Confirmed: Some Exhaust in Cabin when Acceleration issue is From the Front

[Ryan1021]

Are you sure? That would be about a quart over if 1cm above the max. Personally, I wouldn't drive it until that was resolved.

Sad thing is I drove it from LA to Sacramento and back plus 2000 miles more.
I guess the mechanics from the dealership just pour oil w/o checking the dip stick. It is not their vehicle anyways. I trusted the mechanics and now I am paying the price.
I even sent the picture to the service manager but did not hear from him today after hanging up the phone.
I may just stay within 3000-4000 rpm for now. I may have to replace the air filter and clean the air box to remove the oil from overfill.
Im tempted to just take it to jiffy lube though ...
I do have extended service that covers oil change from the ford dealership... given by ford usa after my complain.

Thanks guys. I hope this will resolve the cabin fume issue.

 

[JAPeterson]

Don't expect anymore from the jiffy lube monkeys.

Whenever I have someone else change my oil I will check it before I leave their property. The stories about not filling it, overfilling it, and leaving the drain plug out are all true and once you leave the property it is mostly on you.

 

[jerraz]

If anyone is still looking for info on exhaust smell in cabin, I have a 2018 3.5L Limited Explorer that developed the smell in the cabin on hard acceleration after the dealer did some engine repairs. I found the oil level was too high, when I lowered the oil level to normal, the smell went away. FYI (maybe its already been discussed).

View attachment 172824

I drained about 3/4 quart out to get normal dip stick reading.

 

[jerraz]

Update: Still have the exhaust smell in the cabin, but just exhaust smell after hard accel, 4000+rpm, and after accel to speed and let off the pedal. No burning oil smell thou. I checked the exhaust manifolds for leaks, but found what seems like missing bolts. See photos. How many bolts/studs should I have per manifold?

 

[jerraz]

Sorry, Heres the other photo

 

[Bender953]

Found out mine was missing bolts in the manifold too. Put bolts in but didn't seem to make any difference.

 

[Adrian Gitch]

Mine is missing in I believe the same location. I've known for a few years but never have done anything about it. I don't and never have had the exhaust smell.

 

[Ryan1021]

Mine is missing in I believe the same location. I've known for a few years but never have done anything about it. I don't and never have had the exhaust smell.

Mine is missing in I believe the same location. I've known for a few years but never have done anything about it. I don't and never have had the exhaust smell.

Got my oil changed from ford dealership and I accelerated hard with rear/front A/C on and circulating mode, exhaust fume was detected.
I have noticed that when the weather is cooler and A/C is on, the exhaust fume inside the cabin is not as strong compared to accelerating hard when the weather temperature is hotter.
I dont know what to do anymore

 

[peterk9]

Did you have the rear exhaust program done?

Peter

 

[ncsuengineer256]

I had the rear exhaust service bulletin completed and it didn't do a thing to mitigate the exhaust smell. When I get the RPMs up to ~3500 or higher I can smell the exhaust enter the cabin. It must be coming in through the front.

 

[peterk9]

You can't make a blanket statement like that in saying it isn't coming in from the rear. Many who have had the rear program done have reported that it fixed the problem. Not many said it was coming in through the air vents either. In your case, the issue likely never was the rear but the front due to a possible crack in the manifold. FYI, I never had the 'smell' issue in my 2011 nor in my current 2017. When going 70+ mph down the highway, an SUV will great a huge amount of turbulent airflow behind it with a lower than normal air pressure which would then tend to accumulate exhaust gases. Changes are made to exhaust components all the time. Especially now that the 2020 Explorer is on a different platform. To say it is "stupid" is just ridiculous.

Peter

 

[ncsuengineer256]

Sounds like I'm compounding two different issues, sorry.

 

[peterk9]

I wasn't trying to say the exhaust was coming from the rear and entering through the front vents. That is why I said you likely didn't have that issue in the first place and that you may have a leak in the manifold.

Peter

 

[ncsuengineer256]

My apologies, I didn't realize there are two separate issues going on here. I assumed Ford thought the exhaust gas in cabin issue would be resolved with the rear sealing TSB.

 

[Ryan1021]

Did you have the rear exhaust program done?

Peter

Yes I got the A/C reprogrammed few months ago it became less but still smelled like exhaust.
I sealed the doors, extended the pipes out more about 2 inches to the rear bumper.
I have a feeling it is due to rear A/C issue sucking in the exhaust fume when accelerating hard especially when the weather is hot while A/C is on.
I hired a mechanic to examine the issue but we could not duplicate the issue. It was about 68 degress F that day. The A/C was on but The compressor did not turn on because the weather was cool.
My report from the mechanic was unable to duplicate issue. I paid $80 for it ‍‍‍

 

[ncsuengineer256]

Thanks Peter for clearing it up that there may be two different issues at play here.

Instead of paying the dealership to try and diagnose exhaust smell in the cabin, I bought one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/Carbon-Monoxide-Inspector-Detector-Portable/dp/B004YUEPBW

I'd like to have real data to diagnose an issue and so far the max i've read in the cabin has been 4 ppm. So the smell i have been getting may have been from other vehicles in front of me.

 

[Ryan1021]

Im planning to lift my explorer on a jack and stand, spray soapy mixture from the exhaust tip going forward to check for exhaust leaks.
I also used catalytic converter cleaner from autopart store to improve the mileage and exhaust smell.
The catalytic converter cleaner solution helped add 6 miles per gallon.
From 10-14 miles per gallon to 19-21 average miles per gallon.
After test for leaks I’ll keep you guys updated.
If there is no leak? I might end up selling my explorer . Looks like ford knows the problem and they just dont want to admit and fix it.

 

[Adrian Gitch]

I'm amazed a 2018 was getting such poor mileage from the CATS.

 

[peterk9]

..........................If there is no leak? I might end up selling my explorer . Looks like ford knows the problem and they just dont want to admit and fix it.

Keep in mind that the majority of Explorers likely don't have this issue. Neither of mine did.

Peter

 

[Ryan1021]

Keep in mind that the majority of Explorers likely don't have this issue. Neither of mine did.

Peter

Nice to hear that peter. Im getting desperate and sick and tired of driving with a limited rpm range just to avoid exhaust smell. Cant avoid smelling it when going uphill.
Running out of ideas to detect the problem. Im doing the testing on my own instead of the ford dealership and that sucks.