exhaust smell in cabin?

[bgl]

Hello

I am finally getting a chance to drive my '02 'Bird. It is really nice to drive.

On the downside, when stopped, the cabin fills with exhaust smell. This occurs when stopped at a traffic light or idling for other events. I do not notice it when going down the road, and cabin seems to clear out once we are moving again.

I see that, compared to our other cars, the exhaust pipes stop short of the end of the car. So, are other owners having this problem?

I suppose to solve it, we could install longer tips.

Thanks for any feedback.

Bruce

[texasbird]

Re: exhaust smell in cabin?

Never noticed it on Texasbird, but was told that my exhaust tips already protrude further than stock units. Still, sounds more like a leak in the engine compartment or directly under the passenger compartment area.

James

[Borla Babe]

Re: exhaust smell in cabin?

Are you the original owner? Is it a new exhaust system? If something was sprayed on those pipes, you will have to live with that smell until it burns off.

[yelobird2002]

Re: exhaust smell in cabin?

Maybe original owner took off some Borlas and forgot to tighten a clamp putting the original system back on.

[Leroy]

Re: exhaust smell in cabin?

bgl, If you check out all of the above and don't find anything wrong, you might want to do what I did. Look at the picture of my car next to this post. Those are Stainless Steel exhaust extentions made by Pypes. They fit perfectly over the Ford tips. I just cleaned up the old tips and put a little WD-40 on them and slipped these on, then drilled a small hole threw the area were they met and put a Stainless Steel screw in to keep them in place. I wasn't having an odor problem. I did this becuase my tips were set back too far and becuase I have a custom exhaust system ( not Borla ) by doing this I eliminated most of the drone sound inside the car. I'm very happy with the outcome and get alot of compliments on the apperance. Leroy

[Black Bird]

Re: exhaust smell in cabin?

I would bet you have an oil leak comming from the valve covers that drips down onto the hot exhaust pipe and when the car is moving, you do not smell it but when the car idles or is stopped, no air movement thus you smell it more. Put the car on a lift and look under it and see if any wettnes around the exhuast mannifold area where the pipes connect to the engine. Lou

[00mustng]

Re: exhaust smell in cabin?

....what Lou says above....Also check your power steering reservoir......

[FritsB]

Re: exhaust smell in cabin?

Can't imagine it has anything to do with length of the tips. If that was so all owners with original exhaust would have it. Check your exhaust system for leakage.

[Brad]

Re: exhaust smell in cabin?

If you have an EXTREMELY low mileage bird and it's a plastic burning smell it might be normal. I remember when I first got my bird and found this site there were a number of people that had the burning plastic smell every so often within the first 500 miles or so.

[bgl]

Re: exhaust smell in cabin?

Hello

Finally getting a chance to drive my 'Bird a little--perhaps our 8 months of harsh winter are winding down--although there are winter storm warnings for tomorrow night.

Any way, I took the Bird out tonight, and drove through the various car dealerships looking at the inventory. I shut it off to avoid getting the exhaust smell in the cabin. Then, I turned it back on, and the exhaust fumes were horrible. We were gulping fumes, so we opened the windows for relief.

Now in previous observations, it does not seem like my car performed much like it has 252 hp. Less acceleration than I expected.

Tonight, it was my observation that it was "sluggish" on acceleration. I believe it is not hitting on all 8.

After thinking about it, if one of the cylinders is not firing correctly, it could result in the unburned gas accumulating, causing a cabin smell...right? Would this be particularly bad if idling or turning the car on after a brief period of being off?

So, perhaps the issue is that one cylinder is not firing correctly, causing the cabin smell and sluggish performance.

If so, and if this sounds reasonable, could this be what is commonly referred to as a COPS problem? Perhaps one of the coils is bad?

Looking forward to your observations.

Bruce

[SixPac]

Re: exhaust smell in cabin?

Somebody help me here. Didn't we have a member from PA or somewhere in that area that took FoMoCo to court in '02 or '03 because of a smell that they couldn't stand. I believe that they won their case under the "Lemon Law" and came out smelling like a rose.

Is this fact or did I dream it?

[Rosebud]

Re: exhaust smell in cabin?

It sounds like the exhaust may be plugged. I would have a shop check the catalytic converter, the previous owner may have put something in the gas and plugged them. If it was a cop’s problem the check engine light should come on when it is pulling hard.

[bgl]

Re: exhaust smell in cabin?

Hello

Today, I had my 'Bird in to the local Ford dealer (thank goodness we still have one) for the exhaust smell problem.

They performed a computer analysis and found nothing wrong with the engine. The checked the exhaust system and found nothing wrong there either. However, they did clean two of the COPS and the boots. They said two of the COPS were dirty.

Now, it appears that the smell has quit invading the cabin. I also think it perked the car up a bit. Some of the performance question may be that I am not familiar with what to expect from the car.

Perhaps this problem came about due to my garage being very high in moisture content all winter. Most of the time the floor had the ice bergs that fell off the Buick and slowly melted. This may have caused corrosion on the COPS. I also heat the garage on weekends which raises the humidity. I probably have a very favorable environment for the COPS problem to develop.

Any way, I hope this problem will not re-occur.

Bruce

[Sandman]

Re: exhaust smell in cabin?

Bruce, I hope this solves the problem. Cross your fingers!

Ron

[Mark501]

Re: exhaust smell in cabin?

Anytime I accelerate quickly, my car fills with the exhaust smell. This is a known issue that has been discussed somewher back down the road, I remember that one member even sold their car over the issue. Nice car but if you punch it it smells like a beauty shop! I noticed the smell a few times at Hot Springs IV.

501