Burning smell coming from engine bay when towing

[rpellerin]

Hi guys, I sometimes get a burning or melting smell from the engine bay when towing. At first I thought this was just a break it thing, but it the problem has persisted. A few details and things I've noticed about this problem are:
- I only smell this when towing (in regular and in tow/haul mod)
- I am easy on the accelerating when towing and try to keep the RPMs as low as possible when on the highway (driving lower speeds in head and cross winds)
- I only smell it in the cab when the windows are open
- When pop the hood, I can't seem to isolate exactly where the smell is coming from, but it is pretty strong
- It smells of burning or melting plastic
- I waited the recommended break-in period by Ford before towing (1,000mi)
- Truck is currently sitting around 4,500mi, and of those, about 1,250mi have been towing
- I'm towing is a 24ft travel trailer, estimated weight is 6,500lbs

Anyone else having this issue or have any suggestions of what to do about this? Have a bit of a road trip coming up and want to make sure I'm not causing any serious damage here by towing my trailer.

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[kevdog0710]

There was a thread about this a while back. Gotta search the forum

https://www.f150gen14.com/forum/threads/burning-plastic-smell-while-towing.4194/

 

[rpellerin]

I did see that thread, but it seemed to be just the V6 turbo guys, so wanted to open up a discussion in the 5.0L section as well in case this was a more specific issue.

...That thread was also left open ended

 

[Ford Motor Company]

Hi guys, I sometimes get a burning or melting smell from the engine bay when towing. At first I thought this was just a break it thing, but it the problem has persisted. A few details and things I've noticed about this problem are:
- I only smell this when towing (in regular and in tow/haul mod)
- I am easy on the accelerating when towing and try to keep the RPMs as low as possible when on the highway (driving lower speeds in head and cross winds)
- I only smell it in the cab when the windows are open
- When pop the hood, I can't seem to isolate exactly where the smell is coming from, but it is pretty strong
- It smells of burning or melting plastic
- I waited the recommended break-in period by Ford before towing (1,000mi)
- Truck is currently sitting around 4,500mi, and of those, about 1,250mi have been towing
- I'm towing is a 24ft travel trailer, estimated weight is 6,500lbs

Anyone else having this issue or have any suggestions of what to do about this? Have a bit of a road trip coming up and want to make sure I'm not causing any serious damage here by towing my trailer.

Hi there! Will you send us a message with your VIN and your local Ford dealer? I can look into things on my end.

 

[Owen96]

Hi guys, I sometimes get a burning or melting smell from the engine bay when towing. At first I thought this was just a break it thing, but it the problem has persisted. A few details and things I've noticed about this problem are:
- I only smell this when towing (in regular and in tow/haul mod)
- I am easy on the accelerating when towing and try to keep the RPMs as low as possible when on the highway (driving lower speeds in head and cross winds)
- I only smell it in the cab when the windows are open
- When pop the hood, I can't seem to isolate exactly where the smell is coming from, but it is pretty strong
- It smells of burning or melting plastic
- I waited the recommended break-in period by Ford before towing (1,000mi)
- Truck is currently sitting around 4,500mi, and of those, about 1,250mi have been towing
- I'm towing is a 24ft travel trailer, estimated weight is 6,500lbs

Anyone else having this issue or have any suggestions of what to do about this? Have a bit of a road trip coming up and want to make sure I'm not causing any serious damage here by towing my trailer.

I've got the I exact same smells with mine, only while towing. And I only tow a small boat total weight around 1500 pounds. 2022 5.0L with around 2500kms on it. Did you ever find out the issue?

 

[SRHAGEN]

I've got the I exact same smells with mine, only while towing. And I only tow a small boat total weight around 1500 pounds. 2022 5.0L with around 2500kms on it. Did you ever find out the issue?

My 22 XLT 5.0 4x4 did the same thing for awhile. I determined it was catalytic converters heating up and baking in. Typical of new cats depending on how hot you’ve run the engine during breakin. It went away on my truck after a couple weeks of working it.

 

[rpellerin]

My 22 XLT 5.0 4x4 did the same thing for awhile. I determined it was catalytic converters heating up and baking in. Typical of new cats depending on how hot you’ve run the engine during breakin. It went away on my truck after a couple weeks of working it.

Just got back from a 1,000mi road trip with the camper and haven't really noticed it anymore, so that would make sense!

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