Foul catalytic converter smell from 2024 2.0L

[EvanB]

I'm driving a 2024 Maverick Tremor Lariat with the 2.0L Ecoboost drivetrain. It's got about 3,000KM/1900Miles and I took delivery 3 months ago.

Symptom #1:
Since new it has sometimes smelled very strongly of bat catalytic converter (rotten eggs is the most polite equivalent). It seems to happen when idling at a stop light after moderate to fast acceleration. It's a strong enough smell that my wife feels nauseous when it happens. It doesn't happen every time but maybe a quarter of the time. It's cold out here so I've been trying to see if letting warm-up time via remote start makes it more or less likely but I can't tell for sure.

I took it in to the dealer on February 13th when it had 2112KM/1312Miles. Here was the response:

TEST DROVE VEHICLE AND OBSERVE AND FOR ANY EXHAUST PROBLEM AND UN USUAL SMEEL COMING FROM THE OUTSIDE AND CONCERN NOT VERIFIED. SMELL STILL BRAND NEW, USUALLY IF YOU ON TRAFFIC AND YOU SMEEL THE EXHAUST GAS/ODOR YOU HAVE TO CLOSED THE OUTSIDE RECIRCULLAR BLENDOR ACTUATOR. PLEASE ADVICE THE CUSTOMER.​

CHECK AND SCAN FOR ANY CODES-NO HARD FAULT AND CLEAR ALL THE CODES-PASS.​

Symptom #2
I noticed yesterday after driving on some snowy roads that when I parked in the driveway it was dripping thick black liquid from the muffler under the back seat. I assume it was melted snow and or condensation mixing with whatever black soot or residue has accumulated on the muffler but I'm not sure about that.

Any ideas? Maybe if I have the right vocabulary for describing the issue the dealership will have an easier time finding and addressing it?

Sponsored

 

[OleFordGuy]

Hum haven’t experienced that at all. Open both front doors and check that the black insulation between the fenders are in place, missing or have shifted leaving a gap. Next, when about empty try different brand gasoline for numerous tanks to see if it makes a difference.

 

[Master Blaster]

Time to switch to a better fuel supplier. You have too much sulfur in your fuel and the cat converter is changing it into sulphurous acid fumes, which is what you are smelling. Somebody is refining cheap sour crude in an older refinery that can't remove the sulfur, saving on costs.

 

[710-oil-614]

The soot/condensation from the muffler is known, and there were issues with the hybrid cats back in 2022/23, and I believe possibly issues with the cat getting too warm during remote start.

Definitely not something I would be okay with.

 

[OleFordGuy]

Time to switch to a better fuel supplier. You have too much sulfur in your fuel and the cat converter is changing it into sulphurous acid fumes, which is what you are smelling. Somebody is refining cheap sour crude in an older refinery that can't remove the sulfur, saving on costs.

Agree!!!

 

[Brianx]

Time to switch to a better fuel supplier. You have too much sulfur in your fuel and the cat converter is changing it into sulphurous acid fumes, which is what you are smelling. Somebody is refining cheap sour crude in an older refinery that can't remove the sulfur, saving on costs.

yup. burn Top Tier only, especially as we have direct injection.

 

[jewc75]

The smell is most likely the overfilled transmission fluid burning off, most of us have had this. It will go away on its own. The muffler has a weep hole to let moisture drip, otherwise it would rust out in no time.

 

[OPMav]

Same thing happening to me, and very similar dealer experience. Here's a copy from a post I just made:

2023 2.0 Ecoboost owner here, less than 15,000km on it.

In the past few months, especially after remote start, but sometimes randomly, often at the beginning or end of a long drive, there is a very pungent odor in the cabin. Doesn’t seem to be related to the vents as it occurs whether air is on or not. Does seem to be related to idle time and overall temp but not sure.

The smell is very, very strong - almost like cooking, heating up, slightly burning, it’s somewhat sweet and savory, somewhat sulphuric. Oftentimes it is quite overwhelming without opening a window.

The smell typically goes away after some highway driving, but sometimes comes back when driving slowly again. It’s pretty unpredictable.

Took it to the dealer twice, I am quite disappointed in Ford’s dealership experience for this (it’s my first Ford, I was considering another but this is likely going to impact that decision). I told them all the details, and both times they came back saying they did all these x, y, z tests (which is great) but then they say that they think it’s some spilled windshield washer fluid, or that I should shampoo my seats in case some washer fluid spilled there, or that it is a new car smell. A little bit ridiculous when this is seemingly a relatively known problem with a quick google search if they’re not personally familiar with it. Not sure how many more adjectives to use before they stop confusing it with a new car smell (this is not my first new vehicle).

I explained that the smell is absolutely nothing like windshield washer fluid, it is not constant, and it seemingly happens when the engine is hot or getting hot (seems like there are at least a few people on this forum with identical issues on their EBs). The first time the dealer said there was a small transmission fluid leak and that they replaced some seals. This did not fix the issue. They also did a whole cooling system check and said that it was fine.

Now I see on this and other forums that this is a widespread issue on the hybrid and an emerging but still common issue on the ecoboost, with no solutions. The recall that was issued for the hybrid seems to address a similar odor based on numerous forum posts. Based on what I’ve found, it looks like the catalytic converter (and part number) in both hybrid and EB is identical. I know that the hybrid issue was software related (idle surge, unburned fuel, etc.) but maybe there is something more to it (sometimes manufacturers do bandaid recall software “fixes” for bigger problems). The dealer said that if the issue was the cat, that it would come through the vents. I looked at a few diagrams and it seems like the cat is parallel to the engine and is pretty cramped – and since this is a unibody truck, isn’t there a good likelihood the smell would seep in through the panels regardless?

At this point, it seems like a pretty common issue. What are our options as owners to get this at least addressed? Is there a ford rep on this forum that can assist? Can we have the ford rep collect a list of EB VIN numbers for Ford to analyze to see if they were part of a similar batch or have something in common? Frankly at this point I am just disappointed and quite surprised at how this whole issue has been treated. How does shampooing seats have to do with a known problem on a shared part? I understand that smell issues in cars are tricky but this is a brand new vehicle and this issue has been documented. I’ll be taking mine to another dealer for another opinion but who knows what to expect.

 

[Atlasmetmav]

I have the same issue on my 24 eco-boost. I am still in the “break-in” period and the smell is very random. The other day I noticed it after a longer highway drive just before idling in the Costco gas station lot.
When I take out the car for a drive, I try to take longer drives that are greater than 15 mins and to avoid very short drives of less than 15 mins, so the exhaust has a chance to get hotter.
I notice the smell a lot if I open the tailgate and sniff in that area which is covered with a hard folding cover. Very strange.
I will try different gas at next fill up, but have never had issues with the Costco gas in other vehicles.

 

[BlueRaven]

change where you get gas. its high in sulfur. word of advice. stay away from loves truck stop for fuel. worst fuel you can buy.

Sponsored