exhaust smell???
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 246
Likes: 3
From: St. peters Missouri
exhaust smell???
Not sure if this is normal or not.. New Vette owner here..
I start it in the garage and come back out and get in it and drive or just shut it off and I always smell like the exhaust? It makes all my clothes that I am wearing smell like that?? My other cars dont.. Is this normal for an older vette?? (1993 40th)?
Thanks
I start it in the garage and come back out and get in it and drive or just shut it off and I always smell like the exhaust? It makes all my clothes that I am wearing smell like that?? My other cars dont.. Is this normal for an older vette?? (1993 40th)?
Thanks
Le Mans Master
Joined: Feb 1999
Posts: 6,470
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From: levittown pa. usa Even a bad day with my `Vette, is better than a good day at work
St. Jude Donor '10
You let it idle in the garage & then wonder why everything smells like exhaust fumes? Hmmmm let me think about that
Le Mans Master
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From: WV
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Le Mans Master
Joined: Sep 2006
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From: Phoenix AZ
2021 C4 of the Year - Modified Finalist
The catalytic converters. They do an amazing job of cleaning the air coming out of your exhaust pipes.
I didn't believe they were necessary until I put one set on my test engine on my run stand.
I was amazed!! you can actually breathe in the room when you are running the engine.
DON'T try it in your garage when your wife is sleeping if your garage is next to your bedroom. Wives have no sense of humor when they are woken up suddenly, and they can smell really rich exhaust fumes, and your test engine has no exhaust except headers and Then you run it for a SECOND time with dual cats just to see the difference.
get the picture?
it's funny now, but it wasn't then................
oh, BTW, the 86 smells like turpentine if you start it up and shut it off. otherwise, if it stays running till the cats light off, there's no smell after light off.....
I didn't believe they were necessary until I put one set on my test engine on my run stand.
I was amazed!! you can actually breathe in the room when you are running the engine.
DON'T try it in your garage when your wife is sleeping if your garage is next to your bedroom. Wives have no sense of humor when they are woken up suddenly, and they can smell really rich exhaust fumes, and your test engine has no exhaust except headers and Then you run it for a SECOND time with dual cats just to see the difference.
get the picture?
it's funny now, but it wasn't then................oh, BTW, the 86 smells like turpentine if you start it up and shut it off. otherwise, if it stays running till the cats light off, there's no smell after light off.....
Last edited by coupeguy2001; Feb 17, 2010 at 10:12 PM.
Pro
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 541
Likes: 60
From: Auburndale Florida 1990 Vert, 6 speed
I have had the same problem after hollowing out my cats on my 90. If not wanting cats is there a way to get rid of the exhaust smell? Will a tune fix it? I know of other cars without emissions that don't have that smell.
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 14,674
Likes: 751
From: NEwhere Ohio
Tell us about your 93, is it mod'd? cam? hollowed cats? stock tune?
my 93 (hotcam, LT headers, no cats, ported heads) has the same smell issues.
The smell will stick on your clothes. Its pretty nasty.
I installed a wideband O2 thinking that would give me a clue about whats going on.
When the car is started cold, it runs rich 11:1 or so and then starts going up towards 14.7:1. Once in closed loop, AFR really bounces aroudn 14.7:1 to about 15.8:1.
The smell issue seems worse when in closed loop. Although its entirely possible what Im smelling is residual gas lingering around from when it was in open loop.
Ive been tweaking my cold start fueling tables and am unsure (yet) if its changed anything on the smell. It did lean out my AFR a little, but now sometimes the car takes longer to crank when real cold (imagine that) !
With my car being convertible, I suspect one day I will go back to cats. Its no fun when you bring exhaust smell with you.
my 93 (hotcam, LT headers, no cats, ported heads) has the same smell issues.
The smell will stick on your clothes. Its pretty nasty.
I installed a wideband O2 thinking that would give me a clue about whats going on.
When the car is started cold, it runs rich 11:1 or so and then starts going up towards 14.7:1. Once in closed loop, AFR really bounces aroudn 14.7:1 to about 15.8:1.
The smell issue seems worse when in closed loop. Although its entirely possible what Im smelling is residual gas lingering around from when it was in open loop.
Ive been tweaking my cold start fueling tables and am unsure (yet) if its changed anything on the smell. It did lean out my AFR a little, but now sometimes the car takes longer to crank when real cold (imagine that) !
With my car being convertible, I suspect one day I will go back to cats. Its no fun when you bring exhaust smell with you.
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 73,568
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From: Somewhere in Mo
St. Jude Donor '09-'10, '14
You know, it's none of my business but why ream out cats? WHY. That won't give anyone enough of a difference in anything to even bother with it. If you can't afford a good cat and yours is plugged I can see it being a temporary solution.
But reaming out cats to give you .00000010 HP? really!! And then wonder about fuel smell? That's what the cats are for.
But reaming out cats to give you .00000010 HP? really!! And then wonder about fuel smell? That's what the cats are for.
Pro
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 541
Likes: 60
From: Auburndale Florida 1990 Vert, 6 speed
You know, it's none of my business but why ream out cats? WHY. That won't give anyone enough of a difference in anything to even bother with it. If you can't afford a good cat and yours is plugged I can see it being a temporary solution.
But reaming out cats to give you .00000010 HP? really!! And then wonder about fuel smell? That's what the cats are for.
But reaming out cats to give you .00000010 HP? really!! And then wonder about fuel smell? That's what the cats are for.
Team Owner
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 21,094
Likes: 282
From: Phila., PA burbs
You know, it's none of my business but why ream out cats? WHY. That won't give anyone enough of a difference in anything to even bother with it. If you can't afford a good cat and yours is plugged I can see it being a temporary solution.
But reaming out cats to give you .00000010 HP? really!! And then wonder about fuel smell? That's what the cats are for.
But reaming out cats to give you .00000010 HP? really!! And then wonder about fuel smell? That's what the cats are for.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 3,022
Likes: 3
From: Chandler Arizona
I'll likely install cats again later. High-horsepower applications (much more power than mine) tend to blow out cats... and i'm talking about the random technology cats. TJ Wong will vouch for that.
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 14,674
Likes: 751
From: NEwhere Ohio
I will say that when i went to my supercharger setup, also upgrading to modern fuel injectors along with it, the smell went away somewhat.
what really stopped the odor was in 2017, i replaced the bosch heated o2’s with NOS AC Delco heated O2 sensors .
I also got rid of my soldered o2 extension harnesses and went with posi-lock (barrel-twist) on the extender wiring as well.
My 93 ecm doesnt monitor o2 cross-counts, but i wonder if i would see more with the NOS AC Delco O2 sensors
Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 1,037
Likes: 28
From: Montclair New Jersey
I deleted my cats and ran true dual exhaust on a 86. I ran it that way for years until I had enough of the smell. I put one cat on and it made a huge difference. The smell is pretty much gone and bearable. Just my experience....