Fumes in the Cab (1 Viewer)

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Alpharetta GA
I have a 96 LX450 that when starting up the vehicle the sweet smell of rich exhaust comes in. I've inspected the exhaust and don't see any rust or holes. So far the fix has been pull the climate controls and flip the switch to manual so that it stays on recirculate.

Any one have any pointers on where to start?
 
Someone said the auto climate control puts it into recirculate for the first minute or so. If manually setting recirculate works, then it sounds like the climate control module is bad.
 
You said "sweet". Are you sure it's exhaust it is it coolant from a heater core leaking?

Is the carpet on passenger front wet?
 
You screwed w/ the auto-climate & blew yer HG.

I'll let @nukegoat break it down for you, he's suuuper smarrrt on that stuff :hillbilly:

I think he works for NASA or soumthung. :lol:
 
Ha. Ok to be a little more clear. The "sweet" smell isn't coolant ,it is a subjectives statement related to the fact that Like the smell of rich exhaust. It isn't even close to maple syrup. As much as I like the rich smelling exhaust and how it makes me feel, something tells me there is a downside to breathing it for too long with the windows up in "frigid" GA winters.

The switch to manual on the Climate controls was just to keep it from defaulting to fresh air and pulling in exhaust fumes.

Someone said the auto climate control puts it into recirculate for the first minute or so. If manually setting recirculate works, then it sounds like the climate control module is bad.

Mine on auto defaults to fresh air. Once I set it to manual, It remembers my last setting and in this case is recirculate which helps reduce the fumes.

My thought is that the fumes are a little excessive for coming from the engine bay, but this is rig is new to me and I don't know if this is to be expected.
 
OK - seriously now:

1 - you got any 'check engine' codes going?
-Limp mode defaults to a rich / no knock state.

2 - where are you catching this?
-are you idling outdoors in the driveway, or just in garage/open door?
We need more objective symptoms, not subjective - to quote my EMT days.

3 - fuel quality in the tank as it is now.
If you haven't pushed 3-4 tanks of 91+ then you may just be feeding it crappy food like when my boxer doesn't get Solid Gold brand food, and the most expensive at that. His a$$ is horrid & I spend more on Glade candles & spray than just giving him premium of premium food.

Don't even get me going on scooping liquid a$$ vs. solid poo.

Dog tangent aside, what fuel are you feeding this as we speak?
Be honest, if it's a NA 1FZ-FE it should run fine on 89 octane, even less.

Also, do you have 10% ethanol / winter blend gas & are you running?
Just so we know.
 
Ha Ok
1. No CEL and OBDII doesn't pull any codes at all.
2. Driveway and I don't let it idle much < 30 seconds before taking off but very much in the open air. This rich smell has existed since purchase in August of this year. The fumes in the cab seems recent (however it has only recently been cold enough to not run with the windows down so may not be a new symptom).
3. NA 1FZ-FE running 91 for the past 6 tanks. It is Costco gas so definitely 10% Ethanol.

Has 251k and previous owner didn't drive it must over 40mph so I am sure it is a little gunky inside. I've ran some Gumout multisystem cleaner through it for two tanks but that hasn't changed anything other than adding a little mpg.
 
Check the one-way vents in the rear quarter panels, they can get stuck in the open position, exhaust gas rises and can enter the cabin. I could smell diesel exhaust on mine a few years back, spent awhile looking for leaky exhaust, manifold and so forth. I then noticed one of the vent grills was sticking out from the body, some git had tried breaking in by prying out the vent, unsure what stopped them perhaps the alarm, or a passer by, either way the plastic flaps behind the grill were damaged.

I taped shut the damaged ones and left the remaining working ones in place, no problem since.

Regards

Dave
 
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one-way vents in the rear quarter panels
Hmm that sounds promising. Never even crossed my mind. Will Definitely check it in daylight.
 
Mine on auto defaults to fresh air. Once I set it to manual, It remembers my last setting and in this case is recirculate which helps reduce the fumes.

What I'm saying is, based on what I've read on 'mud, the fancy-pants LX auto is supposed to start in recirculate to prevent exhaust smell from entering the cabin. If yours isn't automatically starting in recirculate mode, but it goes to recirculate in manual mode, then your problem would appear to be the climate control module.

As far as I know, these things all run really rich at startup and smell strongly. Also, for some reason, they generate more exhaust vapor than any other vehicle I've every owned...
 
I was getting strong exhaust smell in the truck when my donut gaskets on the headers went out. Made a ticking sound that got louder on acceleration.
 
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the fancy-pants LX auto is supposed to start in recirculate to prevent exhaust smell from entering the cabin
After some messing around I think this could also be a problem to put on my list.

@Dave 2000 The back vents on the side were the exhaust were sitting open but after some taping the fell closed again. This could have been part of the problem. At 21 years old there are lots of things that can contribute.

@inkpot one of the first things I checked and it looks ok I am going to check a few of the other seals/plugs next.

donut gaskets on the headers went out

I think this is entirely possible. Even with broken seals between the firewall and cab shouldn't have to be blocking that much fumes from the engine compartment.

I really appreciate all the input.
 

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