Bad or Burnt Exhaust smell in cabin during hard acceleration.

[peterk9]

Although I haven't experienced this issue I do sense the frustration of those that have. I recall is usually issued for 'safety' related problems. So far, this 'smell' has not been identified, to my knowledge, as being a safety issue. Some member has carried monitors in their vehicles and I believe that they showed no real problems with and levels inside the cabin. I would like to believe that if Ford had the answer, that they would have fixed this long ago. It has been present since the introduction of the 2011 model. Even the members here are not able to come up with a concrete cause of solution despite several attempts to do so. I'm guessing that there are only a small number of Explorers that have this issue out of all those that are produced. It may seem abnormally high here because those searching the Internet for this problem will eventually end up here. As someone who is looking at possible getting a 2017 o 2018 Platinum, I am also hoping this gets resolved sooner than later. BTW, the Ford reps here do not interface with anyone at Ford. They provide assistance to the members by putting them in touch with the Regional Customer Service Managers.

Peter

 

[voltch]

I am taking my Ford in for the third time in hopes they can finally resolve the issue with the gas smell from vents. I really hope they can get to the bottom of the problem because the odor is making us sick. My wife almost passed out from it.

 

[gypsy321]

I am taking my Ford in for the third time in hopes they can finally resolve the issue with the gas smell from vents. I really hope they can get to the bottom of the problem because the odor is making us sick. My wife almost passed out from it.

Good luck with that, I just had mine back in the shop this week for the smell that won't go away.
This is after the Ford .CA rep (Kwasi) put me in touch with Ford regional rep and appointments made for test drive etc. The person to do the test drive was not at work; the rest of the staff were totally void of any knowledge of this issue. I gave them my case# & info from here about John Smith having the tech use wheel weights to help close vents. They said they would have to call the "hotline" @ Ford tech to get direction as to how to proceed. They had my car all day; rechecked previous TSB installaltion and called it a day. They apparently are still waiting for Ford "hotline" to get back to them. This shop seems to be so afraid of Ford that they won't wipe their butt without approval from "THE HOTLINE". Good thing I had the oil change done or this would have been a total waste of my time.:thumbdwn: Unfortunately Canada does not have Lemon Laws in order to stick it to the Corporate Gods.
Enough of my rant.................wish you all the best in getting a fix. If you do please let the rest of us know.

 

[avg2424]

Why Not?

Instead of weights or added silicon or anything, why not just seal the vents?
I haven't had a chance to see if the vents are accessible without removing the rear bumper, but if they are, I plan on just sealing the "equalization" vents. I'm sure the car is not air tight so air would still flow just fine with the air set to vent or when opening and closing doors.

Anyone know the true purpose of the vents and have any thoughts on just sealing them off?

 

[bruinsfan]

Good luck with that, I just had mine back in the shop this week for the smell that won't go away.
This is after the Ford .CA rep (Kwasi) put me in touch with Ford regional rep and appointments made for test drive etc. The person to do the test drive was not at work; the rest of the staff were totally void of any knowledge of this issue. I gave them my case# & info from here about John Smith having the tech use wheel weights to help close vents. They said they would have to call the "hotline" @ Ford tech to get direction as to how to proceed. They had my car all day; rechecked previous TSB installaltion and called it a day. They apparently are still waiting for Ford "hotline" to get back to them. This shop seems to be so afraid of Ford that they won't wipe their butt without approval from "THE HOTLINE". Good thing I had the oil change done or this would have been a total waste of my time.:thumbdwn: Unfortunately Canada does not have Lemon Laws in order to stick it to the Corporate Gods.
Enough of my rant.................wish you all the best in getting a fix. If you do please let the rest of us know.

I feel your pain... However, I have had somewhat different experiences with my 2015 XLT.

I have 3000 miles and was getting a burnt hair smell when above 3500 rpm.

Last week, I took the first long road trip (1800 miles) and was worried that the smell would drive me crazy; ups and downs in NH, VT, and PA (I-81) mountains always climbing above 4000 rpm to climb and pass.

Surprisingly, the smell had gone away. The first 3500+ rpm while passing a vehicle, I smelled the burnt hair. After that, it went away. I've even tried to "make" it happen, and couldn't. I've always noticed that the first smell of the day was strongest, and then it was just "noticeable."

Now, it doesn't happen at all.... Not even first drive of the day.

I didn't do anything to the SUV, just drove it hard. I've had recirculation on and off, and nothing on at all at times.

I use 91 octane Irving Gas or 91 octane Sunoco Gas. If they are not available, I use 93 octane Mobil or Shell. I don't use additives, never have & never will.

I wish you all the best of luck.... I truly do; I have just been lucky and hope the rest of you find the same luck.

 

[LukerDooker]

Instead of weights or added silicon or anything, why not just seal the vents?
I haven't had a chance to see if the vents are accessible without removing the rear bumper, but if they are, I plan on just sealing the "equalization" vents. I'm sure the car is not air tight so air would still flow just fine with the air set to vent or when opening and closing doors.

Anyone know the true purpose of the vents and have any thoughts on just sealing them off?

All SUV type cars have them, I pass by an auto body shop daily and I see what they have parked.
Not many sedans or coupes so no idea about those.

Do need to remove bumper, the TSB for this removes bumper and reseals all areas around vents, up to rear hatch. That TSB may be in this post but a ways back.

Likely equalizes air pressure as well helps with evening out air flow, some air flow is needed for cabin air & heat/AC to move around a bit.
Without these vents air from 2nd row thru to 3rd row-and the heat of summer in back-would maybe stagnate and never leave, unless 2nd row windows are opened.

 

[pup5581]

I am wondering...has anyone with this issue upgraded their exhaust and have the problem go away?

 

[peterk9]

I believe there are posts on that in this thread but I can't recall the outcome. It has been a while.

Peter

 

[nixhex]

2014 Explorer Limited with 11000 miles and still smelling this

I just wanted to add one more case here to be documented. My 2014 Limited with 11000 miles is experiencing the same thing under freeway merge/acceleration RPMs. I have smelled this since the first test drive at the dealer in July of 2014. I was initially told it was some engine coating that would burn off. We bought the car new from my wife's uncle so I had no reason to doubt him. We waited a while but it was still smelling. We then took it in for first oil change and asked them to check this. We were told it was the oil it ships with from the factory and the smell would go away now that the oil was changed. Well the smell is still there every time.

We bought this car brand new for my wife and child to ride in and feel safe. It sickens and infuriates me to think they could be breathing toxic fumes in. After looking this up tonight and seeing whats been going on since 2011 I will never buy another ford. As a life long mustang fan I was seriously going to buy a new GT in another year or two. My wife and child will never step foot in this car again if I can help it. I am going to go through the motions at the dealer asap to try and have this car bought back under FL lemon law as other posters have done. I no longer trust this thing with my family!

 

[peterk9]

Welcome to the Forum nixhex.:wavey:
I would like to believe that the reasons for the smell that you were told was due to the people not having encountered this situation before. As far as I know, the oil that the Ex is shipped with is no different than the oil the dealer puts in it when you go for service. As the posts in this thread indicate, some have had success in getting the dealer to eliminate or reduce 'the smell' while many others have had no success at all.

Peter

 

[nixhex]

Thanks Peter.

Just to add a little more info on this. My wife says she was told the oil they use at the factory was some super high quality stuff. They told her that they would use it for oil changes at the dealership if they they could get it but oil changes would be super expensive. A side affect they told her, was that smell. He said he knew exactly what she was talking about. So he said now that the oil was changed most of the smell should be gone. So we drove it for a while longer to give that some time to go away, but it never has.

It didn't seem right to me that oil would smell like its burning if it wasn't leaking somewhere. I was thinking maybe at high rpm's there was a leak somewhere, but I have never seen any oil leaking under the car or on the engine.

I did a little more digging on previous posts here and noticed threads about the rear seal and power lift gate latch.

I do remember from day one at the dealership that the power lift gate would sometimes open back up when trying to close. We were told they knew exactly what it was and it was software related but the service guys we no longer there for the day and we could get this fixed at any dealer. So we took it to another dealer that was closer to our house a few days later. We were told the latch needed to be adjusted as it wasn't making proper contact when closing thus causing it to open back up. It wasn't a software issue at all. They adjusted the latch and it has closed perfectly ever since.

I can't help but wonder from the information in previous post here if the rear hatch is still not closing completely and sealing properly thus letting exhaust gas get into the cabin. I don't understand why it would smell so bad under hard exceleration though and not normal driving temps.

We bought Ford's top of the line explorer $$$. I never expected to have issues like this.

 

[nixhex]

I called the dealer this morning and they said they knew exactly what I was talking about. They told me there was a TSB out about this and they had to pull off the rear bumper and make some modifications to the vents back there. So at least they had heard of this. They said it would take a couple of hours. I am going to take it in on Tuesday morning for service so I will report back once its completed.

 

[FordService]

I called the dealer this morning and they said they knew exactly what I was talking about. They told me there was a TSB out about this and they had to pull off the rear bumper and make some modifications to the vents back there. So at least they had heard of this. They said it would take a couple of hours. I am going to take it in on Tuesday morning for service so I will report back once its completed.

Welcome to the forum, nixhex. It sounds like you're in good hands at your dealership, but if you need my help, don't hesitate to ask. Thanks for offering to let us know how things go on Tuesday.

Crystal

 

[cwescapexlt4x4]

Yeah, I smell this as well under heavy throttle/acceleration .... was a bit surprising the first time but at least I know what to expect. Not that it's "OK" but "normal" in these EX's.

 

[peterk9]

Although it exits in some Explorers, it isn't normal.

Peter

 

[cwescapexlt4x4]

Does this seem to be more on the 3.5L vs. the Eco-boosts?

 

[peterk9]

Mine wasn't an Ecoboost and it didn't have the smell. I think the issue is generally spread across most models. You can do a quick scan in this thread by checking the model shown in the margin of each post.

Peter

 

[nixhex]

Welcome to the forum, nixhex. It sounds like you're in good hands at your dealership, but if you need my help, don't hesitate to ask. Thanks for offering to let us know how things go on Tuesday.

Crystal

Hi Crystal,

Thanks for speaking with people here on the forums and trying to help. While I am sure there are people like yourself at Ford who really do care, I am just not sure I can trust Ford or this car anymore. I know it sounds like I may have already made up my mind about the outcome here without giving the TSB a chance, but in reality any small chance of this being a design flaw in the Explorer that will potentially pose a risk to my family is not worth it to me. My wife and 2 year old drive in this thing every day! Even if they can "fix" this I doubt I will keep this car or ever buy another Ford. I realize this could happen with any car company and I could understand if this were some other issue with the transmission, suspension ... etc. But with this being a serious issue with exhaust gases entering the cabin and Ford not apparently taking it that way after this many years, it has made me lose my faith in Ford. Who would design something this way? If I were in charge at Ford and I heard of this I would ask to see an example immediately and when I smelled this I would think that even one life at risk is more important than the millions of dollars it would take to recall all of these. But that is why I would never be in charge.

I will be the first to admit I am a little bit worked up about this whole thing at the moment. I am not trying to spread fear or fud, but this whole situation reminds me of a scene from the movie Fight Club:

Narrator: A new car built by my company leaves somewhere traveling at 60 mph. The rear differential locks up. The car crashes and burns with everyone trapped inside. Now, should we initiate a recall? Take the number of vehicles in the field, A, multiply by the probable rate of failure, B, multiply by the average out-of-court settlement, C. A times B times C equals X. If X is less than the cost of a recall, we don't do one.

Business woman on plane: Are there a lot of these kinds of accidents?

Narrator: You wouldn't believe.

Business woman on plane: Which car company do you work for?

Narrator: A major one.

 

[pup5581]

Hi Crystal,

Thanks for speaking with people here on the forums and trying to help. While I am sure there are people like yourself at Ford who really do care, I am just not sure I can trust Ford or this car anymore. I know it sounds like I may have already made up my mind about the outcome here without giving the TSB a chance, but in reality any small chance of this being a design flaw in the Explorer that will potentially pose a risk to my family is not worth it to me. My wife and 2 year old drive in this thing every day! Even if they can "fix" this I doubt I will keep this car or ever buy another Ford. I realize this could happen with any car company and I could understand if this were some other issue with the transmission, suspension ... etc. But with this being a serious issue with exhaust gases entering the cabin and Ford not apparently taking it that way after this many years, it has made me lose my faith in Ford. Who would design something this way? If I were in charge at Ford and I heard of this I would ask to see an example immediately and when I smelled this I would think that even one life at risk is more important than the millions of dollars it would take to recall all of these. But that is why I would never be in charge.

I will be the first to admit I am a little bit worked up about this whole thing at the moment. I am not trying to spread fear or fud, but this whole situation reminds me of a scene from the movie Fight Club:

Narrator: A new car built by my company leaves somewhere traveling at 60 mph. The rear differential locks up. The car crashes and burns with everyone trapped inside. Now, should we initiate a recall? Take the number of vehicles in the field, A, multiply by the probable rate of failure, B, multiply by the average out-of-court settlement, C. A times B times C equals X. If X is less than the cost of a recall, we don't do one.

Business woman on plane: Are there a lot of these kinds of accidents?

Narrator: You wouldn't believe.

Business woman on plane: Which car company do you work for?

Narrator: A major one.

Love that movie..and that line is true IMO

 

[nixhex]

I dropped the Explorer off this morning and got a little bit of a different story from a different service person. This guy hadn't heard of this problem before or any TSB about it. In fact he didn't even seem to know the other service guy who told me this 2 days ago! I had to explain what the TSB was all about and the venting in the rear bumper. He said he had never seen any Explorers in with this issue. So they are not going to necessarily perform the TSB until the tech checks it all out.

He was however the same service person who originally told my wife that it was the factory oil that was making this smell. He told me that the oil that ships from the factory is a special "burn in" oil for the engine and that they don't usually recommend even changing it until 7500 miles. He said this oil is known to cause this smell at high RPM. The whole thing seems kinda smelly to me.