Diesel smell
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Aug 2018
Posts: 221
Likes: 8
Diesel smell
There was a recall on my 2021 F250 to replace the secondary fuel filter. It blew before I got to the dealership. With the break in the filter it was shooting up, hitting the underside of the hood and showering the engine compartment. I got it towed to the dealership where they did the repairs under warrantee. Problem is now the smell. Dealership said they washed the engine compartment and under carriage twice with simple green and water. When I got it home I could still see some light smoke and smell. I called the dealership and they said there is nothing they can do. Diesel fuel got into all the nooks and crevasses and it's impossible to get it all out. Said it's going to smell for a while. Now I really like the power of my diesel but I'm not a huge fan of the smell. Any ideas how to get rid of it? Was thinking about soaking the compartment and basically everything with more simple green and letting it soak. Just wondering how safe that would be and if any other's found a better solution. Thanks!
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Dec 2021
Posts: 1,735
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I know it may be hard because of the clusterf**k the diesel engine bay is but spend some time with an air hose blasting out any pockets or areas that the fuel can pool up. Blast it out the best you can and then go for a nice long drive as suggested above and get the engine bay real hot for hours. I doubt youll fully get rid of the smell if it sprayed all over. Diesel smell does not go away easily.
Hotshot
Joined: Jan 2021
Posts: 10,873
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If your truck has the under hood insulation on it, you could try to hose it down real good or replace it. Back in 19, some trucks had it & some didn't.
I recently had a 5 gal gas can tip over in the back of my beater Ford escape, spilled a half gallon all over the back of the car. (Vent cap popped off) I pulled out mat & carpet & shampooed it twice, it took a full week sitting outside with windows & doors open to fully get rid of the gas smell. Good luck!
I recently had a 5 gal gas can tip over in the back of my beater Ford escape, spilled a half gallon all over the back of the car. (Vent cap popped off) I pulled out mat & carpet & shampooed it twice, it took a full week sitting outside with windows & doors open to fully get rid of the gas smell. Good luck!
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 1,765
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Give it time, the smell will dissipate. It's soaked into the insulation in the engine bay, you can wash it off of the metal components but it's going to take some time for the smell to dissipate.
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Get some Dawn dish soap and mix up a batch with water. I've used it in hand sprayers and garden sprayers to soak down heavy oil, grease, or diesel soaked stuff. Spray it on, let it sit for 15 minutes, rinse and repeat a couple times. It is my go-to cleaner now.
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Aug 2018
Posts: 221
Likes: 8
Dawn dish soap was my first thought. Spoke to the dealer. Since they use the simple green I decided to give that a try. Mixed 50/50 with water. 2gals and sprayed away. I used a brush to get to wherever I could. Let it sit and then Sprayed some more. Took the hose to her and rinsed as good as I could. Leaf blower to get most of the water away. Heading on a short trip. Will update afterwards. Appreciate all the help.
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Nov 2019
Posts: 1,429
Likes: 487
From: North Carolina
Leave it be! It will go away. I had the same thing happen on mine, back in march. It took a few weeks to go away or roughly 2k miles. It will burn off/rinse off in the rain/dry up in the heat. Live with it, messing around will just open up another can of worms.
Tuned
Joined: Sep 2020
Posts: 322
Likes: 100
As stated above- Simple Green is corrosive to aluminum, bad bad thing. I too really hate the smell of diesel especially on my hands and a few times it stayed on my clothes after a good washing. By accident I discovered that Windex, of all things, is a remarkable hand cleaner. Even get the smell of diesel off them. I now spot spay known spots of diesel splashingson my clothes before the go into the washer. I use it to clean aluminum and steel parts before powder coating. Never had any reaction to the base metals. Ya might try getting the concentrated Windex and mix up a batch to spray down your engine and compartment.
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Aug 2018
Posts: 221
Likes: 8
Update: I've washed out the engine bay and under carriage 4 times. First with the Simple Green like the dealership said they did..twice. Then I used Dawn and a brush to scrub whatever I could reach. Then followed by another Simple Green washing. Was still getting an order so this morning I did another Dawn washing.. It's raining out but most of the day we didn't get much of a smell. Put the truck in the garage a couple hours ago. Just went out and the garage stinks. Not sure what else to do but wait and see if it gets better. I can't believe with that much washing there's still an oder.