Strong Chemical Odor in Cabin

[Zippy124]

Greetings,

We recently purchased a 2002 Expedition with 61,000 miles, from a friend. We are in Seattle and the car has always been parked under a carport that is only open on the entrance end. The first thing I noticed about the car was the smell inside the cabin. To me, it smells like elevator hydraulic fluid. My wife thought they had the carpets cleaned with a strong cleaner. We thought it would go away but it hasn't. Has anyone else encountered this?

The car had not been driven much in the last 2 years due, to an illness in the sellers family, so I thought it just needed a good airing out. I wiped all the surfaces down with a solution of baking soda and put a box in the cabin. After a month, the smell persists.

I started smelling everything in the car, including the seats, floors, console, door liners, arm rests and head liner. I even used a hose to check the dashboard where I couldn't fit my head. It's not in the carpet or seats or headliner. The only place I could detect the same smell was the rubber gaskets around the doors. I washed them with mild soap and water and let them dry and they still seem to be the source of the smell.

A new set of gaskets is going to run around $900, that I don't have right now, from Ford. Any suggestions?

Thanks, Al

 

[stangracr]

No clue on what the odor could be, but if it's from the weatherstripping, I'd try ebay before paying that much.
I wonder if some sort of adhesive was used on them? Do they appear to have been glued (repair maybe)? I know on an '07 E250 work van we had, the weatherstripping was always coming loose so we used liquid nails...stank like mad for a while but never came off again.

 

[Zippy124]

Thanks, I'll look on Ebay.

I can't see any adhesive residue but that was my first thought.

Al

 

[docraymund]

If there are no obvious leaks in the engine bay and under the truck, the previous owner might have used it as a storage area and placed things containing solvents or oil whose odor persisted. A longer airing out time is needed.

 

[whitelightning99]

i just picture you with a hose in your nose sniffing around the truck *****

 

[Zippy124]

It felt comical, too.

 

[rjdelp7]

Check your front CV shaft boots. They are packed with grease. When mine went, I kept smelling, that same smell. The grease leaks everywhere, because it is spinning. It stinks, especially if, it lands on something hot and burns. Check the back of the front wheels, for gobs of grease. If it is leaking, get it taken care of ASACP.

 

[TrailLifeBill]

Maybe slow leak in heater core?? Mine had funky smell that turned out to be slow radiator fluid leak.

 

[1955moose]

Well here's a crazy thought call or visit the past owner and ask them. Explain to them your not blaming them, just would like to know if they or a shop did install something recently. Glues eventually lose their smell. You could always pull back a hunk of the suspect door stripping and take a wiff!

Sent from my N9131 using Tapatalk

 

[Adieu]

Inspect doors, see if it isn't coming from underneath the door plastic... speaker area has a TON of holes, and theres the speakers themselves and nearby insulation that can get soaked in a spill of something