Bad or Burnt Exhaust smell in cabin during hard acceleration. | Page 44 | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Has anyone heard of, found, or experienced a solution to the Ford Explorer exhaust issue?


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One would think that if the exhaust is getting in and it is noticeable during hard acceleration, then it is likely getting in continuously in while driving as well. I don't know about anyone else, but I don't want to take the chance that me and my family are slowly being poisoned while driving. I've had mine to the dealer and they supposedly fixed it; however, either they did it wrong or there's a leak elsewhere because it's back. I don't have to keep the RPMs high for a long period of time for the cabin to fill with this noxious gas. All I have to do is pass someone or if I have to speed up quickly, it's there within a few seconds after this action.
 



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Exhaust Smell - Lengthy but good info

It has been a little while since I have posted my status or outcome of the TSB performed on our 2013 Ford Explorer Limited but I have kept a good eye on this board to keep up with the outcomes of others on here. We dropped our Explorer off at the dealer in the latter part of July for the exhaust smell in the cabin. I made sure that I requested a Service Manager drive with me so I could show him the smell that we have witnessed since we bought the vehicle in January of 2013. Naturally, I was able to easily recreate the smell with him in the vehicle and he concurred that he smelled the same. So when we arrived back at the shop they had found that there was indeed a TSB for this problem (TSB 12-12-4). After several days they were able to order the parts and perform the TSB. We received the Explorer back late in the day on the 31st of July. My wife drove the vehicle home and she explained to me that she thought that she still smelled the exhaust since the drive home goes through some hilly parts of the state. Prior to leaving the dealership, I purposely looked under the back of the vehicle to determine if they performed the TSB on both sides of the rear vents and it very well looked like they did because I could see the undercoating on both sides, while doing this I noticed that they have inadvertently got some undercoating spray on the mufflers. I explained to my wife that she may very well be smelling the overspray and she should drive it around awhile and let me know if anything changes. After a couple of days she told me that she was still smelling the exhaust smell. I took the vehicle out and drove it down some roads where I could get it up to speed and traverse a few hills to get the RPM's up to 3500 and sure enough I still smelled the exhaust smell. Within a couple of days we had relatives in town and I took my brother-in-law out in the Explorer to get his opinion and determine whether I was not losing my mind or something. Well, he also concurred that he was smelling the exhaust fumes. He immediately thought it was coming out of the front air conditioning vents but I explained to him that it was coming from the back of the vehicle and being sucked into the air conditioning where it was being spewed back out into our faces. He has been a Ford owner for most of his life and has owned a diverse amount of models and he explained that he has never seen anything like that before, this left him thinking it was a design problem and encouraged me to take it back to the dealer. I took his advice and took it back to the dealer on the 15th of August explaining that we still had the exhaust smell issue at or above approximately 3500 RPM. On the 19th I got the a call from the dealer that they had finished with the Explorer and had replaced the inside air filter and deionized the carpets. I really did not understand what that had to do with getting exhaust in the cabin at or above approximately 3500 RPM but I could not pick up the vehicle until the 22nd of August due to being out of town. When I received the vehicle I asked again if someone could take a drive with me and again they sent a Service Manager someone different than before but at least they sent someone. So I took off down the service road of the highway and reached 3500 and above and once again the exhaust smell permeated the cabin. I turned to the Service Manager and asked if he smelled it and he explained that everything smelled normal to him. So, once again I ramped it up to above 3500 RPM so that we could get a good dose going and he again explained that he could not smell anything out of the normal. I told him that I would highly disagree and it was no different than before I took the vehicle in for the TSB back in July. He discussed that they had found the inside cabin Air Filter with black rings on it and smelling of Exhaust, so they believe that what I was smelling was the remnants of before the TSB caught up in the filter and so they decided to go ahead and deionize the carpets in order to remove any remnants of Exhaust. I thanked him for doing that but that does not rectify the issue that I still have which is the Exhaust smell still exists. When we arrived at the dealer I asked them if they had a Carbon Monoxide meter that we could use to determine if there was any exhaust getting into the cabin. They unfortunately did not have access to a portable meter, which I thought was strange but never the less what are our next options. We decided to call the Senior Customer Service Manager that Crystal arranged for me to get a second opinion from a different dealer, she was out of office at the time so we left her a message. At that point, I knew the dealer was at a dead end with this so I decided to take the vehicle home and wait for someone to call me. Once again my wife drove the vehicle home and followed me in my 2012 F150. I got her on the cell and told her to keep up with me on the service roads and see what she observed. I purposely ramped up my Truck in between 3500 to 4500 RPM, nothing unsafe but to get up to the speed limit fairly quick. She told me that she could smell the exhaust smell also. What really solidified it for me was that I was in my truck doing the same acceleration and speed and it did not matter what RPM I was running it still smelled the same inside the F150, free of exhaust smell. When we arrived home, I called the Senior Customer Service Manager and left her a message. She quickly called me back and I explained the situation, so she called another dealership's Service Department and we had to leave a message to arrange a time to drop off the Explorer. That was last Thursday and today is Wednesday the 28th with no return call. So, I have had some time to think about the situation and here is what I have concluded be it right or wrong. One, if this is a design issue then the dealerships hands are tied. They (the dealerships) are not going to perform anything on the vehicle that is beyond what Ford tells them to do because that would be a liability to the dealership and I don't believe they are going to put themselves in that position. Two, Ford knows that this is an issue because they would not have come out with a TSB on this if it wasn't. Three, Ford probably needs more confirmations on whether this TSB worked or not before they go back to the drawing board and address this problem again because I can see this is probably something that is tricky to replicate and diagnose in a moving vehicle. Four, if this is truly an Exhaust emission problem getting into the cabin of the vehicle, I for one would like to know how much is getting in so I have decided to purchase a digital CO meter myself to soothe my conscious about how much we are talking about if it is actually Exhaust, for all I know it could be some other noxious smell that the car is making such as the catalytic converter or something else. So hopefully this will help some of you out if you are experiencing the same problem and I apologize for being too lengthy but I felt like there was a lot of pertinent information and I didn't want to gloss over it.
 






LVFORDOWNER: I for one, would like to know the results of your CO meter test. I don't seem to have this problem with my vehicle, but sympathize with you and others who seem plagued with this issue. If I did have the issue, I would plug off the large vent areas in the rear of the vehicle which are located on either side of the vehicle in the third row seat well. Just pull up the seats, and look to the sides, you can't miss seeing the vents. I'd tape them off at least temporarily. Then repeat your driving test and see if the smell is gone or diminished. If it is then you could try removing the tape from one side at a time and see if the smell is coming in from only one side or both independently. It may not take an engineering degree to assist Ford in determining the problem and a fix.....to me, the simplest fix might just be a one way flap valve on the vent..........best regards Plum
 






Lengthy is good - it means we know what you know, which is a lot.
...and this is a 2013...
 






...That was last Thursday and today is Wednesday the 28th with no return call...

Hi LVFORDOWNER,

I reached out to your CSM and requested that they follow up with you. Touch base with me if you ever have difficulty contacting someone so I can assist. :)

Thanks!

Crystal
 






One would think that if the exhaust is getting in and it is noticeable during hard acceleration, then it is likely getting in continuously in while driving as well. I don't know about anyone else, but I don't want to take the chance that me and my family are slowly being poisoned while driving. I've had mine to the dealer and they supposedly fixed it; however, either they did it wrong or there's a leak elsewhere because it's back. I don't have to keep the RPMs high for a long period of time for the cabin to fill with this noxious gas. All I have to do is pass someone or if I have to speed up quickly, it's there within a few seconds after this action.

Dont you realize you are breathing in exhaust every time you are driving behind a vehicle whether it is on the highway or stuck in traffic? The whole "slowly being poisoned" is a little overboard. Exhaust fumes are everywhere around you.
 






Dont you realize you are breathing in exhaust every time you are driving behind a vehicle whether it is on the highway or stuck in traffic? The whole "slowly being poisoned" is a little overboard. Exhaust fumes are everywhere around you.

I agree with you 100%.....:thumbsup:
 






Dont you realize you are breathing in exhaust every time you are driving behind a vehicle whether it is on the highway or stuck in traffic? The whole "slowly being poisoned" is a little overboard. Exhaust fumes are everywhere around you.

Apples to oranges. If you don't have the problem then you don't know what you're talking about anyway. Coming on this thread and trying to insinuate it doesn't exist or it's not bad because you personally don't have the problem is pretty much the same as Ford stating it doesn't exist because they can't replicate the issue or any issue. And yeah, you are blowing smoke.
 






Apples to oranges. If you don't have the problem then you don't know what you're talking about anyway. Coming on this thread and trying to insinuate it doesn't exist or it's not bad because you personally don't have the problem is pretty much the same as Ford stating it doesn't exist because they can't replicate the issue or any issue. And yeah, you are blowing smoke.

That's not the point that he was making.......just because you don't like what he said doesn't mean there isn't any truth to it.....
 






Dont you realize you are breathing in exhaust every time you are driving behind a vehicle whether it is on the highway or stuck in traffic? The whole "slowly being poisoned" is a little overboard. Exhaust fumes are everywhere around you.

This is true unless you are a clever person, in that case you would put the A/C on recirculate whenever you are driving in traffic so you don't breathe other cars exhaust. rodzilla makes a good point, just because we can only smell the exhaust at full throttle doesn't mean that is the only time it is coming in, because usually car exhaust from a newer and well running vehicle has no odor. Anyway, for those new to this issue I would recommend that you go ahead and have the TSB done, it does not resolve the problem completely but it significantly reduces the amount of exhaust that comes in.
 






Apples to oranges. If you don't have the problem then you don't know what you're talking about anyway. Coming on this thread and trying to insinuate it doesn't exist or it's not bad because you personally don't have the problem is pretty much the same as Ford stating it doesn't exist because they can't replicate the issue or any issue. And yeah, you are blowing smoke.

Apples to Apples.. Exhaust is exhaust and it is everywhere around you. I never said the problem didn't exist and I never said that the smell is ok. All I said was that that person was acting like people never inhale exhaust and that his family is slowing being poisoned.. Holy exaggeration. God forbid you ever drive behind a semi truck.

In regards to your comment about me blowing smoke. If you actually take the time to read all the pages, you'll see that I, yes that is correct, I had the same problem.. it was overwhelming to the point that I had to roll down my windows and I wanted to gag on the smell. I also had the dealership duplicate the issue as well as also having the TSB performed. I've also posted that my EX no longer produces this smell whatsoever. Windows up, down, air on, air off, air fresh, air on recirculation, 3500rpm, 4500rpm.. onramps, highways or backroads.

My repair was successful and I have almost 49,000 miles on my Ex now and still going strong without any smell.

So before you start posting on something you THINK you know, learn the facts first.
 






Glad to hear you got the issue fixed, hopefully I 'll get the same result. I can live with all the issues my Explorer has except the burnt oil smell. That is simply unacceptable in a $54,000 SUV.
 






Just want to report after 3 months since the TSB 12-12-04 and the coolant TSB had been done that the smell has been reduced significantly. It is down from 100% to 40%. YES, the fix wasn't a complete solution. From time to time, I could also smell the coolant coming from the front AC vents. But for sure, I can still smell the exhaust fume especially when overtaking slow vehicles on the highway. It's a good thing I installed window visors to quickly get rid of the smell.

Also, I noticed that when the EX has not been used for a while or at least one week, the exhaust smell seems to be more prominent when it comes into the cabin after hitting 3500+ RPM. I'm not sure if exhaust fumes is somehow related to the fuel delivery recall.
 






Glad to hear you got the issue fixed, hopefully I 'll get the same result. I can live with all the issues my Explorer has except the burnt oil smell. That is simply unacceptable in a $54,000 SUV.

I seem to be the minority when it comes to completely eliminating it from the tsb. I cant understand why some have it, some don't, some have had it reduced, some not at all.

I want to say design flaw but if it was a flaw by design, every Ex would have it. Not sure what is going on with Ford but 3 years is rediculous to still have this problem.

Wonder if the top spoiler was removed, if it would still create the issue.
 






This is true unless you are a clever person, in that case you would put the A/C on recirculate whenever you are driving in traffic so you don't breathe other cars exhaust. rodzilla makes a good point, just because we can only smell the exhaust at full throttle doesn't mean that is the only time it is coming in, because usually car exhaust from a newer and well running vehicle has no odor. Anyway, for those new to this issue I would recommend that you go ahead and have the TSB done, it does not resolve the problem completely but it significantly reduces the amount of exhaust that comes in.

Putting it on recirculation does not close off air entering the vehicle. If it did, you would run out of oxygen. You still get fresh air in from other vents in the vehicle which has exhaust in it.

I drive a diesel and I smell diesel exhaust all the time regardless of how my air is set. Well I shouldnt say all the time but when Im behind another diesel, when I slow down or stop at a red light.

My gut is that it is coming from the catalytic convertor... it is an odor from that because if it was just exhaust, you wouldnt have a smell.

The next question id ask is if it would still happen with an aftermarket exhaust like the ones in the modified section. New mufflers, new cat, new down pipes. Hmmmm...
 






I seem to be the minority when it comes to completely eliminating it from the tsb. I cant understand why some have it, some don't, some have had it reduced, some not at all.

I want to say design flaw but if it was a flaw by design, every Ex would have it. Not sure what is going on with Ford but 3 years is rediculous to still have this problem.

Wonder if the top spoiler was removed, if it would still create the issue.

It seems there are two different problems here, one is people smelling exhaust fumes and the other is a burnt oil smell. A local mechanic I talked to stated if the smell is burnt oil then it's a PCV issue on the engine and that's where the problem is. I know what exhaust fumes smell like, I'm definitely smelling burnt oil in my Explorer.
 






Personal attacks are not acceptable. I deleted a couple posts.
 






Apples to Apples.. Exhaust is exhaust and it is everywhere around you. I never said the problem didn't exist and I never said that the smell is ok. All I said was that that person was acting like people never inhale exhaust and that his family is slowing being poisoned.. Holy exaggeration. God forbid you ever drive behind a semi truck.

In regards to your comment about me blowing smoke. If you actually take the time to read all the pages, you'll see that I, yes that is correct, I had the same problem.. it was overwhelming to the point that I had to roll down my windows and I wanted to gag on the smell. I also had the dealership duplicate the issue as well as also having the TSB performed. I've also posted that my EX no longer produces this smell whatsoever. Windows up, down, air on, air off, air fresh, air on recirculation, 3500rpm, 4500rpm.. onramps, highways or backroads.

My repair was successful and I have almost 49,000 miles on my Ex now and still going strong without any smell.

So before you start posting on something you THINK you know, learn the facts first.

Originally Posted by blwnsmoke
Dont you realize you are breathing in exhaust every time you are driving behind a vehicle whether it is on the highway or stuck in traffic? The whole "slowly being poisoned" is a little overboard. Exhaust fumes are everywhere around you.

There's nothing in Rodzilla's comment that suggests he is referring to ambient air quality. The amount of exhaust circulated inside the cabin is significantly more concentrated with this issue and has no context to air quality outside the cabin at any time even if behind a semi. It is a very serious health safety issue and in fact "slowly being poisoned" is an apt way of putting it. CO poisoning is the leading cause of death due to poisoning in the US. Comparing it to outside exhaust by stating it was "overboard" and further "Holy exaggerated" seriously minimizes the health risk. The issue is similar to plugging the exhaust pipe because CO and exhaust emissions recirculate back into the cabin with no escape, the same as this problem. Your previous posts are irrelevant to this comment and if Ford made the same comment in reference to this problem imagine what the reaction would be.

These are the some of symptoms and ppm's involved with CO. Since headaches and difficulty breathing are associated with this problem in much less time than this chart indicates who knows what we are being subjected to. The total by product of car emmissions is worse than just CO alone. All the Federal agencies involved that comment on CO poisoning take it very seriously.

This is from wikipedia carbon monoxide poisoning:

Modern automobiles, even with electronically-controlled combustion and catalytic converters, can still produce levels of carbon monoxide which will kill if enclosed within a garage or if the tailpipe is obstructed (for example, by snow) and exhaust gas cannot escape normally.

The acute effects produced by carbon monoxide in relation to ambient concentration in parts per million are listed below:

Concentration Symptoms
35 ppm (0.0035%) Headache and dizziness within six to eight hours of constant exposure
100 ppm (0.01%) Slight headache in two to three hours
200 ppm (0.02%) Slight headache within two to three hours; loss of judgment
400 ppm (0.04%) Frontal headache within one to two hours
800 ppm (0.08%) Dizziness, nausea, and convulsions within 45 min; insensible within 2 hours
1,600 ppm (0.16%) Headache, tachycardia, dizziness, and nausea within 20 min; death in less than 2 hours
3,200 ppm (0.32%) Headache, dizziness and nausea in five to ten minutes. Death within 30 minutes.
6,400 ppm (0.64%) Headache and dizziness in one to two minutes. Convulsions, respiratory arrest, and death in less than 20 minutes.
12,800 ppm (1.28%) Unconsciousness after 2–3 breaths. Death in less than three minutes.
 






Just want to report after 3 months since the TSB 12-12-04 and the coolant TSB had been done that the smell has been reduced significantly. It is down from 100% to 40%. YES, the fix wasn't a complete solution. From time to time, I could also smell the coolant coming from the front AC vents. But for sure, I can still smell the exhaust fume especially when overtaking slow vehicles on the highway. It's a good thing I installed window visors to quickly get rid of the smell.

Also, I noticed that when the EX has not been used for a while or at least one week, the exhaust smell seems to be more prominent when it comes into the cabin after hitting 3500+ RPM. I'm not sure if exhaust fumes is somehow related to the fuel delivery recall.
The recall that I believe you are referring to is for the 2013 model year. The smell issue has been around for some since the 2011 model was introduced.

Peter
 



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Glad to hear you got the issue fixed, hopefully I 'll get the same result. I can live with all the issues my Explorer has except the burnt oil smell. That is simply unacceptable in a $54,000 SUV.

I know how you feel. However, I think our expectations are a bit misplaced. We didn't buy a car that was engineered to begin with as a $50K vehicle. We purchased a $30K vehicle (2014 base model MSRP) with $20k add-ons.
 






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