My stinky friction modifier story

[nicholase]

This past summer I had gears changed and the axle rebuilt. I stopped at the shop on my way home from work to pay him and pick up the Mustang. He gave me my old gears and I put them in the back of my Bronco. He suggested changing out the fluid with synthetic after 1000 miles and gave me a brand new bottle of Ford friction modifier additive. Nice! I tossed it on the the back seat.

I drove the Mustang home and came back later for my Bronco. As expected the interior smelled pretty strongly of gear oil.

Took the gears out and put em in the garage. Bronco still smelled next day. Weeks later after constant cleaning everything still smelled. Windows open all day. Still smelled.

WTF is going on here. Every surface has been cleaned. All the floors are rubber so there's no carpet or upholstery anywhere to absorb the smell. So I go to clean under the back seat as its the only place I haven't scrubbed and I spy with my little eye that bottle of traction additive under there. Must have rolled under there and I totally forgot about it. I grabbed it and gave it a whiff.

Thinking it must have leaked or something I took of the cap off the top and it was still sealed with foil. Somehow that smell goes right trough the plastic! What made me remember is I got another one in the mail today and as soon as i opened the box I smelled it. Sealed and also in a zip lock baggie.

I feel bad for whoever works in the place that makes that stuff!

 

[gkomo]

Primo .gif use in a great story

 

[Bullitt347]

Used to take some of that stuff, pour it on a rag a stick it under a tech you did not like toolbox.
Watch them try and figure out where that smell was coming from.
Funny stuff.

 

[LILCBRA]

Opened my laptop, come to Stangnet and see this thread title.... the first thing that came to mind was that we're not that kind of site! I'm happy to see there was no mention of any KY brands.


On a more serious note, I've never handled one of those bottles, but I've seen them on shelves in stores along with all of the other oils. Is there a chance that that bottle was somehow coated in a gear oil that was spilled or something? Some tech spilled or dumped a bottle all over their stock and just wiped them off. That seems to me to be the most likely scenario. But in any event, I hope you were able to get the smell out of your Bronco once you found that....

 

[manicmechanic007]

What I do is Cherry bomb the car with a plug in Glade air freshener
Any flavor you want
3 days later the smell will not be gone, but will be masked enough that you will not need to do it again for 6 months

 

[limp]

The real stuff, Whale Oil, from a GM dealer was really stinky....

 

[nicholase]

The real stuff, Whale Oil, from a GM dealer was really stinky....

I worked at a Ford dealer as a mechanic in the early to mid 90's. I remember some of the old timers back then called it wale sperm.

 

[limp]

I worked at a Ford dealer as a mechanic in the early to mid 90's. I remember some of the old timers back then called it wale sperm.

I remember buying it in the early 70's..... I did some research and the oil did come from Sperm Whales....

 

[Mustang5L5]

I have two bottles of the stuff in my garage for an upcoming diff clutch replacement. The bottle is all sealed up but the smell still permeates through. It’s strong!

 

[pats91]

Last time I bought a bottle of friction modifier, the Ford parts counter lady brought the bottle out in a sealed plastic bag. And I could still smell it.

 

[BlakeusMaximus]

Yep, I had one in my toolbox for years. I can still smell it