. . . because it's killing me.

I've been running catless for the past 4 months and i've finally come to the conclusion that it is making me a bit naseous / sick every time i get in the car. I always assumed it was something else, but recently, EVERYONE that has gotten into my car as gotten headaches.

Now, i wondered if i had an exhuast leak, but it doesn't appear that anything from below is leaking.

I also wondered if my exhuast manifold is cracked (stock), but haven't checked it yet. I remember something similar happening to Al a while ago with his HKS manifold but it was much worse IIRC.

Anyone have any suggestions on what it might be? what to fix? is this normal and something i just have to deal with? when im outside the car, obviously, it stinks. But even when i'm inside the car, with the windows rolled up and the air on recirc, its still pretty darn bad.

any suggestions?

 

hrmmm mine was a tiny tiny bit bad but i had a hole in the firewall for me hallman in cockpit mbc but i plugged that and then i made a cabin air filter instead of buying the 60$+ one from mitsu and i have absolutly no smell anymore only thing i can think of is you have an exhaust leak....

how have u checked for a leak?

 

Sounds like u got a leak. Unless your exhaust tip is back in the bumper somehow and it's going in the trunk? More than likely it's just a leak.. can u get the car on a lift to check for one?

 

Do you do stop and go driving or highway driving? In stop and go I could see the carbon monoxide getting to you. Highway driving it should not be as bad. It's kind of ghetto but why not try putting a carbon monoxide detector for a house in the car when you drive and see if it goes off. If it does I would say you have a problem.

Could it be from the noise levels?

 

If i stand around in my closed garage long enough after I stop the car, or while it's running with the turbo timer it definitly makes me sick a whole lot faster than the stock one...but I havent gotten sick while driving the car at all...and no one has gotten a headache, just a few comments from people who walk past the trunk that I should take the badly burnt cookies out of my trunk...good times, good times...but I've never heard of it making anyone sick from inside the car while driving, even windows down, heck I've had convertibles behind me that I've asked about it and they said "what smell?" same with a friend who I had roll down the windows and watch for the fabled "flames"

And the moral of this is that it's probably a leak

 

I am catless also, but I have no smell on the INSIDE of the car. The outside is a different story.

 

well, the only thing i could really do was get under it and feel the flanges when the car was relatively cold. didn't feel anything coming out.

I also wasn't sure how i would be smelling it even if i DID have an exhuast leak under the car. Seems like it would only really happen if the leak was from inside the engine bay.

 

I've been running catless for almost 2 years (200 miles with a cat then took it off). It's not that bad in the car but I have had some people that ride with me say they can smell it. Never felt like I got sick at anytime but maybe I am just used to the smell.

I think it woul dbe tuff to crack a stock exhaust manifold but you never know. What exhaust are you using?

 

yeah ive managed to get the smell itself out of the cabin, but people still feel headaches / nausea sitting inside. So suspect a bit of it is still entering.

In fact, the ONLY reason i let this problem continue for as long as i have (4 months) is because i thought i was fixing the problem by recirculating the air. the stinky smelll itself does not come into the cabin. . . but something is still getting me high . . .

 

yeah thats another part of my situation thats real sh+tty. I live in Los Angeles, and its trafiffc everywhere i go.

 

I've had my cat removed 2 months ago and I dont smell anything inside my car. My guess would be that you have a leak. If you have a TB exhaust then I would check the downpipe from the o2 housing. It might be leaking from there.

 

I was following a catless WRX on a windy 2-lane road for about 5 miles and my wife and I were really getting nausea. Every time I tried to pass, the guy though we were racing, so he'd floor it, keeping us behind him and making the fumes even worse!

 

You know, that's really not a bad idea about putting a carbon monoxide sensor in your car.

The thing that I'm having a problem with is that while moving there is still some smell/exhaust/something getiing into your cabin. That has to be from a leak directly under the cabin or in the engine bay. If you're leaking from the flanges on the cat delete pipe, you most likely will also be having some back-firing on decel. Is that happening?

 

not that i know of . . . but then again, can't really hear much at the track with the helmet on

 

u would b surprised even if you had a exhaust leak on ur flange under the car u would smell it i would reccomend jacking it up or lifting it and checking all the flanges making sure they are straight and gasketts are ok.... also do check the dp to the 02 housing ......

also is it gas smell or exhaust smell do you have a new fuel pump i suppose of the fuel pump plate under the seat wasnt tightend good u might smell gas.... thats just an idea