Repair Topics / Exhaust

• Why is excessive smoke coming from my exhaust pipe?
• Why does white smoke or steam come from the exhaust pipe?
• Why does exhaust system keep breaking?
• How does an exhaust system work?
• How does performance exhaust work?
• How does a catalytic converter work?
• Why does my engine have low power output?
• Why does my engine make excessive noise?
• Why does my engine backfire?
• Why does my engine make excessive smoke?
• How does a MAF mass air flow sensor work?
• How to test an oxygen sensor
• Why is my car making a rattling noise?
• Why is my car vibrating?

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Question: 2004 Toyota Camry_mileage: 40,000. When I am idling at a red light, my car shakes and makes a noise. I think the muffler might be loose because I scraped the ground the other day and it didn't start acting like this until after that happened. Also when I crank my car it revs up loud and it didn't do that either before I scraped.

Answer: The problem you described is undoubtedly caused because you scrapped the bottom of your car damaging your exhaust system. The oxygen sensor is located in the exhaust system and it probably is damaged also.
 

Question: 1999 Ford Explorer 5.0 mileage: 80,000. Dear Sir: The truck is very well maintained, since I use it to pull my boat and race car. Although overall it is a good truck and reliable, I have encountered a problem that I am not sure how to solve. The truck has an exhaust leak, which came from a faulty or cracked exhaust manifold on the right side. I have replaced the manifold and figured that would be the cure. Yes, indeed it was, but I encountered a second leak which appears to come from the front of the exhaust manifold. I replaced the gasket w/ a gasket kit, the leak quieted down but you can still hear a small leak. It appears to be coming from under the intake manifold or near it on the right side. Do you have any ideas what can possibly cause such leaks?

Answer: Check the air injection tube in the back of the engine as they have a tendency to rust out.
 

Question: 1999 Geo Metro mileage: 128,000. I'm hearing loud exhaust noise from the front of the car. The down pipe, converter and all other components are either new or clean & solid. I'd swear this is coming from the spring-loaded coupling between the down pipe and manifold. Does the gasket in there routinely disintegrate? When I had the converter loose to put in a new resonator section I noticed that the whole catalytic assembly swung mighty easily. Could my problem be a leak at that gasket after only 58,000 miles?

Answer: Your problem could be a leaky gasket. Replacing it should cure your exhaust leak.

Question: 1999 Subaru Loyale mileage: 84,000.  The person in the car behind me stopped me to tell me there was "fluid" dripping from my tail pipe.  Once I got home I could not tell what it was since it had stopped.  What could it have been?

Answer: It is normal for a car to drip some fluid out of the tailpipe when first started and for several minutes afterwards.  The fluid is condensation (water) that occurs.  Sometimes, it can pick up some black soot from the tailpipe, which would give it a dark color.

Answer: Replacing the leaking exhaust pipe gaskets should solve your problem.

Question: 2001 Nissan Quest mileage: 50,000.  I have a perplexing question about ignition and tailpipe smoke. About half of the time, the motor starts normally after a 2 second or so turnover.  The rest of the time, the motor starts what I would call extremely quickly (almost immediately after I turn the key), with a "clicking" sound and quite visible tailpipe smoke.  When it starts normally, there is no smoke. What could cause this? The Nissan dealer thinks I am crazy!

Answer: What you are experiencing with your car is normal. The "smoke" is steam from condensation in the exhaust system.

Question: Can you explain emission factors and their effects out the exhaust pipe?

Answer:  Gasoline is made up of hydrocarbons.  When it is "burned" in an engine, the heat and oxygen form new gases such as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, unburned hydrocarbons etc.  These are the "emissions" that come out the tail pipe.

Question: 2001 Nissan Altima mileage: 80,000. I can't pass emissions. Limits are HC 220, CO 1.20. I read HC 318, CO 5.63. Airflow meter & ISC read ok. Timing is ok. Valve job two yrs ago (broken belt). O� sensor 1 yr ago. Car runs ok. HELP!

Answer: The reasons for the high emission are numerous. The list starts with a malfunctioning catalytic converter, a faulty engine management computer system to a "tired" engine with excessive blow by and using oil.

Question: 1999 Subaru Vitara, miles: 56,000. A puff of white smoke or steam comes from the tail pipe. After awhile it goes away. Is this something I should worry about?

Answer: If your car is not losing coolant, or if it does not puff white smoke while at normal operating temperatures, it is okay.

Question: 2001 Dodge Caravan, miles 56,000 Where is the O2 sensor located at on a with a V-6 engine? How hard will it be to replace by myself?

Answer: The oxygen sensor is located in the exhaust system, either the exhaust manifold or the exhaust pipe very close to the manifold. They are very easy to change if done with the engine cold. Un-plug the wires and unscrew the sensor. Be sure to put anti-seize compound on the threads of the new sensor before replacing.

Question:  1968 Chevrolet Camaro, miles: 134,000 with Flow Master 2 1/2-inch mufflers and it is just too loud. How could I make it quieter?

Answer: The exhaust system in question is designed for performance proposes not noise cancellation. There are a couple of alternatives. 1. You can remove system to replace with stock application, 2. Try replacing the muffler with a different quieter performance muffler.

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Repair Topics / Exhaust