2021 1500 Laramie AC drain

[Zakattack]

Hello! I’ve been noticing a funky smell inside while using AC and also don’t think the AC is draining from the tube on the firewall. The cabin filter looks fine and is dry. Any tips on how to clear the tube if it’s clogged?

 

[Jako]

AC DRAIN'S FOR 2019 GEN 5 DT TRUCK Location/Drain Issues

OK, well I was reading about other AC issues and one of the problems were AC drains on trucks/vehicle set not draining backing up into vehicle. Well ne way, I have kinda sorta noticed that I really have not been seeing any "water" draining from the truck after parked where I would see it after...

5thgenrams.com

5th generation forum AC drain at DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo. Privacy, Simplified.

duckduckgo.com

 

[Littlejoe81]

Yesterday me and wife smelled this horrid smell yesterday driving from Illinois to Indiana and assumed my daughter had her shoes off, she did not. My truck is one year old with 4,200 miles with this smell. I doubt my drain is blocked. Here is what Im going to try (2) things as two members pointed out.

(1st)
Mikeru82 suggest this to clean the vents/hvac from mold/bacteria which I feel is happening bc Ram's oem filter is too cheap and not doing its job. I'm going to use Lysol.

How to Eliminate Odor from a Car Air Conditioner

If your car's AC smells musty, there's an easy fix If there is an odd, moldy smell that kicks in as soon as you turn your air conditioning on, you don't have to close your nose and bear it. More likely than not, you've built up some mold...

www.wikihow.com

(2nd)
MannymanX user fix below!!!!!

I think i found the solution!
A thicker filter with Activated Carbon!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GY2MRZ9/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It prevents from bacteria to grow on the filter, traps any bacteria particles and kills them before getting to the evap system.

I think the main issue with the OEM filter is that it lets too much air to flow and the HVAC system need to compensate for it by working extra hard to cool this air, that's why the evaporator has mold growing on it and it smells funky. This filter restrict some of the flow so it's not blowing as hard but it's more than enough.


I'm doing both b4 the problem gets worse, this should fix the smell as long as the condensate drain is clear from any mold, debris. These two items that Mikeru82 and MannymanX should fix this hopefully.

Disenfect the system with Lysol and buy a better filter, this is what I'm going to do and report back with results.

 

[6of36]

Yesterday me and wife smelled this horrid smell yesterday driving from Illinois to Indiana and assumed my daughter had her shoes off, she did not. My truck is one year old with 4,200 miles with this smell. I doubt my drain is blocked. Here is what Im going to try (2) things as two members pointed out.

(1st)
Mikeru82 suggest this to clean the vents/hvac from mold/bacteria which I feel is happening bc Ram's oem filter is too cheap and not doing its job. I'm going to use Lysol.

How to Eliminate Odor from a Car Air Conditioner

If your car's AC smells musty, there's an easy fix If there is an odd, moldy smell that kicks in as soon as you turn your air conditioning on, you don't have to close your nose and bear it. More likely than not, you've built up some mold...

www.wikihow.com

(2nd)
MannymanX user fix below!!!!!

I think i found the solution!
A thicker filter with Activated Carbon!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GY2MRZ9/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It prevents from bacteria to grow on the filter, traps any bacteria particles and kills them before getting to the evap system.

I think the main issue with the OEM filter is that it lets too much air to flow and the HVAC system need to compensate for it by working extra hard to cool this air, that's why the evaporator has mold growing on it and it smells funky. This filter restrict some of the flow so it's not blowing as hard but it's more than enough.


I'm doing both b4 the problem gets worse, this should fix the smell as long as the condensate drain is clear from any mold, debris. These two items that Mikeru82 and MannymanX should fix this hopefully.

Disenfect the system with Lysol and buy a better filter, this is what I'm going to do and report back with results.

The drain can block in just a few weeks under the right, or should I say wrong conditions. Leaves, dirt, cottonwood, or dandelion fuzz can clog it faster than you think. Run the air, and see if it has a constant drip. If not, the drain is clogged.

 

[firemedic10584]

Lift up your front seat passenger side carpet. You'll see the grey foam padding stuff. Lift that up. Feel under there. If it's wet, your drain tube is clogged. Found this issue thankfully early on my 2021 when I bought it. Turned out to be the drain tube was blocked. Got it cleared out by running compressed air through it and never had another issue. I've checked a couple times on my new 2023 just to make sure I didn't have the issue again, thankfully, no wetness lol.

 

[Scram1500]

A lot of modern vehicles seem to grow mold in AC. I've been using Frigi Fresh with good results. It's best to turn off the AC a few minutes before your destination and leave the blower on to reduce the condensation that spawns the funk.

BG Frigi-Fresh 5.5 oz. (156g) https://a.co/d/e3PoHHv

 

[Littlejoe81]

So I got my new filter from amazon and lysol from Wal-Mart. At 4,200 miles 1yr on the truck I was surprised how dirty the cabin air filter was. I sprayed lysol in all the vents and intake air ducts for any bacteria growth just in-case to kill it. Afterwards I didn't smell anything really like before. After that I took my borescope camera to the evaporator drain hole/box; it was clear. The evaporator box is a weird design... it seems as if water could collect in the box and never drain out if someone was parking up hill which could cause a passenger's floor to become wet if the box has voids or became cracked/ bad manufacturing. I kind of feel the drain is a bad design. In my case I may never see water on the ground because the cat is right below the drain.

After changing the filter, I smelled the old one... it reeked of the smelly socks! I feel this new filter with carbon control will fix the issue along with....

1. Turning off the ac and running the blower or heater to rid any moisture b4 shutdown.

2. Do not run ac while going through car wash as it will suck in moisture.

In my case I hand wash my truck and I always end up with the helicopter leaves in the fresh cowl inlet due to the truck design. This is what I found in my cabin air filter and if it became wet...this is what introduced the smell as well along with any bacteria growth.

On aircraft such as regional jets and the MD-80 we changed coalescer bags/ socks in the air conditioning system and when they become wet or have a odor events they reek really bad similar to this.

If their was mold or bacteria at the evaporator, I would spray this into the drain with a hose to soak the evaporator to kill any bacteria.

https://www.amazon.com/BG-Frigi-Fresh-5-5-oz-156g/dp/B0777TWFG5/ref=pd_aw_ci_mcx_mh_mcx_views_0?pd_rd_w=fJyZI&content-id=amzn1.sym.07081e2a-c82a-4414-ba67-d1ea4791ec44&pf_rd_p=07081e2a-c82a-4414-ba67-d1ea4791ec44&pf_rd_r=5Q37Z98MM8PCYBEAFY15&pd_rd_wg=qcZK8&pd_rd_r=3ee5383a-3df3-4191-8607-57dc8a3468ae&pd_rd_i=B0777TWFG5

Chrysler even has a bulletin regarding this smell but this would be cleaning and or dissembling the evaporator box due to mold or heavy bacteria growth, obviously this would have to be very bad in order to end up in this route or rodent ingestion into the fresh air system.

Long story short don't let water get to the filter when washing the vehicle and as for me, I'm changing my filter every 6 months now due to this now... and one better than the oem cheap one.