How do you check for exhaust fumes in the cab?

Like many already suggested, get a detector.

I was about 30 minutes away from death when I was a kid. Me and a friend were sleeping in the bed/camper shell of my grandpa's 72 Chevy truck. It was a long 6 hour trip from San Fernando to Mammoth. A very minor exhaust leak let carbon monoxide seep into the camper. We were basically dying in our sleep. My uncle stopped to see if we needed to take a piss, but neither of us responded. We both woke up in the hospital the next day with oxygen masks on. Carbon monoxide poisening ain't no joke for little kids.

 

We had a young mother from here a few years ago who drove home for the holidays with her kids asleep in the back seat while she drove all night. Ford Escort wagon or something like that with a leaky exhaust. When she got to her destination both kids were dead. Everyone was devastated. Any one of us would have gladly bought her a new exhaust if we could just go back in time and do it over.

 

Something I forgot to mention in my other post here is If you know anyone who has had CO. poisoning it can lead to later learning dissabilities and things like ADD/ADHD I was a straight A student before my accident after the accident I became a problem student because after learning became very hard and everyone just figured that I got lazy I got that "If he would only apply himself "Attitude from teachers and many other adults who knew me before it happened.At 53 years old Iam just now finding doctors who Understand things like this.We got clues when both my sons were diagnosed with with these problems at school and I had to attend some of the testing !

 

Those deflectors on the back of the wagons were advertised to keep the rear window from collecting dust and snow as most wagons do.
For all I know, they could recirculate the fumes round and round as they kept the dust from settling on the glass window.

Long ago I used to keep the old wagon cooler in the summer by cracking the back window and turning the front vents around as scoops. My wagon didn't have a deflector, for what that's worth. It sounded safe to have the vent windows scooping in air, and it seemed to work pretty well at keeping the car cooler, but when I let off the gas to coast down to exit ramp speed, I could smell the richer fuel mix throughout the car. That pretty much convinced me that it wasnt as good an idea as I first thought.

 

Great idea,but i'd get someone(fire dept?) with a quality machine to do a check,if that is indicating CO.Any industrial sites with confined space work areas also use them.I worked at a cement plant as a "hole watch"monitoring air quality in confined work areas.It's amazing how fast conditions can change.

 

I had a 47 Chevy woodie beater years ago. They only had one style tail pipe in 1947 for the sedans and the wagons. I didn't need a detector to figure out that the fumes were being sucked into the lift gate when it was open. I'd get a head ache in the drivers seat with the gate open.

Eventually they started making different tail pipes for wagons. If you notice, all wagons, vans and SUVs bend the tail pipe 90* and bring it out the side of the vehicle into the air stream.

We always had to warn the SUV guys about the problem when they had us add dual exhaust coming out the rear. Dual pipes look cool sticking out the rear but if it's a big flat area in back, a vacuum is formed behind it when you go down the road. You'll be OK if you run the tail pipes out to the sides like the factory does.

 

Do you think it'll fit my Civic with a B18?

Heh.

-bill

 

So I have a question. I'm pretty sure I have some holes in the rear of my Honda element. It was rear ended and the body guy didn't do such a great job of patching the bumper area. How do I determin if it's leaking through the bumper area or the hatch/tailgate? Do I just have somebody drive down the road and I smell around the hatch/tailgate seals?

 

Find a Honda forum and go ask them there

 

Look at the posts from 9 years ago then go to the fire department and have them check. I'll bet they still do.
Sell the Honda and get a 64 Ford Galaxie wagon. Cooler fumes.

 

My flight instructor got real lucky in a Cessna 152 15 years ago. He was getting drowsy and opened the window to get some cold air into the cabin to wake him up a bit. The same thing happened to him 3 or 4 times, and he finally realized that it happened every time he flew the plane. They found a crack in the cabin heat system that was letting exhaust get mixed with the cabin air.

 

You'd think a guy driving an Element would be used to sniffing tailpipes.

 

Nothing to play with!! Many years ago our 55 was our main car. It had duals out the back. On long trips we would sometimes get headaches etc. Suspect the exhaust was rolling up in the rear (had a haze on decklid lower and rear bumper after 3-400 mile trip) and leaking around the trunk seal. We changed to where it turned out up in the corner like stock ones had--no issues again. Since then all cars I do have exhaust done the same way.

 

I call BS.

 

In the .mil we were at a training area all sleeping in a GP medium tent in the wintertime. We had stoves, but the rule was, that a fireguard had to be posted if it was going to be burning all night. No fireguard, no stove. These stoves could be setup to burn coal, gasoline, or diesel, with a carburetor (it's traditional). For safety reasons, I suppose, only diesel fuel was allowed. Anyway nobody wanted to play fireguard, so the stove was put out. Then some asshole got cold and re-lit the stove, but didn't know what he was doing, and went back to sleep. The smoke backed up something fierce, all I remember is being sound asleep and somebody trying to wake me up and didn't, couldn't, to wake up. "Wake up!! Get outside!l etc. Couldn't see anything, the tent was full of soot and smoke, horrible headache etc.

What saved about 20 or so of us, was a 2LT making his inspection rounds in the middle of the night, like he was supposed to. Thankfully for us he didn't pencil-whip it.

 

I agree about the flat rear area "sucking fumes in. "
BUT, somebody explain to me Why most school buses have exhaust exit straight out the back near the rear emergency exit door. Wouldn't it be proper to exit out Drivers side.
Also on many Broncos/Blazers and flat back-ended SUV's exhaust exits straight out back. NOT GOOD !!
And on several shuttle buses the exhaust comes out the BACK Passenger Side, right where people will be standing for loading.

 

2 things.

1. I added an extra truck topper seal around the entire tailgate and hatch. This made a noticeable difference.

2. Turns out I had an oil leak on the engine and burnt oil fumes were just filtering up through the a/c system. Fixed the leak and all is well.

Next project. Front wheel drive V8 swap.

 

Not to say that modern car exhaust is safe, but old carbureted non-catalyzed car exhaust is 100 times more dangerous. My buddy was hospitalized recently after running his '50 Chevy in the garage with the garage door open. I remember the headaches and car sickness in the back of my dad's old station wagon.

I agree a CO (not CO2 guys) detector is a great idea. They make digital ones that give you a readout even if there's not enough CO to set off the siren.

 

In case you have no common sense:

http://www.torontosun.com/2016/11/1...on-monoxide-poisoning-while-having-sex-in-car

 

Talk about your Darwin Awards!

 

Hello,

I found out the hard way, other than an odd smell coming through the dash. On dates, the girls would usually say something about an odd smell in the car as we were moving. I would open the vent and the smell would go away. But, on cold, rainy nights, this was not an option. So, an investigation led to leaky oil burning on the exhaust. A common problem with old cars. But, the exhaust/gas fumes continued to come into the cab.

On long surf trips, it was a stronger smell, but that was usually overshadowed by the wet salt, swimsuits, towels, divers wet suits hanging in the empty cargo area. I figured out that when we took out the rear window of the 40 Ford Sedan Delivery and put in the boards through the window, the smell was a little stronger. When I put the window and rubber seal back in place, the smell was just the oil burning on the motor, no rear exhaust fumes.

But, being a 20 year old car in 1962, the rear door seal of the 40 Delivery was a little corroded and even when I put in the rear window, it started to smell of exhaust fumes. So, my hard earned surf trip money had to be spent on a new seal for the rear delivery door. That stopped the exhaust fumes from coming in through the back. Well, what did we do with the boards? The rear window still came out, but we stuffed the open areas between the boards and window sill with old rags, towels and t shirts to keep the exhaust fumes from coming in on those trips. It worked. For local cruising, I just had to keep the rear window in place and fix the oil leak on the motor. This helped to keep the other “invited guests” to continue cruising to a surf movie at the local college auditorium a pleasurable experience. When we arrived at the front of the parking area by the auditoriums, we smelled as fresh as a mountain forest, that was a plus on the dating scene. Also, the orange, 40 Ford Sedan Delivery with a couple of cool looking surf types always drew stares…

Today, we have newer cars with opening rear doors, and the factories must have perfected the seals and closing mechanisms. There is no smell to be noticed. Plus, most new wagons/SUV vehicles have a light on the dash to tell you that your rear door is ajar or open, thus preventing the poisonous smell from entering. Ha, a 40 Ford Delivery with an automatic door ajar signal on the dash…cool…if someone were creative enough.

Jnaki

This phenomenon is not just relegated to cars, if you have ever been sitting in a rear deck area of a cabin cruiser, motor boat, the same smell comes over the square back of the transom and fills the cockpit area with fumes. But, if the boat is going fast enough, there is plenty of swirling around and it is not prevalent. It is there and at lower rpms might make it stronger, causing problems. So,Beware…

 

Not dying is good. Anybody tried one of these passive detector cards:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KJJ5416?psc=1

I don't smoke, so I might add one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KJJ5416?psc=1

to the lighter outlet. Cheap insurance against CO if they work.



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I borrow the FLIR (Forward Looking InfraRed) camera from work, and look at the whole system for leaks. They really show with that.

Oh, and I always run a full system, all the way out the back.

 

They came and went at the same time

 

He's right. It's called the "station wagon effect". The same can happen in a boat. Exhaust Fumes can be sucked in an open cabin door while underway. Battery operated CO detector is a good idea.

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