Burning Smell?

[DJ Starr]

I am bringing mine in tomorrow for a looksee/quick checkup...

[NYEdge]

The dealership told me that an engineer from Ford was coming in to look at my car! They said that they replace the seal on my car four times in 2 days! They also said that they are getting more and more complaints about the same problem. The engineer is supposedly using my car to figure out what is going on! I hope I am not looking at a 3 week vacation from my car! Thanks for the in depth explanation. It really helped me understand what the heck is going on!

 

Well I'm just ending my "3 week vacation from my car".

 

My problem started just like most of the other Edges.

1) The burning smell started with the cold weather.

2) Dealer had to wait weeks for the seal kit that was on national back order.

3) Dealer installed the seal kit and it continued to leak oil.

4) Dealer had to replace the entire PTU.

 

The total time for all of this to transpire has been three weeks.

Thankfully I have a brand new 2008 Subaru loaner from them to get around.

While I had the car in I took advantage of the down time for them to address the front passenger door lock that did not always work during the cold,

and fix the rear spoiler gasket.

 

They replaced the door lock unit and they ordered the replacement spoiler which should be in today.

The spoiler comes unpainted, so they will have to paint it to match my vehicle. (black)

 

I hope that there are no more issues like this to come in the future.

[PeteL22151]

My 2007 AWD SEL+ is in today for its 7500 mile service interval. I've also got the "burning smell" issue, and will report what they find and do about it.

[Sophie]

My 2007 AWD SEL+ is in today for its 7500 mile service interval. I've also got the "burning smell" issue, and will report what they find and do about it.

 

 

I have been dealing with the smoke and burning smell for almost a month and a half with my 4 month old car, but I also have the added bonus of no heat in my car and I live in Atlantic Canada (-18 celcius today). I finally told the Dealer that they have to get me a replacement vehicle until mine is fixed. They originally said it was the thermostat and replaced that to no avail but I don't think that they really believed it was. Then they said that the Ford engineers had no idea what the problem was but quickly said it was the heater core when I demanded a new car (although it seems Fords have suffered from these problem for a very long time). Has anyone else had heat problems?

[dupjay21]

I just dropped my edge off this morning for the burning smell, pass door handle not working properly, dash not put together properly,

moisture in both taillight issues. But mainly for the burning smell. Just got a phone call back from the dealership. They said that mine was the right CV joint that was leaking causing the burning smell. I said that i know many people (from this forum) that have this same burning smell and its from the PTU. Service tech said the shaft comes out of the PTU and that is where its leaking from. Is this true?

 

Tech told me that he ordered parts to fix the problem. He thinks that they will be at the dealership in a few days. Also said that I could come and get the edge and would call me when the parts were in and that it was ok to drive (even on long trips). Now i know from here that many others have been told NOT to drive there vehicles with the same issues that mine has. I wonder why the two different explanations to the same burning smell problem and why i was told it was ok to drive and others not?

[PeteL22151]

My 2007 AWD SEL+ is in today for its 7500 mile service interval. I've also got the "burning smell" issue, and will report what they find and do about it.

 

 

My dealer called this afternoon and informed me that the burning smell was coming from a bad PTU. He said a replacement unit is on order, and due to arrive on Monday. I asked if they were replacing a bad seal or the entire unit, and he said the whole PTU needs to be replaced ... that it is not repairable. I asked if I could use the car until the part(s) come in, and he said he would not advise me to drive it until it is fixed. The dealer has arranged for a loaner car.

[bapito]

My Edge has 9K miles and has recently been serviced for this "burning smell". A repair was made for a rear axle seal. My car was at the dealer for almost 2 weeks because once the repair was started, another part was needed that was hard to find. The bad news is that my car is still smelling/burning, and a few times whitish smoke has come in through the vent. (once while switching drivers on the turnpike)

 

I will follow up today with them since I know know that this is not an isolated incident with just my vehicle.

 

 

My Edge needed the PTU replaced also. Thanks for all the information available on this website!

Edited January 26, 2008 by bapito

[chicagomkx]

I have a 2007 AWD MKX purchased in May 2007. It now has approximately 10,500 miles.

 

Over the past month, I occassionally smelled something burning (smelled somewhat like oil). I never noticed this when I was driving the vehicle, only when I stopped and opened the door. It may be my imagination, but this seemed most noticeable when it was very cold and snowy (perhaps when the AWD was used?).

 

A week ago, I noticed a large puddle of transmission fluid on the garage floor under the vehicle (approximately 18 inches in diameter). I cleaned up the floor and checked the next morning. The puddle was back. I was surprised that the vehicle did not provide me a diagnostic warning (it seemed to lose a lot of fluid). I immediately took the vehicle to my Lincoln dealer.

 

I asked the service manager if he had seen this problem (I had briefly skimmed through this forum). He indicated that he had had not seen this problem. The shop replaced the right side axle seals. The repair took 1.5 days in the shop. When I picked up the vehicle, the service manager said that a Ford Edge had come in with a similar problem. He said I was lucky because the part was now on backorder.

 

I've had my vehicle for 4 days and have not observed any leaking or burning smells.

 

It does make me wonder about the left side axle seals. My fear is that these will also fail. I would feel better if there was an explanation for this failure.

[xplorgee]

Talkin about bad luck. I replaced my 1st EDGE due to problems with the leaking oil thing. Went from an 07 to an 08. I thought the problem was fixed. On my original car, there was a unfixable leak on the PTU and it had to be replaced. I got a new car before I could tell if it was fixed. On my new car with 500 miles on it, they told me that the leak is in the same area but it can be serviced. The new leak is an axle leak where the other was some sorta seal that coulnt be replaced. What in the world are wrong with these PTUS and are they leaking due to people problems or design problems. I hope it gets fixed this time. How many leaks can this thing delop? 3 one drive shaft and 2 axles?

[dupjay21]

After a week of our edge being in for service for the burning smell and other things wrong, we finally got it back. The dealership was quite sure that the burning smell was coming from the right front axle seal leaking, so they replaced it. DIDN"T do the trick. The smell is twice as bad if possible.

 

The thing that kills me is that I told them that many others have the same problem and it was because of a problem with the PTU. So now they will be getting a very not so welcoming phone call first thing in the morning. Both of the tail lights were also replace due to lots of moisture in both. I was checking them out today....... Not put in correctly. They are not even connected to the side of the edge. they are only connected by the 2 bolts on the back, causing them to just flap in the wind at highway speeds. Not very happy with the dealership. This is also the first new auto that we have ever owned and its not going so well.

[joelop]

2007 AWD Edge 8K miles. Took it to the dealer for the “burning smell” and oil leak. They said this is a common problem with the Edge. They replaced the right side axle shaft seal. They had the parts in stock and it was repaired in 1 day. I hope that this is a permanent fix and I don’t have any more troubles in the future. I will keep a close lookout for leaking oil.

[dupjay21]

Thats what the replaced in mine Joelop. It didn't do the trick in mine. Its going back in as soon as they get the rest of the trim parts in from the first time it was there. Good luck to ya and hopefully it solved the problem on yours, but I doubt it..

[edggy]

Mine has the same problem and only has 3500 miles on it. It has been in the shop twice in the last two weeks. The first time they replaced the axle seal and said that should take care of it. The very next day it filled up with smoke and the smell again. I called the dealership back and brought it back it in with a copy of this forum. They drove it for 110 miles and two days and said there was "residual oil" from the first repair that caused the smell and they could find no active leak. Well I got it back on Tuesday and it has done it again twice the last two days. I give up. My 5 star dealer is going to get two horrible scores on their customer satisfaction surveys. Maybe then someone will listen. I figure it's under warranty and whatever is going on with this smell it is going to turn into a major problem and costly repair sooner or later - Ford can fix it then. Good luck to everyone with their smell and if anyone gets statisfaction with a repair please let us know what they did...

[dupjay21]

Mine started with only 1200 miles, well that is when i noticed it. My wife had said that it had been doing for a little while longer, but she just thought it was the new belts and hoses just burning off as well as i did when i first smelled it. i think that i am going to print out a copy of this post as well when mine goes back in. Probably wont have any affect either way though.

[iceman33]

Well...I knew it was too good to be true.

 

My 2007 EDGE had the PTU (Power Transfer Unit) replaced a week and a half ago because of the leak on the seal that was going over the exhaust and creating the "burning" smell.

 

For the first couple of days, there was still a residual smell, which I disregarded as some "oil" that could have gotten trap on the engine crossmember...

 

Finally, I decided to stop by the dealer today and requested them to look into this since it is quite impossible for any residual oil to still be trap after close to 2 weeks...To my surprise, I was told that the NEW PTU is also leaking!!!

The FORD dealer ended up speaking with the FORD Hotline. The outcome? Change the PTU once more.

 

So, got an appointment in 2 weeks and hopefully this will be IT..

 

Just wanted to pass on this info to all of you out there...

[BUZZCUT1580]

Well they replaced my PTU as well.

I could care less because its under warrenty and is a lease.

 

I am very concerned about buying out this lease though, which i had plan to do.

 

Will the replacement PTU be ok, or this fixes the problem?

 

And if i have to keep paying for this myself once i own the car, any thoughts on how much it will cost?

 

Ford better come up with a new replacment part that solves the problem

 

Please comment about my concerns, just asking for some thoughts/ help.

 

Thank you

[07Edgedriver]

The AWD vehicles have a known problem with the Power Takeoff Unit seals. This is usually the seal where the passenger side axle goes into the PTU.

 

If you look up from under the vehicle it has that nice yellow colred seal deflector. Synthetic fluid will drip down onto the exhaust.

 

The smell is very uh different.

 

Parts are on National backorder right now.

 

Richard and Barbie

 

 

I have a 07 Edge with 6500 miles. It has been to the dealer 3 times for a burning smell, stats small and progressively gets worse to the point of smoke inside of the car. The have been replacing the PTU seal but I have no confidence in this repair.

[sdaddow]

I just went in for my second seal and was going to pick it up this afternoon.

 

Got a call saying that the PTU needs to be replaced.

 

The service manager said that there was a service bulletin from Ford that went out saying that the only way to fix the seal problem is to replace the whole PTU...

 

But it looks like they are going to use that as the way to fix them from now on at least.

 

Hopefully that fixes this problem for good.

[iceman33]

I am on my 3rd PTU and I still have a leaking problem --> Right Side Front Shaft (same as the other 2 PTU's)..

 

My last PTU was replaced this past Tuesday...Once I got the car back, I made sure that the area around the PTU was cleaned properly - no residual oil anywhere.

 

2 days ago I smelled a faint trace of burning oil, not as bad as in the past. So today, I decided to ramp up the car and take a look. Well, smal leak in the same spot as before.

 

Back to the dealer tomorrow morning to raise HELL!! This is completely uncomprehensible that a problem like this does not merit a RECALL from FORD.

 

How many more Edges/MKX is it going to take before FORD wakes up??

[TheCanadian]

Thanks for this topic and the updates.

I'm also getting the burning smell. (2007 SEL FWD)

[edgedout]

Thanks for this topic and the updates.

I'm also getting the burning smell. (2007 SEL FWD)

Do you have"front wheel drive". If so you would be the first FWD on this board to have that problem, I think.

Every car with this problem seems to be AWD. Now I'm getting nervous about mine!!

[TheCanadian]

Do you have"front wheel drive". If so you would be the first FWD on this board to have that problem, I think.

Every car with this problem seems to be AWD. Now I'm getting nervous about mine!!

Yes, I do.

I had lots of problems with my Edge so I won't be surprised to be the first in this!

The burning smell comes and goes and I had no smoke so it maybe something else.

I'm not going to take it to service as I've been there every week for the last few months.

I'm just glad I have a lease.

[edgedout]

Sorry to hear of all the problems you"ve had. I have had ZERO so far and just love this car. Hopefully all your

problems will be taken care of. I don't blame you for being pizzed. A new car should almost be trouble free.

[INTERAVE]

I just got my 2008 Ford Edge Limtied AWD last week and from the moment we left the dealer we smelled a burning smell inside the vehicle. My girlfriend thought that the car was on fire. I told her that a lot of new cars smell like that for a couple of miles until all the factory coatings on certain elements burn away or just dissipate. I still smell a burning smell but not as bad and frankly it gives me a headache. I am not ready to go back to the dealer and complain just yet. I am going to try and endure this for a couple of more weeks and hopefully it will go away. GOD WILLING!!

[dupjay21]

I just got our edge back with it's first new ptu a few days ago and i could have sworn that i still smell the same burning smell. I am just hoping that it is a little residual fluid left and it will go away. I was told by the service tech that the bulletin ford has for this is to replace the whole ptu ONLY after they have replaced the passenger axle seal. If that doesn't work (which it probably won't) then they will replace the whole ptu. So that means that you have to back at least twice and as i see on here with people on there 3rd ptu probably more to get the problem solved. I guess our time means absolutely nothing to ford along with just being a pain.