Fiesta ST MK8 bad/burnt smell through vents

[lemmykoopah]

Hi guys,

My Ford Fiesta ST MK8 with 1200 miles on the clock smells bad through the vents if it goes above 3500 rpm. When I'm driving around at semi high speeds the smell is not excessive due to air circulation but if I'm stopped at a red light or parking it's quite noticeable. Earlier I was on the highway cruising at around 2800 rpm without smell, i then floored it up to 4500 rpm and immediately the smell was there. After that did some semi spirited driving around b roads and when i was parking in my garage the smell was very bad yet again. When I look at the engine bay the smell seems to be coming from the right top side, next to the battery. I think that's where the turbo is. I went to the dealer twice already to complain about it and they've checked the engine bay etc and they said all looks fine, no leaks, no smoke, oil level good etc. One mechanic said the smell could be because the car is still new and plastic parts in the engine have to settle a bit first. This seems unlikely to me as the smell is quite heavy. It just doesn't seem normal to me, I've never have had a car that has engine smell this bad coming through the vents.



What do you guys think? Any other MK8 owners who can shime in?

 

[SteveS]

What is it a smell of? Exhaust? Burning oil? Electrical smell? Does it only come through the vents, or can you smell it through an open window? Those are the kinds of things that can help a lot more than just saying "a smell", in terms of clues that can lead you to the origin.

 

[EKFiestaST]

You better send it here to the states so I can look this one over for you. Can't be too sure today. I'll send it back as soon as I figure it out (ha!).
Good luck though. Can't help. But one thing is to check brake fluid or oil. They dealers spill this stuff all the time and it drips on exhaust and what not.

 

[lemmykoopah]

@STeve it's definitely not electrical smell. It's some kind of oil/rubber smell. I'm not sure if i can smell it with the windows open but I can definitely smell it when i pop open the hood and expose engine bay. The smell comes from the right hand top side I've added a picture of the engine and circled in yellow where the smell comes from. That's the turbo right?

@Ekfiesta hehe

 

[TyphoonFiST]

The turbo is usually near the exhaust manifold as it uses the exhaust to generate its forced induction power. That area you are referring to looks like the battery and Master cylinder/clutch area also.

 

[lemmykoopah]

Oh okay thanks for pointing that out... So yeah I guess this all isn't very normal and I should get back to the dealer and ask for a thorough examination?

 

[Sam4]

microwave popcorn from the breakroom....

 

[EKFiestaST]

Everything you point to sounds exactly like the lovely smell of brake fluid being burned. It takes a long time to burn off too. Brake fluid is a hard to describe smell. It's like a dirty mineral oil smell - kinda smells like rubber just weirder and worse. Sorry - very hard to describe. Look for leaks around the master cylinder or brake fluid reservoir. The oil is very translucent in color - very hard to see where it drips. You could take brake cleaner and just spray down that whole area and see if it fixes it. Did you get any service done recently?

 

[lemmykoopah]

@EKFiestaST thanks for the reply. I'm afraid I'm not a very technical guy, I don't know where the master cylinder is even at lol. Well the car is only one month old so no service has been done on it yet, HOWEVER i went in at the dealer when I got up to 500 miles for a quick check up and all was fine the mechanics said. I then took the car back in for a check one week ago ( now at 1200) miles to complain about the smell a mechanic looked at the engine bay for a while with lights etc and they hooked it up to computer to check for errors and everything turned out fine. The mechanic said it could be smelling because the car is new and crap has to burn off but i don't think that is the case anymore because i can localise the smell very well ( see picture ) and it smells really hard.

I think I'm gonna book her in for a thorough examination and tell the dealer i want it fixed for sure as the smell is definitely not normal for a new car.