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Pissy Smell

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#1
Suddenly plagued with a pissy odor when the ST starts and air comes thru vents. Anyone else experiencing or know what could be causing it? Figured I’d change cabin air filter but am having difficulty sourcing a carbon one. Will keep looking but curious if anyone else experiencing? Only 6500 miles. Seems strange that filter would be the culprit this early on, especially with no signs of vermin or stray cats in the area but for $20-$40 I’ll give it a shot.
 

OP
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Thread Starter #3

GearHead_1

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#4
Mine smelled like mold from the factory. Changed it after the first week I had it. I picked up an STP one at either AutoZone or CarQuest a few months back. I've got no particular love for STP as a brand it was simply in stock. I've had it out once since then and freshened it up (blew it out and used some Ozonium on it). It was visually as clean as can be.

They've made these easy enough to get to. Much easier than my previous Edge Titanium or current F150 Platinum with wood facia trim, not damaging the facia is the tedious part here. The last 3 Fords I've purchased all had a moldy smell when they were basically just purchased. I'm not sure what's up with that.
 

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F=MA

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#6
Downpipe crack?
 

OP
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Thread Starter #7
Mine smelled like mold from the factory. Changed it after the first week I had it. I picked up an STP one at either AutoZone or CarQuest a few months back. I've got no particular love for STP as a brand it was simply in stock. I've had it out once since then and freshened it up (blew it out and used some Ozonium on it). It was visually as clean as can be.

They've made these easy enough to get to. Much easier than my previous Edge Titanium or current F150 Platinum with wood facia trim, not damaging the facia is the tedious part here. The last 3 Fords I've purchased all had a moldy smell when they were basically just purchased. I'm not sure what's up with that.
This is perfect. Thanks for the feedback.
 

akespo

New Member
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Location
Detroit, MI, USA
#10
Suddenly plagued with a pissy odor when the ST starts and air comes thru vents. Anyone else experiencing or know what could be causing it? Figured I’d change cabin air filter but am having difficulty sourcing a carbon one. Will keep looking but curious if anyone else experiencing? Only 6500 miles. Seems strange that filter would be the culprit this early on, especially with no signs of vermin or stray cats in the area but for $20-$40 I’ll give it a shot.
Omg! Yes! It seriously smells like a dirty litter box! Did changing the filter help??
 

Cdubya

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2020 Explorer ST
#11
Don't know about piss odors but with two young kids, and especially after long trips, I get some off-putting smells regularly. The OE filters are pretty cheap and easy to install. I also use an ozone generator every few months after giving the interior a good clean. Works well.

This model is similar to what I have:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D8MC68...e3-b1c4-4906-b916-412c6bd794cf&pf_rd_i=510196
 

OP
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Thread Starter #12
Omg! Yes! It seriously smells like a dirty litter box! Did changing the filter help??
It totally did! It was gross but is now fresh AF. Check out the filter I pulled out. Doesn’t looks filthy but stunk to high heaven. Looks like a couple rodent poops. Not sure what the crystallized grey crap is.



Replaced cabin filter with this. $22 from O’Reilly Auto Parts. Filter seems way denser and had grey wooly fibers. Guessing carbon. Well worth it.



Also used this stuff. Smells nice. Wife is well pleased.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Last edited:

Jeppo

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#13
How long have you owned the ST?
 

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