Strong smell

johnnyb6

Hi I recently bough a 131 ford focus and am very happy with it just for 1 thing. From time to time when I start it, a strong smell comes from it . I took it back to the garage where I bought it and they checked it out but found nothing wrong. The mechanic said that these cars are fitted with a filter which is used for self cleaning and this causes smell when it is working. I am just wondering is this true.


Thanking You

biko

Where does smell come from? Engine, inside the cabin, wheels?
What does it smell like, can you describe it? Eggs, rubber?
Is it a diesel or petrol?

But no, the car should not smell.

brembo26

Im going to go straight out on a limb with no details about the car :pac:

If its a 1.6 diesel have the garage check the injector seals

johnnyb6

biko wrote: »

Where does smell come from? Engine, inside the cabin, wheels?
What does it smell like, can you describe it? Eggs, rubber?
Is it a diesel or petrol?

But no, the car should not smell.

Hi its a 1.6 diesel and smell seems to come from exhaust. Its hard to explain smell. Its not rubber or burning smell. It doesn't happen all the time , which seems unusual too

Fiskar

Not to hijack the thread but have exactly the same problem with my 1.6d S40.
it is now so bad I have to turn off the ventilation when stopped because the exhaust fume is over powering.
The only thing I noticed is a residue at one of the injectors but i cannot tell if it is that or if it is the exhaust.

if it is an injector seal does that mean the injector needs replacing as well ? Car is 9 yr old and 155K KM.

biko

For both of you, does it smell just like diesel fuel or something else from exhaust?

Fiskar

Definitely exhaust fume in my case

brembo26

Fiskar wrote: »

Not to hijack the thread but have exactly the same problem with my 1.6d S40.
it is now so bad I have to turn off the ventilation when stopped because the exhaust fume is over powering.
The only thing I noticed is a residue at one of the injectors but i cannot tell if it is that or if it is the exhaust.

if it is an injector seal does that mean the injector needs replacing as well ? Car is 9 yr old and 155K KM.

Its common for the injector seals to fail on these engines causing this exhaust kind of smell.

The injector does not have to be replaced, just the seal itself. Its just a copper washer.

Can be a tricky enough job to do though.

Fiskar

brembo26 wrote: »

Its common for the injector seals to fail on these engines causing this exhaust kind of smell.

The injector does not have to be replaced, just the seal itself. Its just a copper washer.

Can be a tricky enough job to do though.

How long can I go with it (1/2/3 months) as need to get the front wheel bearings done as well? Will it go pop altogether and create a mess? Usually service the car for oil and filters but only noticed this when I took the cover off to check where the smell could be coming from.

brembo26

Fiskar wrote: »

How long can I go with it (1/2/3 months) as need to get the front wheel bearings done as well? Will it go pop altogether and create a mess? Usually service the car for oil and filters but only noticed this when I took the cover off to check where the smell could be coming from.

I've never seen one that was left for a long time to be honest.

But here are your issues:

Injector is leaking diesel.
Exhaust fumes are getting into the cabin.
Diesel getting onto hot components under the bonnet.

I personally wouldn't be leaving it go for long.

Someone with a bit more knowledge on here could probably answer this better for you.

martyc5674

Your inhaling exhaust fumes...not good...get that sorted first.

johnnyb6

sorry I had to leave the conversation last night. I checked car again this morning and fumes coming from engine. As I said earlier my wife took it back to garage as its under warranty and they found nothing. My wife said they took car into garage and had it back out again in no time, so chances are they didn't even look at it. I bought it from a main ford dealer so when they said about filter causing smell I assumed they knew what they were saying .

biko

It may be that you need to have certain circumstances for it to happen

This is from another user years ago

The usual reason for fumes entering the cabin with these engines is a faulty injector sealing washer which allows combustion gases to escape into the engine bay where they then make their way into the cabin via the heater air intake.

The mechs probably just had a sniff and then discarded the car as fine. They are under time pressure and probably just move on to next car.
You need to push the dealer more and more.
Try to find the circumstances that will always replicate issue, every time.

Fiskar

brembo26 wrote: »

I've never seen one that was left for a long time to be honest.

But here are your issues:

Injector is leaking diesel.
Exhaust fumes are getting into the cabin.
Diesel getting onto hot components under the bonnet.

I personally wouldn't be leaving it go for long.

Someone with a bit more knowledge on here could probably answer this better for you.

Took it to a garage and waiting on a quote, took the engine cover off and the residue at the 3rd injector would appear to be spreading. Mechanic pricing seal and bearing for the wheel. I have no doubt this is the problem as you can smell it when you put your nose over the area.
Will report back when the work is done.
Thanks for the heads up.

johnnyb6

biko wrote: »

It may be that you need to have certain circumstances for it to happen

This is from another user years ago

The mechs probably just had a sniff and then discarded the car as fine. They are under time pressure and probably just move on to next car.
You need to push the dealer more and more.
Try to find the circumstances that will always replicate issue, every time.

The fumes I have don't enter the cabin. I only smell the odd time my wife starts it standing near it. Again it doesn't happen all the time