I've been smelling this for the past week, it seems like when I've set the recirc button to fresh air intake I can smell something akin to exhaust. Fan on or not btw.

I had thought originally that maybe it was another car since I had been following an older vehicle that looked like it may have been producing its fair share of exhaust fumes, but the more I drive, the more I'm convinced it's coming from the CX-5!

The thought occurred that maybe it's just part of the "new car smell" and of course I'd like to think that but CO being the killer that it is has me concerned. Maybe I should put a carbon monoxide detector in the car?

I ran a test while on an errand. I set it for recirc, opened the windows for a few blocks and then rolled them up for a few more blocks, no exhaust odor. Then I switched from recirc to fresh air and within a minute I had the odor. I did this again on my way home with the same effect. Hmmmm

 

After a drive idle the engine and use your natural sniffer around the front of the car. Does it smell like exhaust? how about near the cowl?
how about with the hood open?

You may have an exhaust leak or something may drop on the hot exhaust and mimic the exhaust smell.

 

A very good idea, thank you! I will check on this tomorrow and post my findings.

Yeah the thought that maybe some of the plastic underneath the vehicle may be contributing to the smell had occurred to me, I'm pretty sensitive to smell hydrocarbons and the like so any things possible I suppose.

 

I think it's just my imagination, add with that an overly sensitive olfactory ability (could that be a super hero power? Lol) and the fact that I haven't driven a new car in 7 years.

I sniffed around the front and the first impressions were a sarsaparilla nose followed by Bakelite tones and a butyl finish. No exhaust whatsoever, heck for the fun of it I snuck my schnoze at the tailpipe to sample the Skyactiv exhaust bouquet and noted distinct favors of cardboard followed by crisp sake finish.

I did notice that at highway speeds I couldn't smell the odor, which kind of makes sense as the air is rushing at a faster rate over the vehicle and pulling any odors away with it at 65+ mph. It only seems to matter at 35mph or less.

All that said it was mentioned in another forum that maybe the exhaust was coming in from the rear door. So I checked that out, since I've felt that the hatch didn't close as firmly as it should on occasion. I daubed some Armor All along the metal on the door where the gasket should hit, this didn't really show me anything conclusive, so instead I adjusted the latch to snug in the closure. I'll see how that works for the time being.

 

Well, Popeyecahn, I was listening to Titanic "Sultana" while reading your description of olfactory sense overload. This resulted in a psychodelic journey passing Lucy In the Sky and ending short of but dangerously close to nirvana. I decided to stay there for now....

 

Stupendous! Cheerio then...

 

Thud!

Oh my, reality hits hard. I am back from there.

 

Often happens on Mondays. I've squarely landed back into reality... on my head of course.