engine fumes getting inside the car....

[#1_M.I._CARLOS]

recently Ive started working on my brothers car
we got it about 2 years ago but never really cared to fix it up since my coupe is the tuner car

HOWEVER recently we decide that if we r gonna keep we r gonna fix it up
so here is what was wrong with it

when we first test drove it we noticed that it over heated and there was strong fumes coming out from the AC vents., i noticed a radiator leak and assumed that was the issue so we bought it anyway since it was fairly cheap.

after we bought it we fixed the leak without having to replace the whole radiator so that was good and then we left it like that for about a year, other than one oil change and new spark plugs we didn't do anything to it cause we assumed that the engine was as good as it was gonna get.

after we decided we were gonna fix it up we took a closer look at the engine, by that time the check engine light was on, after pulling the codes we discovered we needed a EGR valve, so we went to the junk yard and took about 3, we cleaned all the carbon out of them and tested to see witch would work best, this process lead us to a conclusion that based on our EGR valve our entire intake manifold was VERY carbonized.

well after replacing the EGR valve the check engine light turned off and that was that.

STEP 2 cleaning the engine
using Lucas we decided to do monthly oil changes until all the gunk was gone, the first time hardly any gunk came out but the oil was very dirty, the second oil change was the jackpot, ALL the nasty shit came out, the oil was pitch black and super thick, that tune up changed the entire performance of the car, it ran allot better, shifted gears allot smoother

since then we have done 1 more oil change, changed spark plugs AND wires, and cleaned out the whole radiator to replaced the water with 50/50

SO NOW
*we are having the same problem with the fumes coming thru the AC vents
*it shifts a little stiff
and it over heats when we drive slowly, or are on idle (tho not all the time)

my theory:
i believe that replacing the intake manifold might get rid of the fumes.
i think that the air just needs to flow better thru the engine.
and if it helps maybe change the entire exhaust system (headers, down pipe, muffler...) and add a better cold air intake
my dad thinks that the problem might be the down pipe or exhaust.

my mom got my bro a full audio system, brand new speakers, and cd/ ipod player AND she painted his car so its looking very good, i have a few lips in storage that ill let him pick from.

but first we need to fix the engine
i mainly wanna fix the over heating and fumes.

ANY OPINIONS?

[Tippey764]

There is no way the intake manifold is the problem

It is pulling air into it, if anything it would be pulling some fumes into it thus reducing them.

I'm sure these are exhaust fumes or something leaking onto a hot surface and being burned.

Do you have an exhaust leak or a poorly installed exhaust with reused gaskets / clamp fittings?

[cloudasc]

If you want to check the condition of the engine, then I would suggest doing a compression and leak test on the motor. The leak test would provide the most valuable information such as possible headgasket leak, piston ring blowby, etc.

If its overheating while traveling slowly or while idle, I would check to make sure your radiator fans are functioning properly. If you press the a/c button, both fans should come on. You can also test each fan individually by connecting them directly to the battery, which would rule out bad motors. At which point I would start looking at the thermoswitches, our cars I believe have 2 or 3 of them. That should help and hopefully fix your problem with the overheating.

[#1_M.I._CARLOS]

There is no way the intake manifold is the problem

It is pulling air into it, if anything it would be pulling some fumes into it thus reducing them.

I'm sure these are exhaust fumes or something leaking onto a hot surface and being burned.

Do you have an exhaust leak or a poorly installed exhaust with reused gaskets / clamp fittings?

everything on that engine is stock, i haven't changed anything to aftermarket

my dad believes it is an exhaust leak and that's why i wanna change the whole set up from the headers to the muffler

[#1_M.I._CARLOS]

If you want to check the condition of the engine, then I would suggest doing a compression and leak test on the motor. The leak test would provide the most valuable information such as possible headgasket leak, piston ring blowby, etc.

If its overheating while traveling slowly or while idle, I would check to make sure your radiator fans are functioning properly. If you press the a/c button, both fans should come on. You can also test each fan individually by connecting them directly to the battery, which would rule out bad motors. At which point I would start looking at the thermoswitches, our cars I believe have 2 or 3 of them. That should help and hopefully fix your problem with the overheating.

hmm can u do the compression and leak test by your self or do you have to take it somewhere?

we haven't seen any leaks, it used to have some but we got them fixed.
when we bought it one of the fans was not working but we rewired them to be on all the time rather than just when the engine starts to heat up and i believe the thermostat was removed.

the head gasket was also replaced on our last oi change

[Tippey764]

If you press the a/c button, both fans should come on.

Im pretty sure the fans will only come on if the a/c system has pressure.

everything on that engine is stock, i haven't changed anything to aftermarket

my dad believes it is an exhaust leak and that's why i wanna change the whole set up from the headers to the muffler

im 90% sure you have either an exhaust leak or fluids getting burned

I honestly don't see what else there is

I would change all the exhaust gaskets, clean the blower motor off and the outside air duct in the passenger window cowl

[#1_M.I._CARLOS]

Im pretty sure the fans will only come on if the a/c system has pressure.



im 90% sure you have either an exhaust leak or fluids getting burned

I honestly don't see what else there is

I would change all the exhaust gaskets, clean the blower motor off and the outside air duct in the passenger window cowl

ill try that this weekend, thanks bro

[cloudasc]

hmm can u do the compression and leak test by your self or do you have to take it somewhere?

we haven't seen any leaks, it used to have some but we got them fixed.
when we bought it one of the fans was not working but we rewired them to be on all the time rather than just when the engine starts to heat up and i believe the thermostat was removed.

the head gasket was also replaced on our last oi change

To do a compression test, you might need someone to help turn the motor over if you don't have a way to crank the engine from under the hood. Otherwise if the hoses are long enough on the compression tester, you can monitor from inside the car.

Leak testing requires an air compressor and you can do it yourself. I don't know the specific instructions, but a simple search on google (or another member on here post) should result in correct procedure, and how to identify results.

[#1_M.I._CARLOS]

quick question...
can anyone tell me why the car would heat up while stopped and rapidly cool down when i speed up?

[dano28]

That is a common problem if your radiator fans are not working. Perhaps your brilliant idea of wiring the fans to be on all the time has burned out the motors.

There is a rubber gasket where the hood meets the cowl just in front of the heater/AC air intake. This is there to prevent underhood fumes from entering the cabin.

Is that gasket there ??

[#1_M.I._CARLOS]

That is a common problem if your radiator fans are not working. Perhaps your brilliant idea of wiring the fans to be on all the time has burned out the motors.

There is a rubber gasket where the hood meets the cowl just in front of the heater/AC air intake. This is there to prevent underhood fumes from entering the cabin.

Is that gasket there ??

both motors are working fine.

i gotta check that gasket you r talking about.

[Tippey764]

Are your thermal switches working fine though? Yeah the fans might work but they never have a chance to come on since the switches that engage them have failed

Also you might have an air bubble in your cooling system getting trapped around the sensor. The temperature will spike since there is a hot bubble on it. next time it starts to " over heat " rev it up to like 3-4k real quick and see if the needle nose dives.

[#1_M.I._CARLOS]

Are your thermal switches working fine though? Yeah the fans might work but they never have a chance to come on since the switches that engage them have failed

Also you might have an air bubble in your cooling system getting trapped around the sensor. The temperature will spike since there is a hot bubble on it. next time it starts to " over heat " rev it up to like 3-4k real quick and see if the needle nose dives.

hmm, that makes sense since we did the antifreeze change on our own.

[nicholasjacker]

my guess would be an exhaust leak. this has happened to me before. Keep your windows rolled down just to be safe! Especially when idling.

[andyrooo]

this kind of thing happens to me! mineis leaking oil or something onto something behind the intake manifold, it smokes a lot when i stop, and it heats up more when i'm stopped than when i'm going faster. haven't figured it out yet!