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  #1  
Old 04-22-2004, 01:33 PM
UniqueAngle
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Question trying to locate exhaust/gas smell

Hi all,
Last month I purchased 1996 SVX LSi (96,000 miles). A few days after bringing it home, it became obvious there's a leak somewhere and I'm having trouble pinpointing it. It's been to 2 Subaru dealerships & they can't find anything either. Ideas would be appreciated.

The problem is a strong smell of either gas/exhaust fumes (I can't identify which). Most prominant upon acceleration, and with the heater running.

The car has had most of the exhaust system replaced, the water pump & timing belt done (along with a few other things). Nothing appears to be leaking, but the fumes are a doozey.

It goes back to the Subaru dealer I bought it from in a few days to have one of the O2 sensors replaced (but I don't think that's the cause of the smell). Any ideas for where to start looking would be appreciated.

Sincerely,
Brenda G.
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  #2  
Old 04-22-2004, 01:42 PM
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Chiketkd Chiketkd is offline
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Welcome to the site UniqueAngle!

You mentioned that you have had most of the exhaust system replaced? Did this include the catalytic converters? It is possible that if one of the primary cats or the secondary cat has gone bad, the exhaust smell could be due to that.

Also, do you know if the dealer inspected your exhaust mainfold/ headers? This is the part of the exhaust that hooks right up to the exhaust ports on the side of the engine. A crack in a header could also cause the smell.

Good luck with the fix...and enjoy your SVX!!!
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  #3  
Old 04-22-2004, 02:47 PM
UniqueAngle
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Thanks for your quick response. I had thought about those posibilities, but have ruled them out (portions of the exhaust had been replaced before I bought the car).

Usually if a catalitic converter goes bad, it gives off a rotten-egg smell, much different from what I'm getting. Also, if there's a crack in the manifold or headers, you'll hear it (I've cracked manifolds on other cars, but that's a different story). This car is about as quiet as it gets, you hardly know it's turned on.

At this point, I've gone thru all the normal checks myself (had it up on a lift), a total of 2 Subaru dealerships and one of the two the best mechanics I know (he's currently a top tech at Porsche, the guy I know at Ferrari is too darned far away) has gone over the car & can't find anything.

Was hoping to find someone out there that has had experience with the same problem. It just seems really odd that I only get the smell with the heater on, as opposed to constantly.

~Brenda
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  #4  
Old 04-22-2004, 03:14 PM
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Chiketkd Chiketkd is offline
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Well maybe another SVX'er who's had this problem might add something...

My advice was based off of my experience racing and working on cars of all kinds as a hobby.

I will also give you this one last piece of advice - have the dealer check the compression across all six cylinders of your engine. If the compression is not even (due to the 96K miles), it could be running very rich i.e. unburnt hydrocarbon content in exhaust will be extremely high.

Good luck!

-Chike
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  #5  
Old 05-03-2004, 07:39 PM
UniqueAngle
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Just an update. I took the SVX back to the dealership last Thursday so they could replace the O2 sensor(s) and try to locate the source of the leak. After 2 days of having it on the lift and 3 days of driving it, they can't find anything (but do admit there's a problem). Cars are such fun. We'll take another go at it in a couple of weeks.
~Brenda
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  #6  
Old 05-03-2004, 08:23 PM
lee lee is offline
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Brenda,

This is a long shot, but I would suggest you take off the throttle body cover (not sure that's what it's called, but it's the plastic shield that has the H-6 logo, top rear of engine).

Then feel around the plastic air intake boot where it connects to the fuel injection throttle body. Make sure the clamps are tight and it is fully seated ALL the way around.

When I first got my car it ran fine, so there were no symptoms except a very slight fuel smell now and then. Turns out the circular rubber surrounds that match up to the throttle body had folded over on the part near the bottom and middle between the two air intake paths. As a result, it wasn't fully seated and could leak air in/out.

My guess is that the gas smell "leaks" out there, flows to the air intake vents, and then to the interior.
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Old 05-04-2004, 11:00 AM
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Brenda,

I never thought of this until I read Lee's post...

When I had my Lightning, I was getting an oily/gas smell under heavy acceleration, but it would go away in all other situations. I called SVT directly, and they told me that sometimes oil in a high compression engine can actually come up through the throttle body and nestle in the ridges of the plastic intake pipe running from the throttle body to MAF.

I know we're talking about two different cars, but if you remove the plastic H-6 Engine Cover, you may want to disconnect the plastic pipe from the throttle body and see if there is any 'oily' stuff collected in the pipe. If there is wipe it out with a rag and re-attach tightly to the throttle body.

This way you do the fix the Lee recommends and see if there is any oil in the intake tract at the same time.

-Chike
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  #8  
Old 05-04-2004, 06:13 PM
oab_au oab_au is offline
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Exhaust gas smell?

Could be the EGR pipe that comes off the RDS manifold to the inlet manifold. Though it would make a noise, worth a check though.

Harvey.
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