Bad or Burnt Exhaust smell in cabin during hard acceleration.

[blwnsmoke]

So I picked up my car today after they did the new TSB 12-8-8 and guess what????? It didn't work, surprised no sad yes. I called the service writer right away and he gave me the ford customer service number I called and they are going to have a regional customer service person call me. I already started the BBB claim and will see how that goes. I am really disappointed because I love my car. I hope there is a fix for this if not I won't be driving a Ford again. What is more frustrating is the dealer doesn't even know of the repairs, if it wasn't for this forum they would be telling me I'm crazy. They have had my car for 2 months total since I purchased it last August.

If you aren't happy with the vehicle, then just lemon law it. more then 30 days out of service and you are normally good to go.

 

[LVFORDOWNER]

Since we had our 2013 Ford Explorer Serviced using the prescribed TSB for the exhaust smell a couple of weeks ago, we still experienced a smell in the cab of the vehicle. Our initial thought was that maybe the smell was from the underspray used which some of it was on the mufflers. My wife which is the primary driver has been driving it for the two weeks and she never travels on the highways or reaches above 50mph. She said that she thinks she might have smelled the exhaust once or twice. Our in-laws came to visit over the last week and I packed them into the explorer with myself driving on the highways to go to a restaurant. I wanted to give them the opportunity to smell the fumes and see what they thought and sure enough when I pushed on it we all could smell the exhaust fumes. My brother-in-law thought that the fumes were coming from the front air conditioning vents but I explained to him that the TSB was for the rear fresh air vents located just above the mufflers at the back of the car. He has been a Ford man all his life and really believed that we are looking at a design flaw after I explained that this is happening to a lot of other drivers. So, I will be taking the Explorer back to Ford to see what is the next step in this fiasco.

 

[seawolf]

Just purchased a 2014 Limited two weeks ago. Was up to 250 miles on the odometer last week when driving thru a incline on the interstate at around 70mph. RPMs were above 3000 when I detected a slight burning smell.

Is this the problem this thread is in reference to?

 

[f350powerstroke]

Just purchased a 2014 Limited two weeks ago. Was up to 250 miles on the odometer last week when driving thru a incline on the interstate at around 70mph. RPMs were above 3000 when I detected a slight burning smell.

Is this the problem this thread is in reference to?

yes it is! take it back to the dealer. i just read a few posts above and now im really concerned. my wifes new expl is smelling like burned oil/exhaust and we made an appointment for next week. no one seems to have an anwser to this problem

 

[FordService]

Just purchased a 2014 Limited two weeks ago. Was up to 250 miles on the odometer last week when driving thru a incline on the interstate at around 70mph. RPMs were above 3000 when I detected a slight burning smell.

Is this the problem this thread is in reference to?

Hi seawolf,

I want to extend the same offer of assistance that I have to others on this thread. To get the ball rolling, send a PM my way with your VIN, dealer, mileage, daytime phone number, and full name.

Crystal

 

[nouman_100]

The issue of smell, well tried almost everything to no avail until i actually put the regular gas 87 so the smell was gone.

yep that is right i am the moron who put premium in his cars not my fault the E class was running great under premium.

so yes if i put premium gas in truck it smells under acceleration and if i put regular gas it do not smell.

so here you guys tell me what you think?

 

[f350powerstroke]

The issue of smell, well tried almost everything to no avail until i actually put the regular gas 87 so the smell was gone.

yep that is right i am the moron who put premium in his cars not my fault the E class was running great under premium.

so yes if i put premium gas in truck it smells under acceleration and if i put regular gas it do not smell.

so here you guys tell me what you think?

We use regular and it still smells. Try driving on the highway with the ac on recirculate. It blows the exhaust/burning oil smell right thru. We're dropping it off now at the dealer.

 

[ieee_raider]

This would be so sweet to see!!!! Build it!!!! get some beefy aggressive tires too!

As for your gas issue, using premium gas in a motor that doesn't require it is a waste of money and actually does NOTHING to improve your mileage. It just pushes the ignition tolerance to a higher temperature, going against its engineered design.

Um, 20 years ago yes... now not necessarily.
Such as the case with the ecoboost. Even in the user manual, it states that.

Octane recommendations
3.5L V6 engine:
Regular unleaded gasoline with a pump (R+M)/2 octane rating of 87 is
recommended. Some stations offer fuels posted as Regular with an
octane rating below 87, particularly in high altitude areas. Fuels with
octane levels below 87 are not recommended.

2.0L/3.5L EcoBoost® engines:
Regular unleaded gasoline with a pump (R+M)/2 octane rating of 87 is
recommended. Some stations offer fuels posted as “Regular” with an
octane rating below 87, particularly in high altitude areas. Fuels with
octane levels below 87 are not recommended. Premium fuel will provide
improved performance and is recommended for severe duty usage such
as trailer tow.

I know my wife's Camry is rated for 87 but will produce same results as an ES350 with 91 because it's just advancing timing.

 

[CDN_Explorer]

Um, 20 years ago yes... now not necessarily.
Such as the case with the ecoboost. Even in the user manual, it states that.

I know my wife's Camry is rated for 87 but will produce same results as an ES350 with 91 because it's just advancing timing.

yeah my point exactly! I said, use what the maker recommends. If that is 87, then use 87, don't waste money on premium, it won't do it any good!

OP said he had issues with smell when he used premium, he resorted to regular and the smell went away. That's because the 91 octane probably didn't all burn up as it ignites at a higher temperature.

The ecoboost isn't rated for 91+ octane, so there is no point in using it.

 

[13Sport]

The ecoboost isn't rated for 91+ octane, so there is no point in using it.

The 3.5L Ecoboost (Sport) is rated for 91+ ...
It retards the timing to accommodate for 87/89, but recommended fuel is 91+

 

[13Sport]

The ecoboost isn't rated for 91+ octane, so there is no point in using it.

Check out the 1. footnote on the 3rd page of the Explorer Sport brochure from Ford. They achieved all of their benchmarks using 93+ fuel

http://www.ford.com/services/assets/Brochure?make=Ford&model=Explorer&year=2014

 

[peterk9]

yeah my point exactly! I said, use what the maker recommends. If that is 87, then use 87, don't waste money on premium, it won't do it any good!

OP said he had issues with smell when he used premium, he resorted to regular and the smell went away. That's because the 91 octane probably didn't all burn up as it ignites at a higher temperature.

The ecoboost isn't rated for 91+ octane, so there is no point in using it.

Not true! When the Canadian specs first came out for the 2013 Sport it actually recommended premium gasoline. Although it will run perfectly well on either regular or premium, it also states that premium will provide the best performance in the 3.5L Ecoboost engine. There are quite a few members who are running premium in their Sport.

Peter

 

[QwikEVO]

why someone wouldn't put premium fuel in their forced induction vehicle is beyond me.

 

[CDN_Explorer]

if the 3.5 EB is rated 91, then use 91. I really don't see where or why this has become a discussion. OP said using higher octane caused a smell, and rated fuel didn't. If you want to drive you SUV like a racecar and pay for 93 octane, hey have at er..., that's why I have a fun loving 95 octance guzzling car on the side. I'm just saying IMO in an SUV (non sport) it's a waste of money. Now if you tow a boat or trailer for a fair distance, premium might not be such a bad idea.

 

[nouman_100]

We use regular and it still smells. Try driving on the highway with the ac on recirculate. It blows the exhaust/burning oil smell right thru. We're dropping it off now at the dealer.

Great I hope that works out for you, because I already have done that and got my car back from them to no avail until I actually changed my gas to regular but every car is different. I have 3500 Miles on my ODO out of those 2500 is highway driving, i had no issues after changing the gas

 

[tslate]

The issue of smell, well tried almost everything to no avail until i actually put the regular gas 87 so the smell was gone.

yep that is right i am the moron who put premium in his cars not my fault the E class was running great under premium.

so yes if i put premium gas in truck it smells under acceleration and if i put regular gas it do not smell.

so here you guys tell me what you think?

The problem exists with regular gas. The problem exists whether or not the air is on or off. The fans only help circulate the smell so it is more pronounced in the cabin, however, even with no HVAC active the smell will still seep into the cabin albeit less pronounced.

 

[seawolf]

Just filed a complaint at NHTSA

 

[seawolf]

The issue of smell, well tried almost everything to no avail until i actually put the regular gas 87 so the smell was gone.

yep that is right i am the moron who put premium in his cars not my fault the E class was running great under premium.

so yes if i put premium gas in truck it smells under acceleration and if i put regular gas it do not smell.

so here you guys tell me what you think?

I've been using regular unleaded and the smell issue is still reproducible.

 

[f350powerstroke]

Great I hope that works out for you, because I already have done that and got my car back from them to no avail until I actually changed my gas to regular but every car is different. I have 3500 Miles on my ODO out of those 2500 is highway driving, i had no issues after changing the gas

got the car back same day at the dealer. they said the rear vent has an issue and they ordered the part. going to be a 3 hr job. i really hope this helps. such a nice vehicle already going to be penetrated

 

[Arc446]

Haven't been on here in a while but just wanted to give an update. My 2011 4wd Explorer XLT has just hit over 30,000 miles. I have now recently started to smell the exhaust accelerating to lower speeds. Up to 40 mph to be exact. This was not under hard acceleration either like when I noticed the smell in the past. I was told my Ex didn't fall under the TSB. Really ??? So in September the truck is going back to the original dealer in NY and they can figure it out. NC apparently doesn't want to deal with the issue. To say I am frustrated is a gross understatement.