smell when engine gets warm

[OleFordGuy]

Just a thought, if you have the smell, are you using cheap gas? Cheap gas and catalytic converter issues can cause the sulfur smell. As a test... run truck to almost empty - refill with a tier 1 gasoline brand for a couple tanks - evaluate if the tier 1 gas made any difference. If no difference at least that has ruled out gas as a possible reason. My next thought would point to catalytic converter but i have no idea on the best way to clean its internals. Also might be some sensor for fuel/air ratio or oxygen. Just thoughts running thru my head. Good Luck

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[Ranch]

Rich fuel mixture?

 

[OPMav]

Just a thought, if you have the smell, are you using cheap gas? Cheap gas and catalytic converter issues can cause the sulfur smell. As a test... run truck to almost empty - refill with a tier 1 gasoline brand for a couple tanks - evaluate if the tier 1 gas made any difference. If no difference at least that has ruled out gas as a possible reason. My next thought would point to catalytic converter but i have no idea on the best way to clean its internals. Also might be some sensor for fuel/air ratio or oxygen. Just thoughts running thru my head. Good Luck

I'm in Canada and I always fill up at a top brand with high grade gas. We don't really have the tier system to the extent the U.S. does as far as I'm aware. I doubt this is a gasoline issue in my case but thanks for pointing out the possibility.

 

[Automan21]

Don’t think it’s a gas issue. I think it’s a crappy catalytic converter as in cheap. Being that this truck is so cheaply put together to save money who’s to say they used and low budget cat.
The smell I get isn’t rotten eggs though so I’m ruling out the cat. Also no codes pop up as anything to do with the fuel or air.
Maybe it’s the smell of burning ptu/rdu/trans fluid or something in the powertrain. I don’t know just spitballin here. Like one previous poster said it smells of burning matches or something to that effect.
I’m going to drive like I usually do and maybe this burns off. I do only have 1500 miles on her right now.

 

[OPMav]

Don’t think it’s a gas issue. I think it’s a crappy catalytic converter as in cheap. Being that this truck is so cheaply put together to save money who’s to say they used and low budget cat.
The smell I get isn’t rotten eggs though so I’m ruling out the cat. Also no codes pop up as anything to do with the fuel or air.
Maybe it’s the smell of burning ptu/rdu/trans fluid or something in the powertrain. I don’t know just spitballin here. Like one previous poster said it smells of burning matches or something to that effect.
I’m going to drive like I usually do and maybe this burns off. I do only have 1500 miles on her right now.

Similar type of smell here. I'm at 15,000km and it's only getting worse unfortunately. I had coolant and transmission checked twice. First time they found a transmission leak but it was minor. Changing the seals didn't help the smell either. At this point all I can suspect is either something is getting far hotter than it should (cat) and/or something is leaking. Looking forward to when Ford acknowledges this is an issue.

 

[OleFordGuy]

https://www.edmunds.com/car-maintenance/how-to-clean-a-catalytic-converter.html

 

[14mikey14]

I have less than 700 miles on mine and it has happened a few times for me. Smells more like a plastic-ish coolant smell. Only lasts a little bit and then goes away. 2024 XLT Ecoboost.

 

[topgun/goose]

Sulfur comes from exhaust and should not be getting into cabin. The Explorers had some cabin vent problems resulting in a TSB for odor problems. Hope we don’t end up having those issues but sounds like we are.

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