Musty smell from underbellt

[lagall]

I have been getting a musty smell in the storage bay and also coming in the vents on the stairs. I patially opened the underbelly and it seems dry above the foil insulation but it is wet between the insulation and the corex underbelly material. Any ideas on where the moisture is coming from? Can it just be from driving in the rain? The smell has been there for awhile.

[Rondo]

That smell is more than likely mold and the moisture can be coming from any number of places. It could be from "road water" but I highly doubt it. I would guess that you have a leak somewhere from a water line or a pipe connection. You don't state what year or model you have so can't tell you where it could be. If the insulation is wet, I would suggest you either take it to a dealer or drop the belly cover itself and see if you can figure out where that leak is at and then fix it if you can. Then install new insulation where the wet/molded is now. If that moisture continues it could rot out your flooring and the area behind the basement wall where the water heater, furnace and everything else is. Good luck and let us know what you come up with.

[dieselguy]

It would be hard to arm chair guess your issue without dropping some part of the belly pan down and taking a good look around. Remove several of the screws along one side of the belly, pull the insulation out of your line of sight, and have someone else run the different faucets and stool. You may catch sight of a "squirter". Run your black tank flush as well. Fresh water tank is in the very rear of a fiver usually. Black and grey are ahead of the axles. Since you say musty instead of sewer smell, it probably isn't related to the black tank itself. We drive in rain from time to time year in and out and don't have an issue with rain water working it's way into the belly.

[K0LCB]

That could become a health hazard

[lagall]

Originally Posted by Rondo

That smell is more than likely mold and the moisture can be coming from any number of places. It could be from "road water" but I highly doubt it. I would guess that you have a leak somewhere from a water line or a pipe connection. You don't state what year or model you have so can't tell you where it could be. If the insulation is wet, I would suggest you either take it to a dealer or drop the belly cover itself and see if you can figure out where that leak is at and then fix it if you can. Then install new insulation where the wet/molded is now. If that moisture continues it could rot out your flooring and the area behind the basement wall where the water heater, furnace and everything else is. Good luck and let us know what you come up with.

It is dry above the foil insulation but wet on the plastic underbelly is why I thought it may be from rain. It is a 2015 3610RL. I'll have to open it up some more and do some testing. I have a Good Sam service contract so maybe they will cover this. Thanks for the response.

[dieselguy]

Not being a wise acre, but how do you know it's dry above the reflective foil the entire length of your fiver without dropping some belly pan?

[lagall]

You're probably right. I pulled some of it down but it could be coming from further down. There was also mud in there so I was thinking I was getting dust from driving on gravel roads. Part of the underbelly is held up with some kind of rivets. Do you know how to take them off?

[jcurtis934]

If they are really rivets, then the only way to remove is to drill out the center of the rivet and they fall apart.

[lagall]

Thanks

[MARK A]

Originally Posted by lagall

You're probably right. I pulled some of it down but it could be coming from further down. There was also mud in there so I was thinking I was getting dust from driving on gravel roads. Part of the underbelly is held up with some kind of rivets. Do you know how to take them off?

They are a nail type fastener, I have removed and re-used mine many times.

Mark

[Cheezy1]

I just removed part of my plastic underbelly and replaced my black and grey valves. The fasteners that you see are drive nails shot in with a powder actuated tool. I removed them with a blacksmiths hammer and a 1" wide chisel. Just put the chisel against the side of the fastener and pound it until it bends over then a few more strikes until it falls out. Then use the same hole to install a #14 x 1 1/4" drill screw and reuse the washer that came off the old fastener.
Don't remove the underbelly completely because its real hard to get back on.
Have a lot of pull ties handy to tie the nest of wires into some kind of order.
Good luck.

[Eagleback]

Mine was a leaking black tank flush, It was not even tight on the sprayer and slowly filled the bottom with water. I dropped the belly let it drain and removed the foil and let it dry then did some house keeping with wires and such and bleach then replaced the belly and i looks like a winner. and i used cheap black sealant between the frame and belly to keep rodents and road water out.