Exhaust smells like gas

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

OP
OP
Jwin

Jwin

Member
Joined
Nov 17, 2020
Posts
21
Reaction score
14
Location
Charlotte, NC
What tune is on the truck? Did it come with the actual tuning device? Surprised a dealer sold a tuned truck as I'm assuming you have a 3yr 36k warranty?

No idea. That's why I'm trying to find the original owner's contact info so I can ask. When I got home and realized the programmer wasn't with the truck, I asked them about it. They thought they had the programmer but they didn't and are trying to get it. They have been giving me the runaround now, though. I don't think I'll get either the programmer or the contact info.

You lazy sum bitch, lol. Did you buy it from a Ford dealer? I'd be surprised if a Ford Dealer would sell it with an aftermarket tune on it.

Haha. I actually bought it from a Hyundai dealership of all places.
 

Dustan

FRF Supporting Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Dec 10, 2018
Posts
486
Reaction score
640
Location
Boulder Colorado
The dealer would be on the hook for new cats if they’re AFE straight pipes. Might be AFE high flow cats. When you look under the truck see if the passenger side has a circle route near the cat.
 

Badgertits

FRF Addict
Joined
Jan 24, 2019
Posts
2,746
Reaction score
2,391
Location
Ma
Same with my Mustang Cobra, they’re Magnaflow Spun Metallics. Nothing near as bad as catless though.

If you wanna make real power for real long I'd ditch those "hi-flow" cats - the ones in my ARH mid-pipes crapped themselves after bout 15k miles of cam/tuned it took only a thousand or so more w/ an A&A blower to bust em loose from the shells & stuffed into the exhaust wound up blowing a few pistons/rings

hi-flow or not was still noticeable smell, I prefer the sound w/o the cats - but the smell/smog issue can be alleviated w/ by a good tuner - this is my experience w/ vettes

That being said - was my first thought as well, bad/plugged cat
 

FordTechOne

FRF Addict
Joined
Jul 29, 2019
Posts
6,435
Reaction score
12,575
Location
Detroit
If you wanna make real power for real long I'd ditch those "hi-flow" cats - the ones in my ARH mid-pipes crapped themselves after bout 15k miles of cam/tuned it took only a thousand or so more w/ an A&A blower to bust em loose from the shells & stuffed into the exhaust wound up blowing a few pistons/rings

hi-flow or not was still noticeable smell, I prefer the sound w/o the cats - but the smell/smog issue can be alleviated w/ by a good tuner - this is my experience w/ vettes

That being said - was my first thought as well, bad/plugged cat

It put down 472WHP with the original 4 cats, so I'm not too worried about power; any more and I'll need to upgrade to an aftermarket supercharger. Disappointing to hear that the ARH cats came apart; for the cost of their exhaust systems that shouldn't be happening. Do you know if they were spun metallic? They had 2 versions when I ordered mine, the Spun Metallic are supposed to be stronger.
 

Badgertits

FRF Addict
Joined
Jan 24, 2019
Posts
2,746
Reaction score
2,391
Location
Ma
It put down 472WHP with the original 4 cats, so I'm not too worried about power; any more and I'll need to upgrade to an aftermarket supercharger. Disappointing to hear that the ARH cats came apart; for the cost of their exhaust systems that shouldn't be happening. Do you know if they were spun metallic? They had 2 versions when I ordered mine, the Spun Metallic are supposed to be stronger.

well in all fairness they had been on the car when I first put on headers/intake/tune left that way for 5-6k miles, then 7-8k miles later cam/head work/ported intake/TB & another 10k miles then A&A blower etc & 1.5k miles then they started crapping out.....& that was @ 645whp on a stingy mustang dyno lol.....I would say combo of age, heat, & a lot of WOT powershifting did em in, probably ran richer when blown as well....all said & done sitting @ 698whp waiting for final re-tune once “new” motor is broken in

otherwise the ARH exhaust system is still pristine

cats fail on stock vehicles w/ time/mileage too right? Those OEM-cats are way more “heavy duty” & pricey too- but ya want the opposite in a performance system lol

I don’t notice a big diff w/ hi-flow cats & no cats smell-wise on my vette fwiw
 

Sonicsunspot

FRF Supporting Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2020
Posts
405
Reaction score
500
Location
KC
Back to the OP, any chance the truck sat around on the lot for while - maybe a couple weeks or more? When I first got my used 2018, it had been on the lot, not driven much and I felt that for the first few weeks I had it I had similar issues but eventually after a few tanks of fresh gas and daily driving exhaust was clean as expected.
Just saying, don’t panic yet - I know I did when my truck puffed out a cloud of white exhaust. Get it logged with the dealer for sure, but also consider these things really seem to run best on good, fresh 93 octane fuel.
 
OP
OP
Jwin

Jwin

Member
Joined
Nov 17, 2020
Posts
21
Reaction score
14
Location
Charlotte, NC
Well, I was able to find someone who knows the history of the truck and also knows the previous owner. It was tuned with a missing Cobb Accessport and has catless Stainless Works downpipes. That explains the smell. Waiting to get prior owner contact info so I can find out more.
 

isis

FRF Supporting Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2019
Posts
1,788
Reaction score
1,723
Location
PA
That’ll do it lol. Hope you find the AP
 
Top