Gas fumes in cab.

Well, my 2008 Ltd with 67k on it is starting to head towards "lemon" land. Seems it's one thing after another. See my other posts for all the other crap that's going on with it. Exh manifold bolt, random misfires (fixed), broken mirror housing (fixed), coolant leak, windows freezing shut in cold weather and more...

I don't drive this car often. I primarily use it for towing a 6000 lb trailer. I drive it once a week during the off season to keep the rust off and the "blood running".

NOW its got some kind of gas fume issue. No DTC's set. Windows up, fan on low, Nothing on startup. Nothing when driving. I smell it slightly when at a stop light and then it fades away. I smell it strongly when backing up to park. Almost as if it has something to do with fuel sloshing around in the tank. There is no visible fuel on the ground. But it doesn't take a large amount of fuel to make a BIG smell. I am averaging 19-20 mpg. (I drive like an old man).

Where do I start?

Thanks.

My question is do you have the a/c button on or off? Note: I am not taking about the on/off switch but I am talking about the around button where the light comes on when you push the a/c button.

If the a/c is off it would then bring the air from the outside.

or

If the a/c is on it would use the air in the cabin of the vehicle and not from outside.

There is a "recirculation button" that determines if outside air is brought in or if inside air is just recirculated. It works with AC on or AC off.

Well, my 2008 Ltd with 67k on it is starting to head towards "lemon" land

Click to expand...

What? You have a 4 year old vehicle with 67,000 miles or is that a typo? There is a limit to how long the vehicle can be kept before the statue of limitations wears out. I know Ohio's law for "lemon" is that the vehicle has to have 3 trips for the same item within 90 days and/or be safety related, but every state is different.

Uhhh, I don't think OP was saying that his exploder met the letter of the law for Ohio's lemon law. His exact words being it is starting to head towards "lemon" land are hardly legal terms, lol. Maybe he should of used wording like turd instead of lemon land.

OK. Lets clear it up a bit. Yes it is an 08 with 67k on it. I bought it with 63k in April of 2011. By "lemon land" (as EX-SV alluded to) I meant "lemon" in the sense of the word as it is used to relate to a vehicle with multiple problems. Nothing to do with claiming "lemon law" arbitration or the such. I am just frustrated with paying a lot of money for what is supposed to be a decently constructed, quality vehicle, and then finding some pretty big ticket items wrong with it in a very short period of time. Conveniently just out of warranty.

[Venting hat on]

The broken Cyl #1 exhaust bolt ? Exh manifold nad Exh manifold gasket are covered under the 2008 FEd emmission 8/80 warranty. The bolt is not. In my estimation it is the manifold or the assembly of it (torquing) that is bad. Otherwise other bolts would break too. The expansion of the manifold vs the head are at very different rates, and being the last bolt in the line, the leverage/stress is highest at the end. How many of these have to go bad before Ford fesses up to a defect in materials or workmanship? All of them ?!?!?!?!

The leaky radiators?

Windows that don't open when it's below 30 degrees outside? And then when attempted, the regulator breaks?

Spark plugs that fuse themselves to the head in less than the specified replacement interval, and then snap off when it *IS* time to change them resulting in a $600 spark plug replacement?

The coupler that breaks in the blend door in the heater box?

Ford has known about these for years.

My car was 3000 miles out of warranty when these all went bad.

[Venting hat removed]

-P

Thanks for the replies folks.

Rusty & Ex,

I have the dual control heat/AC. I have not yet determined if it is related to recirc or not. This will be a great test. I'll try it when I get home.

I did have a look-see under the vehicle this weekend. I only have a floor jack so my access is limited. I checked all fuel/evap related lines that I could find and see, and I so no evidence of any leak, weeping, moisture or anything of the such.

I will report back with my recirc findings soon.

Update: It does appear to be related to cabin intake air. I put the heat/AC in recirc and the smell subsides in a about 5 minutes. It is worse when the car first starts (runs rich until it's up to temp).

Could this be related to my missing/snapped #1 exhaust manifold bolt? It makes the tick tick tick on startup and then as the engine heats up, the noise goes away completely in about 90 seconds. But even after driving for an hour (non-recirc mode) I still get a faint gas fume smell.

I am putting a CO detector in tomorrow and going to see how bad it is.

Another question. When the car first starts up (when the AC has been on), I get a fouls smell from the vents. It goes away after a short while. Smells like mouse urine. Is the cabin air filter easy to access?

Thanks.

P.../NH

I found the answer to the cabin air filter.... THERE ISN'T ONE !!!!!!!

I did some research on the AC smell. From what I found, the evaporators can get gunked up with microbes etc and this is what causes the smell. There is a treatment that I found online. AT-211 Clean 'N Coat. I found a video for it. Google it. Looked like it might be a decent solution. Does not require any disassembly. I decided to blow my drains (not brains) out first and see how that works.


If you do decide to check, clean or blow out the drains, here are a couple of pics that may help. Once you get under the car, it will make sense and will be clear. The front one is kind of hidden, the rear one is in plain sight. I didn't know if mine were blocked or not. I blew them out anyway.

https://picasaweb.google.com/103956146819641847893/ExplorerACEvapDrains?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCI3twNSm_o_1iAE&feat=directlink

Good luck.

p.../NH

OK, Back to my original post. I have had the exh manifold issue fixed. All studs removed (Both #1 cyl ones were broken). Replaced all studs with new high grade ones, and a new gasket. ($450).

The noise is gone, car is very quiet. Gas fumes are much better, but not gone. I would say 75% better. But I STILL get fumes (does not smell like raw gasoline, but does smell VERY rich) in the passenger compartment when the recirc button is set to "OUTSIDE" air. If I set the recirc to "inside", before i start the car and drive it, I will not have any fumes. IE they're outside the car.

They are most pronounced when coming to or at a stop light. They dissipate in a few minutes as I drive when the light changes.

Where to begin?

Thanks.

P..../NH