Exhaust Smell

[Chris H.]

So the other day I drove my friend's LeBaron - a car I'm going to buy soon - and we came to a stop on a back road and noticed a slight smell of exhaust. The windows were up, the HVAC was on recirculation and the fan was OFF. We had only driven the car at 30 mph for just a few minutes. My Dad double checked the exhaust system…he couldn't find any leaks (from at least looking under the car).

Any ideas on where this could be coming from?

Should I Seafoam the car?

[njr600]

Hi, Maybe there is oil dripping somewhere from the motor and causing the smell to come back thru into the car. Maybe around the valve cover or somewhere else. Thats just a guess, Maybe pop the hood and check around, it may just be the oil burnoff somewhere on the motor.

[88AriesLEwagon]

Maybe a leaky manifold gasket or headpipe/cat donut.Needs to be fixed.You dont want to get gassed....

[Chris H.]

Can I use SeaFoam to find out where it's leaking or is this pointless?

[88AriesLEwagon]

If you can find a battery powered CO detector,that would help too.

[Chris H.]

Okay. Thanks!

When I Sea Foam the car, (and this one has a turbo) - where can I pour the SeaFoam so that the turbo gets cleaned?

[88 aries]

you know thats a good question im assuming the throttle body can suck it in

[Chris H.]

you know thats a good question im assuming the throttle body can suck it in

Well…I'm sure the exhaust side of the turbo is probably covered in carbon deposits…and that's the thing…whether I pour Sea Foam in the oil or the intake (or even in the gas tank), the exhaust side won't see much of anything but white smoke. The bearings might get cleaned up at the very least…

On a side note…if I remove the turbo (hopefully easy - I'll be more than happy to know if there's a few things about removing the turbo on the 2.2L engine)…I could probably soak it in Sea Foam?




—On a completely different note—

I was browsing Allpar.com about the TorqueFlite 3-speeds in these cars. Shifting out of Park results in a small jerk, shifting into Reverse results in a sharp jerk, and shifting out of Reverse and into Drive results in a very sharp jerk. I don't know if the car even hits 3rd gear…since 55 mph sounds like the engine is high RPM. Shifting from 1st to 2nd is smooth however. I'm afraid to do a WOT on this car for those reasons.

[88 aries]

well they are only a 3 speed and they do rev high going down the road. its easy to tell what gear you are in just count the shifts . removing the turbo... umm that I do not know about since I never owned a turbo 2.2, but I do know you have to remove the cooling lines for the turbo. a fuel injected engine doesnt get as much carbon build up as a carbed 2.2 also. as far as woot goes I can only warn ya if the car jerks that means you hit the overboost. this question is best for butch to answer since he is the hot rodder