The gasoline engine is still the most popular type of engine found in vehicles on the road. After the internal combustion process takes place, there are exhaust fumes that form. These are highly toxic fumes which are dangerous for the environment. If they were to be released, it would cause a very bad air pollution problem.
Fortunately, modern vehicles are equipped with an exhaust system which greatly reduces the toxicity of the exhaust fumes. When exhaust gases come out of your tailpipe, these are the less toxic gases that have already passed through the exhaust system. After the exhaust system gets done reducing the toxicity of the gases, it sends the fumes out of the tailpipe and into the open air.
People refer to these gases as carbon emissions. You cannot see or smell these fumes, but they certainly do exist. Although they still contribute to the world’s air pollution problem, they are not as bad for the environment as they would be if there were no exhaust system to filter them.
Top 5 Leak Symptoms
You’ll want your exhaust system to be fully functional always. This will not only help protect the environment, but it will protect the health and lives of everyone in your vehicle. If an exhaust leak were to exist, the toxic gases from the exhaust system would find their way inside the passenger cabin of the vehicle. These gases are like poison to any human being that inhales them. Since you cannot smell or see the gases, you won’t even know you’re inhaling them.
At first, the gases will make you feel tired and weak. If you continue to inhale them, you’ll eventually collapse and die from carbon monoxide poisoning. Fortunately, there are some early warning signs that you can spot before it gets this extreme. Just look for these symptoms because they are how you’ll know that you have an exhaust leak.
Below are the top 5 symptoms of an exhaust leak in a car.
1) Worse Fuel Economy
When you have an exhaust leak, your engine is going to consume more fuel than normal. The engine control unit won’t be able to get clear information about the amount of oxygen going in and out of the valves. This means it won’t be able to accurately manage the fuel injectors and have the right amount of fuel go into the cylinders. So, it will likely put more fuel in the cylinders than is needed.
2) Burning Smell
Now we already said that you cannot smell or see carbon emission gases. However, that doesn’t mean you won’t notice a burning smell if there is an exhaust leak. You see, the exhaust manifold is the component which collects exhaust gases from the engine’s cylinders following their air and fuel combustion. These gases are very hot because they’ve just been ignited with an electric spark. So, if these gases were to leak right afterward, you would certainly smell the burning in the air.
3) Engine Sounds
In between the exhaust manifold and engine block, there is a small gasket. This gasket endures constant temperature changes all the time. Eventually, the gasket is bound to form a crack that will let exhaust fumes come out of it. If this situation occurs, you will hear a lot of hissing sounds and other engine noises that you don’t normally hear.
4) Weak Acceleration
An exhaust leak will affect your ability to accelerate your vehicle. Since the engine control unit will get confused from an exhaust leak, it may not always know when the right time to allow fuel to be injected into the engine. As a result, you will step on the gas pedal and not be able to accelerate as fast as it would normally go.
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5) Vibrating Vehicle
As the exhaust fumes leak quickly out of your exhaust system, they could potentially cause your vehicle to vibrate. You will feel these vibrations in your hands as you hold the steering wheel and in your feet as they rest on the floor. The vibrations will become more intense while accelerating your vehicle.
