Oil/Trans/Diff Smell?

[Peteroo]

Every now and then i will catch a whiff of oil while im driving but i think it smells more of diff fluid. I read a few threads of o-rings failing and oil pissing out on the bottom of the trans cover. So far i havent seen that. Not sure if im goin crazy or if its an actual issue but i will keep an eye on it. FWIW im paranoid about this ride from all the issues ive read, comparable to getting a sore throat and reading on webmd your goin to die

 

[banniar]

My transmission cooler sprung a leak early on and was pissing on the hot exhaust. You may want to check your exhaust pipes around the tranny, it was pretty obvious to me where the oil was landing on it. This is evidently a common issue with the original cooler. Since the leak was only active under load, I never noticed a puddle under my vehicle, only knew it was happening from the scent.

When the dealership replaced the cooler, they overfilled the tranny and landed me with a similar result. This didn't manifest as an issue until I started driving it a little harder. The overflow is on top of the tranny, and it was bathed in fluid. Interestingly, I did not get a service receipt for that second visit.

 

[Big Dummy]

Could be the Hub Actuator leaking, it does not have a lot of fluid as to puddle on the ground. Look under the passenger side front axle where it connects to the front differential. My 2020 had the actuator fail and the front differential failed. Both replaced and no issues, the new actuator has been redesigned to be engaged all the time and with a better seal. It did smell like differential fluid as it leaked.

 

[Cdubya]

I doubt it's the hub actuator leak. You really don't smell it ( or at least I didn't). I feel like if you smell oil, it's from oil burning after it drips on your exhaust. I'd recommend getting the Explorer in the air and taking a close look around.

 

[Big Dummy]

Yeah, Cdubya is probably right… if it is a diff fluid smell or odor it definitely could be what I mentioned but the best thing is what you said … Get it in the air and look. One easy thing to check is the fabric cover that you remove to get the oil drain plug off, that was the first thing I noticed that was saturated with fluid hence why I did not have any fluid pooling on my garage floor. Never a bad idea to look over the underside of your ride .