Weird dust from AC. Any ideas??

[evanblain]

Hey guys so a few weeks ago I detailed the inside of my truck. Since then I've noticed when I blast the AC after the truck sits for a while a strange white dust comes out of the air vents. From what I can see it's coming out of all the vents even the ones in the back. My interior is covered and I got no ideas what to do. Hopefully you guys can help. The truck is 2012 crew cab with 55000 kms btw.

 

[Graygoose]

Ironic, thought I was losing my mind...mine has done it too...even on inside of glass....weird.

 

[DavidRam]

I have heard of this... Have either of you guys loaned your truck to the drug cartels lately?

 

[evanblain]

I have heard of this... Have either of you guys loaned your truck to the drug cartels lately?

I haven't lol it's driving me nuts cause I see it every time

 

[DavidRam]

I wonder if a filter has deteriorated and is breaking down??

 

[evanblain]

I have no idea. I replaced my engine air filter about 6000kms ago, not sure if that's even possible but the filter is yellow and looks fine. I added the cabin air filter mod about 12 000 kms ago and no problems since. Again looks fine but a little dirty. It's a fine dust and is always perfectly white.

 

[DavidRam]

What did you detail the inside with?? Did you wax the paint, too?

 

[evanblain]

No I just used some wipes and it's coming from every vent, even the footwells in the back that I only vacuumed around, no wipes or spray around them

 

[012RAMbo]

First thing I would check is the cabin air filter. Could be breaking down, like David said.

 

[evanblain]

First thing I would check is the cabin air filter. Could be breaking down, like David said.

I checked it. It looked fine and I couldn't see any of the dust when I banged the filter against my hand or the ground

 

[BlownGP]

Mine did this and also thought it was the cabin air filter. It was just about a year old.
It looked a little dirty but nothing too bad.

I changed it about two weeks just because I thought it was time. Just made me think that could have been where it came from.

 

[Badunit]

Baby powder in the air vents prank?

 

[evanblain]

I might just take the filter out for a few days and see what happens. I'm pretty sure I only installed it in march so it hasn't been long at all and I got the mopar filter from dodge.

 

[empirezclub]

Sorry to resurrect an older post but I have the white dust on my interior too. I mostly get mine on the armrest on the doors. it looks like I have dandruff and it is landing on the armrest! I am usually the only one in the truck and the passenger side never gets used but I have more on that side than I do on the drivers side. I have not installed the cabin air filter mod yet so it isn't coming from the filter, I don't smoke and I keep the windows up 90+% of the time. I was wondering if the dandruff white powder might be coming from the headliner? Someone mentioned the headliner is a fiberglass type material and then covered with the cloth material. I wonder if the headliner is shedding and the HVAC picks up the fine dust and moves it around the cabin? Any thoughts?

 

[twooldfarmers]

it is in all likelihood dust that has accumulated on the evaporator when it is damp

you will have seen the big puddle of water under the RH side of the vehicle when you stop and shut off the motor

well that was the ice that formed on the evaporator when you had the A/C on

you are moving large amounts of air through that evap and air always contains contaminants which stick to the wet evap and then when you park and it drys off the contaminants remain

when you start up the vehicle once the evap has dried, turn on the fan full bore and you get all that crap blown inside the vehicle, depending upon how much pollen was in the air it can just about choke you

 

[Ramzaq]

As twooldfarmers said, it is a mix of dust, pollen and what ever else is in the air.

If you use you AC on normal around 90% of the air is from the outside, using recirculate it is a little over 10% outside air. So a cabin air filter is the only way around this problem.

 

[evanblain]

Just an update for you guys. I took my cabin air filter out and it is still happening but with a lot more dust now. It's clearly a fine white dust that I am dealing with. I've left the AC off for days and as soon as I blast it the white dust returns. I spoke with a dodge tech today as I'm taking the truck in next week to change the spark plugs. He asked anything else we should know. And I told him about this and his response was "this is a known problem" asked him more but he basically said something about a "production material" whatever he means by that. Said they might be able to fix it. If somehow they do I'll ask for more details to share with you guys.

 

[Ramzaq]

Yes! Please keep us updated on this.

Only thing i can think of at the moment now would be a rubber/foam seal or maybe some glue. Was also thinking of a really small pin hole leak in the heater core, but I would think you would smell that.

 

[Jmhm17]

thats weird!! Its almost like you guys got trucks made in mexico and they never took all the drugs out of the vents after customs.. im not even kidding, all i could think of reading this thread it sounds like you guys are getting coke blown all over your interiors lol

 

[2010Sport]

It is just dust from the air, Im a Ram technican, and theres nothing wrong, its normal and all vehicle will do it depending on how much dust is in the air currently, it will also blow out when you switch it over to heater nothing to worry about