Bad or Burnt Exhaust smell in cabin during hard acceleration. | Page 46 | 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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I'm new here to the Explorer forum as I have recently purchased a 2013 Ford Explorer Base in red with the 3.5 non-ecoboost motor. I'm however not new to ford as I have had many Fords before. The Explorer is the Mommy-mobile as I drive a 2011 Sangria Red Ford Focus SES. So far the explorer has been great (bought it in April 2013) as it has 7500 miles on it. I can get 28mpg out of it driving about 80% hwy miles. The only complaint is that I have been getting a "burnt" smell under hard acceleration. Taking it into the dealer on Monday to get this figure out, and to get its first oil change.
Welcome to the Forum tstwings13.:wavey:
As I indicated in my PM, I have moved your post to this thread for your reading enjoyment.

Peter
 



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So I went through the BBB and ford sent me a field service engineer and he inspected my vehicle. We took to the road and the smell came in the cabin faintly and he said he did smell something. It didn't come through as strong as it usually does but he was playing with the AC buttons and seeing if the "vent" was really closing during recirculation and proceeded to tell me that it never really closes all the way... and so as we headed back to the dealer he then tells me it is normal to smell exhaust in the vehicle when you drive in traffic, Um I was going 80mph to recreate the smell I don't think that is traffic. And never in my life have I had a car that smells of exhaust inside, I think that would be against the law especially since it poisonous. Just saying.
They replaced the fuel pump because of the recall and put on some fancy air filter. I am sure there is no fix. I will drive it tomorrow and let you all know what happens. I am buying a CO monitor and putting it by the third row as I saw posted on an earlier thread. I put a call into a attorney because ford doesn't care. It makes me sad because all I want is a buy back and another explorer that doesn't have the smell. My friend has the same one with no odor. Oh well I guess I got the LEMON.... love the car hate Ford right now. :mad:

I feel for you Karina, as I have dealt with this so much, that I just gave up, and I'm wondering if that is what the Ford Motor Company wants, for us to give up. Mine is a 2011 and I've had this smell from day 1, and the first explanation was it was a break-in period. And the other explanations were just a bunch of hogwash! I hadn't heard the "fuel pump" recall, and what would a "fancy air filter" do? It's a smell coming from the back end. Keep us up to date as to what you learn.
 






Mine has the smell too. I compare it to wet towels that you dried your dog off with or a beauty salon chemical smell. My smell comes from the front AC with rear AC off when I get on it. I've also noticed it does it on all settings of AC but maybe slightly less when on Max AC. I've also turned off the HVAC system completely accelerated hard up to speed then turned it back on and have gotten the smell again right away. Really bizarre
 






Mine has the smell too. I compare it to wet towels that you dried your dog off with or a beauty salon chemical smell. My smell comes from the front AC with rear AC off when I get on it. I've also noticed it does it on all settings of AC but maybe slightly less when on Max AC. I've also turned off the HVAC system completely accelerated hard up to speed then turned it back on and have gotten the smell again right away. Really bizarre

Yea, that's what the smell smells like. All the techs are calling it a burnt oil smell, and I knew it wasn't burnt oil smells, but I couldn't put my finger on it. It does remind me, now that you mentioned it, to salon-type chemicals, or a wet dog.
 






Just want to share this again as previously posted...FORD Philippines has called for replacing TWO not one air dampener for the TSB 12-12-04. They also did the TSB for the coolant at the same time. While it did significantly reduce the smell, I can still smell that "perm smell" every time I turn on the A/C after being used from the previous day. The "burnt oil smell", on the other hand, comes in when I still do hard or abrupt (from 1,500 to suddenly 3,500-4,000 RPM) acceleration or if you maintain 3,500 to 4,000 RPM (which I rarely do because that would mean going 80mph constantly).

FORD Philippines is also baffled up to this point. They have been working on several units here ever since the 2011-2012 Explorer came out. I really hope FORD comes out with a permanent solution and not just a patch work.
 






It's nice (or not depending on you look at this) to know that I'm not the only one experiencing this smell. I was a Chevrolet tech and service advisor for many years (although I was always a Ford guy) I know cars very well. This is not a "break-in" issue. There is no such thing anymore. Odd part is though, my parents have a 2013 Explorer XLT and dont have this problem. Very weird.
 






..........if you maintain 3,500 to 4,000 RPM (which I rarely do because that would mean going 80mph constantly)..........
At 80 mph, my tach reads about 2300 RPM.

Peter
 






At 80 mph, my tach reads about 2300 RPM.

Peter

You are right. Sorry, wrong conversion before. I meant 140kmh+ or 87mph+. That's when smell really gets bad and lingers.
 












Not just the X!

It's nice (or not depending on you look at this) to know that I'm not the only one experiencing this smell. I was a Chevrolet tech and service advisor for many years (although I was always a Ford guy) I know cars very well. This is not a "break-in" issue. There is no such thing anymore. Odd part is though, my parents have a 2013 Explorer XLT and dont have this problem. Very weird.

Have you driven your parents 2013 yourself? If this were an issue of "some do and some don't", it would be a quality issue and Ford could pinpoint the problem. My wife's 2013 XLT has the smell even after the TSB although not as bad as before, we just live with it and if I have to "get on it", I just vent the cabin after.

My employer affords me a mini-lease so I get to try different cars every three months. The agency gave me an upgrade since I've been leasing for two years now, and handed me the keys to a 2013 FLEX 3.5L V6. Guess what?
Same Smell

It's not just the X. This issue will not get resolved on the forum. Ford is turning a blind eye to an issue that only the most aggressive drivers experience. Statistically, it's not a big deal and not an easy fix. My service adviser claimed he'd never heard of it and only applied the TSB when I insisted. :salute:
 






Mine has it as well. 2013 Explorer Sport. I only notice it when I accelerate rapidly. The more enthusiastic I get, the worse it is (think paddle shifters...). I'm not sure what I'm going to do about it at this point, but I wanted to add another data point. The infamous "Ford Stank" strikes again !!!

(Note: the smell I get almost reminds me of 'catalytic converter'. Don't know why - seems exhaust related, but not pure exhaust as if I was standing behind the vehicle. Odd.....)
 






Still havent received a phone call yet......

Hi bluelion,

I sent a message to your CSM this morning and asked her to contact you regarding your case. Let me know when you receive a call.

Mine has it as well. 2013 Explorer Sport. I only notice it when I accelerate rapidly...

Shoot me your info (VIN, dealer, mileage, daytime phone number, and full name), thestumper; I want to look into ways to help.

Crystal
 






Have you driven your parents 2013 yourself? If this were an issue of "some do and some don't", it would be a quality issue and Ford could pinpoint the problem. My wife's 2013 XLT has the smell even after the TSB although not as bad as before, we just live with it and if I have to "get on it", I just vent the cabin after.

My employer affords me a mini-lease so I get to try different cars every three months. The agency gave me an upgrade since I've been leasing for two years now, and handed me the keys to a 2013 FLEX 3.5L V6. Guess what?
Same Smell

It's not just the X. This issue will not get resolved on the forum. Ford is turning a blind eye to an issue that only the most aggressive drivers experience. Statistically, it's not a big deal and not an easy fix. My service adviser claimed he'd never heard of it and only applied the TSB when I insisted. :salute:

Sorry that you have "the smell", but not everyone is affected by this. I have my Ex since May 2011, run the living dog %#&# out of it and it does not have this.
 






Sorry that you have "the smell", but not everyone is affected by this. I have my Ex since May 2011, run the living dog %#&# out of it and it does not have this.

Lucky you.

I have to temper my excitement in accelerating especially when my wife and baby are with me.

I wonder if extending the muffler tips by 2" worked that forum member...please let us know whoever you are =)
 






Anyone test with a CO2 detector? There have been posts about people saying they are going to for days, weeks and months but not one person has said they did.
 






Anyone test with a CO2 detector? There have been posts about people saying they are going to for days, weeks and months but not one person has said they did.

blwnsmoke - I am one of those that have said that I was going to procure a Carbon Monoxide tester. Unfortunately, I would not be able to use it at this time because my vehicle has been at the shop of a second dealer for the last two weeks and two days. They agree that what we are smelling is exhaust. They have had my Explorer torn apart several times trying to determine the entry point for the exhaust but unfortunately they have come up empty. They went back and performed the sealing portion of the TSB 12-12-4 on top of what the previous dealer's shop performed because they did not think that it was performed extensive enough. They have gone through and sealed other seams that they thought might be the issue but each time they put it back together and test drove it they found that that did not work. This shop then contacted a Ford Field Engineer on this issue for assistance and was told to pressurize the cabin and spray soapy water under the back to find any bubbles, like finding a leak on an old bicycle tube. They performed this action and sealed every place where they found bubbles even the spot where the spare tire sits below the third row. Today, they called and asked me to come down and see if this worked. Unfortunately, it did not. It even seemed like the smell was even more intense above 3KRPM than before. I still can't get over my wife's look on her face while observing through the rear view mirror, it was pretty strong. The Shop foreman was very concerned and told us that they will go back to the drawing board with the Ford Engineers. I was concerned that this was still coming from the vents that were changed out during the TSB and I asked him what was difference between the old vents and the new ones, so he explained that the old ones were like mud flaps on an old truck that would flap open to release pressure in the cabin and should go back in place but that may not always be the case. The new ones were weighted so they would definitely go back into place to seal out the outside air. I threw in my two cents and told him that maybe under acceleration the weighted vents open up which causes the exhaust to enter the cabin. He thought that it could be possible but would have to research that a little further. I also mentioned to him that some on this blog have mentioned that the tailpipes might not extend far enough out to vent the exhaust. We looked at the tailpipes and did observe that there is probably less that a quarter of an inch clearance on the inside lip of tailpipe cutout on the bumper and the actual tailpipe, which I explained to him that exhaust maybe getting up under the bumper and entering through some void in the back door or under the third row. He said that he will pass that along to Ford also. I remember someone saying that the tailpipes should be extended to check for this and by my observation you couldn't extend it too much because they would extend pass the bumper and become a burn hazard. The Foreman suggested possibly having a downward tilt to the tailpipe but that would ruin the look of the vehicle. The other idea I posed was to extend the back lip of the tailpipe cutout on the bumper to go further into the vehicle where the exhaust won't have a chance to get trapped within the bumper itself. So, there you have it, if they give up and I get my vehicle back then I may possibly buy a meter to see how much Carbon Monoxide we are absorbing.
 






..but from the rear with hard acceleration - what would make a vacuum or suck in exhaust from the area? Air is headed straight through the undercarriage and back.

I think its from closer to the headers and exhaust piping near the cabin up front
or in the middle, not the back.
The back is a focal point since the prior TSBs were for the rear venting.
This isnt the only spot-it cannot be so.

This car has a lot of flex steel tubing and its closer to the engine rather than the back.
I once kicked the tires on a used Nissan Altima, looked under the car and the steel tubing was unraveling and open for about a foot.
I looked up and said "nope sorry no thanks"
Isnt some of this exhaust tubing?

Going by how many window problems and steering problems there are, it appears parts installed in these cars as new, may be of such a horrible quality that they are breaking or going bad on a new vehicle in no time.

This literally stinks for so many people.

Maybe putting the car in a paint barn with exhaust vented properly, all those lights turned on, it could be found.
 






I wouldn't argue against your point there because I initially thought it was an exhaust leak coming from the header many months ago. But, during todays drive it hit my wife in the second row first before it hit me while driving it. So, it may possibly start from the front and make its way through some void in the car before it finally escapes into the cabin through an opening in the rear of the vehicle. There is no telling, and I frankly don't have a clue and neither does Ford at this point. Watch it be something totally benign and stupid simple that everyone has overlooked because it was one of those "Nah, can't be" moments.
 






LVFORDOWNER, thanks for your thorough update.. very interesting to read. I'm glad to see your dealer is being very thorough as well and not giving up. I'm sure most dealers would be handing it back to the customer and saying "oh well".

Keep us updated..
 



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Has anyone ever tried to return their Ford? This is definitely a concern for me especially since I purchased the truck for the sole purpose of transporting my family around. Having a newborn inside and smelling those fumes do not help. I have sent a PM to Crystal and will start to play the waiting game. At my first oil change I brought it up to the dealer and they gave me the BS of breaking in period. It's now at 10k miles and we are still smelling those fumes every single day. I hope they find a fix for this soon.
 






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