Mildew smell under liftgate

[Larryjb]

The last couple of years I've been fighting a mildew smell everytime I open the lift gate. I do not smell in inside the truck, nor do I smell outside the truck. Only when I open the lift gate. I think I may have finally solved it.

I was pretty sure it was coming from the rubber door seal that goes around the rear opening.

At first I just cleaned all the surfaces I could see. That helped, but didn't solve it.

Next I removed the plastic corner vent covers and cleaned all inside those. That helped some more, but didn't solve it.

Then I started to clean under the lip of the seal where it sits against the metal body of the truck. This was a painstaking process because you have to lift up a small portion of the seal, clean and rinse. That made a big difference, but the smell came back a few days later.

This winter I didn't think much of it because it was only me driving, and this spring the truck has again been on jack stands for several periods of time. A few days ago I got a brilliant idea. I cleaned behind the seal with a toothbrush and detergent (actually isopropanol and detergent), then I used my air compressor and blew the cleaner out. A lot of junk came out in the process, so I repeated it again and more junk came out. After the third time the detergent came out clear.

Even after the first cleaning, I still was finding pine needles wedged between the seal and truck body. The third cleaning seemed to get almost everything out.

And so far, no more smell. I figure the 2nd time I tried cleaning the seal, because it was still wet behind there because there is no way to dry it properly without compressed air, mold spores just made more mildew within a few days.

 

[Tonyrodz]

The last couple of years I've been fighting a mildew smell everytime I open the lift gate. I do not smell in inside the truck, nor do I smell outside the truck. Only when I open the lift gate. I think I may have finally solved it.

I was pretty sure it was coming from the rubber door seal that goes around the rear opening.

At first I just cleaned all the surfaces I could see. That helped, but didn't solve it.

Next I removed the plastic corner vent covers and cleaned all inside those. That helped some more, but didn't solve it.

Then I started to clean under the lip of the seal where it sits against the metal body of the truck. This was a painstaking process because you have to lift up a small portion of the seal, clean and rinse. That made a big difference, but the smell came back a few days later.

This winter I didn't think much of it because it was only me driving, and this spring the truck has again been on jack stands for several periods of time. A few days ago I got a brilliant idea. I cleaned behind the seal with a toothbrush and detergent (actually isopropanol and detergent), then I used my air compressor and blew the cleaner out. A lot of junk came out in the process, so I repeated it again and more junk came out. After the third time the detergent came out clear.

Even after the first cleaning, I still was finding pine needles wedged between the seal and truck body. The third cleaning seemed to get almost everything out.

And so far, no more smell. I figure the 2nd time I tried cleaning the seal, because it was still wet behind there because there is no way to dry it properly without compressed air, mold spores just made more mildew within a few days.

Those pine needles get EVERYWHERE!! They burn very well tho.

 

[Larryjb]

Mildew smell is still there, more evident when opening the lift gate glass. I've removed the gasket to clean the gasket area as best I can, and I've sprayed AC cleaner through the holes of the gasket. I removed the plastic trim from the door and wiped down the metallic surfaces. I cleaned the rear glass. So, unless the smell is embedded into the rubber (it may be), I'm at a loss for now.

I do not smell anything in the seating area of the truck. I did crawl back and sniff around the back with the lift gate closed and couldn't smell anything. I'll have to try that again I guess, but I haven't smelled anything with the lift gate closed.

I only get a mildew smell briefly when I open the lift gate glass.