Dead animal smell 2016 1500 Hemi

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ColoradoRamming

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2016
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Hemi 5.7
New to the board, and a dissatisfied owner of a 2016 Ram 1500 Crew Cab Hemi Laramie with 1,400 miles.

The vehicle has been in the shop for a fan clutch replacement (took the dealer 2 times to diag it correctly).

For the last four or five weeks, there is a horrible dead animal smell that is apparent in the cab of the truck after the engine gets warm. The smell comes through the vents, and is less apparent with the recirculation on. It is currently at the dealer for the 2nd time for this problem.

The smell is awful outside the truck too, and I've been able to isolate it to the front passenger corner near the coolant bottle. When I park the truck in the garage, it fills the whole garage with the smell. A search of this site revealed many other owners with similar problems. It seems the dealers were replacing the hoses, flushing the coolant system, and sending people on their way.

My dealer acknowledges the smell exists, but reports the operation of the truck is completely normal and there is nothing wrong. Chrysler is involved at this point, but have not been any help yet.

I'm curious if people were able to get the smell to go away?

Thanks in advance for your input.
 

Gump

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Probably a mouse or cat got stuck and now you lost that new truck smell.
 
OP
OP
C

ColoradoRamming

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I put the truck on a rack and pulled the wheel liners down, air box out, front bumper off, blower motor out, and looked everywhere I could get a flashlight to. No insulation torn up, wires chewed, nesting material anywhere. No animal. Truck is garaged, and not a single sign of rodents in the garage.
 

Burla

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If it is a dead animal, it has nothing to do with Ram. I wish you luck.

One cause of musty smells is the air conditioner condenser. I can't tell you how many vehicles I have treated for this in my last job. Sometimes the vents need to be taken apart, sometimes you can cure it by shooting a treatment up the condenser. This happen because of bad condenser designs. Chevy's are notorious for this, but all makes are susceptible. This would be Rams fault. I never heard this issue be this bad though.
 

PCT

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That sucks, there goes the new car smell...

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O.R.T.

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RamCares

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New to the board, and a dissatisfied owner of a 2016 Ram 1500 Crew Cab Hemi Laramie with 1,400 miles.

The vehicle has been in the shop for a fan clutch replacement (took the dealer 2 times to diag it correctly).

For the last four or five weeks, there is a horrible dead animal smell that is apparent in the cab of the truck after the engine gets warm. The smell comes through the vents, and is less apparent with the recirculation on. It is currently at the dealer for the 2nd time for this problem.

The smell is awful outside the truck too, and I've been able to isolate it to the front passenger corner near the coolant bottle. When I park the truck in the garage, it fills the whole garage with the smell. A search of this site revealed many other owners with similar problems. It seems the dealers were replacing the hoses, flushing the coolant system, and sending people on their way.

My dealer acknowledges the smell exists, but reports the operation of the truck is completely normal and there is nothing wrong. Chrysler is involved at this point, but have not been any help yet.

I'm curious if people were able to get the smell to go away?

Thanks in advance for your input.

Yikes! I'm really sorry to hear about this. Can you PM your VIN so I can take a look at the case you have open?

Kori
Ram Social Care Specialist
 

Flip-er

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Kori and the rest of gang at RamCares ARE AWESOME
They are helping me with a minor problem
 

Hootbro

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Got cats or park anywhere where there is a cat problem?

Had a buddy that had a S10 pickup back in the day that developed a foul order he could almost never figure out. Eventually he caught the neighbors cat jumping on his truck hood one night and ******* on the windshield cowl close to HVAC fresh air intake.
 

Ram444

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My Toyota Tundra had a mouse get into the ductwork and when I turned the fan on it chewed him up. I caught it immediately and had the dealer clean everything out.
 

OnSale

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Got cats or park anywhere where there is a cat problem?

Had a buddy that had a S10 pickup back in the day that developed a foul order he could almost never figure out. Eventually he caught the neighbors cat jumping on his truck hood one night and ******* on the windshield cowl close to HVAC fresh air intake.
Damn that's got to be horrible. I've got 2 cats and I've had them have "accidents" from time to time and the smell of their **** is SOOO strong and horrible. I couldn't imagine if my truck smelled like cat **** all the time!!!!

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nc3310

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This is going to sound weird... but check your truck water/mold and mildew. We had a similar problem with a work vehicle last year. Employees started reporting a dead animal smell that slowly got worst and worst. The garage tore the thing apart and never found a cause. Eventually we discovered leaky rear passenger door. The sub-floors were soaked and the vehicle had slowly developed a horrible mold issue over a few months. True Story! Good luck.
 

MrHammond

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I have a 2013 1500 Ram, for 5 years with no smell, then all of a sudden, we got a strong dead animal smell in the cab when we selected outside air (not recirculate). Also, could smell it some under the hood.

Turned out it was a small dead rat. It had squeezed into the hole where the windshield wiper comes out of the plastic chamber with louvers, that collects the outside air to the inside vents. He was crushed by the windshield wipers when exiting. his nose was sticking out of the hole enough that I saw him and was able to remove a few fasteners to open the chamber.

If he has fallen down into that chamber, I would never have found him.

So, if you have a dead animal smell it may be in that plastic chamber
 

IMRAM

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A search of this site revealed many other owners with similar problems.

You said a search of this site revealed many others with the similar problem? If that’s the case, what did they find out? I personally have never heard of this before.



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huntergreen

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Haven't had either problem, but if it is mold, there is a treatment that the dealer can do to clean out the vents IIRC.

Dead animal your kind of on your own.

Mold in your cab under the carpet, see if your rear brake light is leaking. If it is bring it back to dealer and have fixed. Ask them to check under the carpet.
 

kstt

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Cabin filter? I changed mine in my 2013 Jeep Grand Cherokee last year. I had trouble pulling the filter out and when it finally came out, it was full of chewed up insulation and mouse **** and turds. I don't know where they got the insulation from - I didn't see any other damage.
 

pmaru77

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Don't rule out a left over burrito under the hood or wheel well. After all, it was built south of the border. I get mice that pick dried berry bunches off this bush I have and they crawl up on top of the motor and have their snack and **** and **** on my battery cover and air manifold. They also ate through my wiring on top of the gas tank, I brought it in for an idiot light about gas cap, they replaced the gas cap and I got half way home and got the error again. They finally found the problem after two days. First vehicle I've had critter issues with. It must be made from biodegradable materials.:) Uhhh good luck.
 
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