Engine smell for 2019 ram rebel

[JeffP]

I recently purchased a 2019 Ram Rebel back in December 2018. I have 900 miles on the truck and I am getting a smell from the engine when it heats up and it smells like a skunk. It has been to the dealer twice and they can't figure it out. I didn't know if anyone else has encountered this type of problem.

 

[GATORB8]

Is the smell under the hood or in the cab?

 

[Ellisstrong]

I have the same smell. There is another post talking about it. It smells like weed to a degree

 

[JeffP]

Is the smell under the hood or in the cab?

The smell comes from the engine and you can smell it in the cab sometimes.

 

[JeffP]

I have the same smell. There is another post talking about it. It smells like weed to a degree

Yes, it does smell like weed to a degree. I have taken the truck to the dealer twice and they can't figure it out. Very frustrating.

 

[JV77]

The smell comes from the engine and you can smell it in the cab sometimes.

I also have this smell. It was very noticeable the first week I had the truck, especially after parking in the garage. It has dissipated considerably since then. I only notice it now if I walk around the front of the truck immediately after driving or if I pop the hood while warm (i.e. check oil while filling up with gas) I am almost at 1,500 miles. Although I am skeptical, I hope this is just something burning off, but I have never had any burn off smell last this long on anything else. If I still notice it when my trailer brake controller finally shows up I will bring it up at the dealer.

 

[JeffP]

I also have this smell. It was very noticeable the first week I had the truck, especially after parking in the garage. It has dissipated considerably since then. I only notice it now if I walk around the front of the truck immediately after driving or if I pop the hood while warm (i.e. check oil while filling up with gas) I am almost at 1,500 miles. Although I am skeptical, I hope this is just something burning off, but I have never had any burn off smell last this long on anything else. If I still notice it when my trailer brake controller finally shows up I will bring it up at the dealer.

I drove a ram 1500 big horn yesterday and I didn't have any smell at all from it. I am going to test drive another ram rebel today and see what happens.

 

[JV77]

@JeffP What is the build date on your original rebel? Also, could you check the build dates on the trucks you're test driving? There was a suggestion in this thread " STINKY 2019 Bighorn 1500 5.7 Hemi " that this smell was only from certain build dates. It looks like most people in that thread have October or November builds. Mine is October. Also, it looks like some have not had this smell immediately, but it has shown up after hundreds of miles of driving. If that is the case, I am not sure a test drive will be a guarantee the truck doesn't have the smell eventually. Hopefully someone figures out a specific component or cause. Like I said before, I believe my smell is going away and is not noticeable most days now, but if it doesn't, I would like to take a definitive solution to the dealer.

 

[Ellisstrong]

@JeffP What is the build date on your original rebel? Also, could you check the build dates on the trucks you're test driving? There was a suggestion in this thread " STINKY 2019 Bighorn 1500 5.7 Hemi " that this smell was only from certain build dates. It looks like most people in that thread have October or November builds. Mine is October. Also, it looks like some have not had this smell immediately, but it has shown up after hundreds of miles of driving. If that is the case, I am not sure a test drive will be a guarantee the truck doesn't have the smell eventually. Hopefully someone figures out a specific component or cause. Like I said before, I believe my smell is going away and is not noticeable most days now, but if it doesn't, I would like to take a definitive solution to the dealer.

Mine has the smell and is a mid October build.

 

[RamCares]

I recently purchased a 2019 Ram Rebel back in December 2018. I have 900 miles on the truck and I am getting a smell from the engine when it heats up and it smells like a skunk. It has been to the dealer twice and they can't figure it out. I didn't know if anyone else has encountered this type of problem.

I have the same smell. There is another post talking about it. It smells like weed to a degree

Hi JeffP and Peegeezy,
We're very sorry you are experiencing this. If this continues to happen, you may send us a private message and we will gladly look into this a bit further for you.
Lydia
Ram Social Care Specialist

 

[Smashy71]

My smell is slowly going away. It almost smells like an emergency brake was left on or brake overheating. I’m at 4400 miles.

 

[79 300]

My smell is slowly going away. It almost smells like an emergency brake was left on or brake overheating. I’m at 4400 miles.

I test drove one last September and it had the smell like a burning brake. The salesman didn't go along for the drive, but asked if I drove with the brake on because of the strong smell.
My truck, built in December, hasn't smelled like that yet.

 

[jkmon4]

I test drove one last September and it had the smell like a burning brake. The salesman didn't go along for the drive, but asked if I drove with the brake on because of the strong smell.
My truck, built in December, hasn't smelled like that yet.

I have 2100 miles on my bighorn and the weed smell just started going away, i thought a transported dropped a bag of weed under my seat!

 

[Smashy71]

Mine didn’t start to smell till around 1800 miles. Weird stuff. Has to be some resin or something burning off. I figured it was the cat getting hot. Who knows.

 

[rawilt]

Yes, mine smells like a skunk too. Took delivery less than a month ago. Have about 1100 miles. 2019 Limited

 

[alacombe]

Rotten Eggs. The smell of rotten eggs is due to a compound called hydrogen sulfide. This comes from the small amount of sulfur that is present in the fuel. ... Two other causes of rotten eggs besides a broken catalytic converter include an engine that is running too hot or a broken fuel pressure regulator.

 

[JV77]

Rotten Eggs. The smell of rotten eggs is due to a compound called hydrogen sulfide. This comes from the small amount of sulfur that is present in the fuel. ... Two other causes of rotten eggs besides a broken catalytic converter include an engine that is running too hot or a broken fuel pressure regulator.

You may be on to something, I could see all three of those being possible causes of a rotten egg smell, but I am not convinced any of those are the issue with my truck. I would think a catalytic converter issue would be easily traced and would most likely cause the CEL to illuminate. I would think the same for a broken fuel pressure regulator. As far as engine running too hot, that would mean all my gauges/sensors are faulty. I would say the cat is the most likely of the three in this case, although I am still skeptical. The quote below was stated on another thread regarding the smell and the cat was initially blamed by FCA, but as far as I am aware, it has yet to be resolved. @jimmy9013 does bring up another possibility which supposedly was an issue with coolant and hoses on some 4th gens. Hopefully they will figure out the root cause soon, it seems that this complaint is becoming more prevalent.

I have a 2019 Ram 1500 Laramie 5.7L with the same issue - smells like a skunk, especially when parked in a garage and the smell accumulates, but can also be smelled in the cab when parked and vehicle is running or in the drive-thru, etc. Noticed it on the first day home with it a month ago. I'm at 1,800 miles and it has not gone away.

It sat at the dealer for a week for a diagnosis which came back stating I must have used bad gasoline and that poisoned the cat. Funny as it had the dealers gas in it when first reported (obvious FCA is just kicking the can down the road here). I'm supposed to drive it to 3,000 miles before returning to dealer for further diagnostics. Other message boards indicate this smell occurred in 2014/2015/2016 models and it was traced to interaction of coolant with radiator hoses and perhaps residual casting sand that required all radiator hoses replaced and triple coolant flush to resolve. From what others have reported the issue will not go away on its own.

FCA told me this isn't an issue with 2019 models. Perhaps we can work together to trace the issue.

Mine was manufactured in October 2018. Perhaps there was a bad batch of hoses/coolant around this time frame?

Looking forward to additional posts so we can all get FCA to resolve this issue.

 

[CouldNotDuplicate]

Yes, mine smells like a skunk too. Took delivery less than a month ago. Have about 1100 miles. 2019 Limited

My 19 Limited has horrible fumes of skunk at normal operating temperatures. Absolutely nauseating when it enters the cabin. Can’t park in garage. 1400 miles and two months.

 

[Ellisstrong]

My brother in law had the same issue and it was his radiator fan.

 

[Smashy71]

My brother in law had the same issue and it was his radiator fan.

Can you be more detailed? Was it the radiator fan motor?