Basically i have a new ‘22 lariat with the 2.7. I keep smelling something hot.. i checked the valve covers for leaks. Good. However the drivers side has the odor. I am wondering if this pic shows any issues with the firewall insulation. It looks real close to the driver side cat…. Where the flashlight is shining… thanks!!

Drivers side cat..

 

Did you have any kind of undercoating sprayed on the truck?
It took 2 months for me, for the smell of something cooking/burning to go away under the truck. Just some little bit of over spray.

 

That's part of the new vehicle smell. No, really. There are coatings on a lot of parts in the exhaust to prevent corrosion until assembly that never get wiped off thoroughly and will give off a touch of a smell for awhile until they coke off. If you don't see any other parts turning colors or showing signs of burning or melting, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Everything under the hood is capable of withstanding direct contact with anything except the hot side of the turbo, the catalytics, and the exhaust tubing. Insulation that protects things from those exhaust component temperatures can easily handle being right next to even a glowing part.

That insulation in your image is either fire proof or very fire resistant, and has an aluminum outer layer that will reject most of the thermal and radiant heat coming off the exhaust. I'd only want to make sure it's not touching the exhaust so it doesn't get a hole rubbed in the outer layer.