Lophat

Hi guys,

I have a problem that has not been solved by the dealer but maybe the great minds on here could help. I have found a few articles on this topic but no real resolutions. I have what smells like rich, oily exhaust coming into my cab unless I have the recirculating on. Gets worse when I come to a stop or right at startup.
Been to the dealer but they were of little help. They replaced the tranny in April so I was sure it had something to do with that. I checked underneath but could not see any signs of an exhaust leak. Today, after coming off a road trip, I checked it over again and found this rattling around by the fuel rails. Can someone help ID this and where it belongs? I have a feeling there is a heated call in the near future. Thanks for any help that you can provide! Btw, it's a 2007 with the 5.4.


Update: I had a closer look and managed to find a finely engrave p/n OTC 310-122 which turns out to be a fuel pressure connector. Likely left there when they replaced a bad injector a YEAR ago. Damn, I thought I was onto something. Any help is still greatly appreciated though for the exhaust smell. I feel so bad when I have to pick up kids. I don't want to be poisoning them with CO.

Summers22

iTrader: (2)

Does your a/c work?

Martian

Have your cats checked and test for pending codes. Check the exhaust system for leaks.

wolfy53

I think loose spark plugs can cause that smell too

EBC-150

That's a $300-500 tool. Good score! I agree, loose spark plugs can cause your stink.

Lophat

Thanks for all the great tips. I'll get in there and check the plugs this weekend. I also heard it could be something with the EGR? As I had my tranny replaced and it may have been damaged during removal and install? Not sure but will closely inspect the areas underneath. I will report back with what I find.

EBC-150

No EGR on the 5.4 3v, due to the cam phasers

Lophat

Hi guys,


I think I have narrowed the leak down to the manifold to down tube joint. I loosened it off and flipped the flange 180 degrees and bolted it all back up. It worked for a day and after some driving the smell has returned. I am not sure if the dealership bent the flange when replacing the transmission or not but it must not fit well together anymore.


There isn't any OEM gaskets from what I can gather either, can anyone confirm?


So now my question, is, is there a malleable gasket that can be placed in the joint to seal this better? There is no other need to replace the exhaust system at this time so I want to avoid that. Or is there a simpler repair that has worked for you?


Thanks!

tareed94

Could be the flange, or it could be a crack/warping where the manifold meets to the block.

Lophat

So as promised, here's the end result. As suspected, it was the manifold to down tube flange. It was all bolted up but must have been ever so slightly misaligned. There were some small gouges presumably from the initial install that caused some raised ridges which stopped a perfect seal when they reinstalled it after transmission replacement. (Thank god I bought the extended warranty!) so I sanded it smooth a bit, relaxed all the connections and starting at the flange, retorqued everything back together and voila! NO MORE SMELL! Perfect timing as its getting pretty frosty in the mornings now. Hope this helps the next victim!