last few months, and has only been wet once when I washed it, and the smell showed right up. Even when I washed it, I didn't even get the top that wet. Crazy s**t!

I have seen water leak into the body where the seat belt assembly is via a loose rubber accordion conduit, which runs between the door and the body (near the door hinges). Front and second row.

The rubber accordion conduit is a press-fit to the door and body, and can be dislodged or crooked, so the rubber does not seal out the water that runs down the A or B pillars.

 

[texsn95]

Roger that, will check. Was always messing with that piece on our Armada.

 

[texsn95]

Checked that gasket, it was secure with the clips in the holes. I poured some water on the roof rack above the rear door and saw some on both sides leaking out under this chrome trim piece, is that normal?
Going to take my harbor freight endoscope and stick it up in there and see if we can see anything. It's got a pretty crappy picture so probably won't help.

 

[Mr Big]

Checked that gasket, it was secure with the clips in the holes. I poured some water on the roof rack above the rear door and saw some on both sides leaking out under this chrome trim piece, is that normal?
Going to take my harbor freight endoscope and stick it up in there and see if we can see anything. It's got a pretty crappy picture so probably won't help.

It's normal for water to go under the chrome pieces.

 

[roard]

Yeah, I’ve had a similar issue — turned out to be moisture trapped around the sunroof drains even though they looked fine. As for the headliner rattle, adding extra insulation behind it finally solved it for me.

Tutuapp​

 

[lesterjl]

Yeah, I’ve had a similar issue — turned out to be moisture trapped around the sunroof drains even though they looked fine. As for the headliner rattle, adding extra insulation behind it finally solved it for me.

Tutuapp​

How did you add the ‘extra insulation’? What does it look like?

 

[texsn95]

Yeah, I’ve had a similar issue — turned out to be moisture trapped around the sunroof drains even though they looked fine. As for the headliner rattle, adding extra insulation behind it finally solved it for me.

Tutuapp​

How did you figure out it was trapped moisture, and what did you do about it?

 

[DieselMonk]

The most laziness route to fix the Moonroof noises is buying a can of 3in1 RV Rubber Seal Conditioner. If there is still a rattle:
None of my Moonroofs (2nd truck with one) were aligned properly when they left the factory. I had seal issues and wind noise in both (6 years apart!)I also had taken the big rear glass on one out fix a noise issue and there were loose fasteners that hold it down. It’s stupid stuff, but sometimes I wish that roof would be a single option not in a bundle like Limited or Platnum.
Don’t get the idea and put a thick coat of silicone grease on the rubber. In the summer it kinda melts the rubber seal. The rubber on the glass is NOT replacable!!! Means you need new seal, you need new glass!

 

[Fastcar]

Have I mentioned I hate the Friggin' things?