CO in cabin?

Hi, I'm just wondering if anyone else has/had the same problem I'm
experiencing. Two months ago my exhaust manifold opened up and allowed
fumes to enter the cabin. That is fixed with a new manifold. I don't have
aftermarket headers or anything like that. Now with no exhaust fumes in the
car, I'm still experiencing symptoms such as tiredness and headaches after
driving the car for 30 minutes or so. This is with the windows closed.
When they are open, I don't experience it. Any ideas? This problem is
really bugging because I was hoping the repair would have fixed it but it
didn't. Thanks

 

have

what year/model? how many miles?

maybe they didnt tighten the manifold enough, either to the head or the
downpipe? maybe it loosened up?

 

I would head over to to hardware store and get a carbon monoxide
detector. Leave it in the car when you are driving and see what it says.
When you are done with the diagnostic work, mount it in your home.

There are still many carbon monoxide detectors on the market that are
not battery operated, obviously you want one that runs on batteries.
Also, get one that has a display, as these will show the CO level even
when the level is too low to cause an alarm. Something like
http://www.kiddesafety.com/900-0089.shtml would be perfect for the job.

 

It's a 98 civic si (canadian) with 155,000 km on it.

You are the first person to question the work. I had my doubts too but
couldn't bring myself to suspect it. I did check the manifold for leaks but
couldn't find a definite leak. What I did find was the gasket connecting
the 4 tubes to the 2 tubes was something like one of those 'gasket in a
tube' things. Where its like silicone and squeeze to make a gasket. I
touched the parts that oozed out and they fell off. So, my question is 'is
it normal to not use a solid gasket (rubber, metal)? I will check the nuts
tomorrow, thanks!

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I think I do have a detector that runs on
batteries. I'll give that a go tomorrow.

 

You have at least two leaks. One or more in the exhaust system and the
other in the bodywork. At speed, CO shouldn't be getting into the
cabin even if the exhaust is leaking. Or does your normal driving
involve slow movement in traffic? In any case, pull up the carpets and
look for rusted out holes in the floorboards.

 

Thanks John. I will check out the floorboards as soon as it stops raining
here. As for the speeds, it doesn't change whether I'm on the highway or
regular roads. I still have a slight headache regardless. I'm getting it
checked today and I will post the result if they find anything.

 

This is the 1st time I heard about RTV being used on exhaust manifold. I haven't
seen a RTV that is good enough to be used in such application. Am I out of date?

Anyway, I'll get nauseating just from smelling the odor from RTV. Could this be
your case breathing the fume from the RTV?

 

I went to the dealer and they didn't find any leaks. I'm not sure how
thorough the check was but that's what they said. I also talked to someone
there about the silicone sealant. He told me the silicone was probably used
to make a better seal for the 2 gaskets that join the manifold to the down
pipe (not sure if that's the correct term). There's no smell as far as I
can tell.

I wanted to try the CO detector but I only had the wallplug ones. Thanks
for the brainstorming so far.

 

CO is odorless - don't go by that.

 

Have you examined your windshield carefully to make sure there are no
visual problems. A slight waviness gives me a fierce headache.

 

John makes excellent points here. However, the two leaks have to be
somewhat close together. The only planned 'leak' is the tailpipe, that
happens to correspond with a low pressure area (the area behind the car).
An opening around the trunk or hatch area will permit exhaust gasses to
be drawn into the car. This is where I would look first. Also, pulling
up the carpets is a bit of challenge in most modern cars. It would be
easier to put the car on a hoist and inspect in from underneath.

Dan

(This account is not used for email.)

 

CO is odorless - don't go by that.


I was just making reference to the silicone that it didn't emit an odour as
Sean suggested. Thanks

 

As far as I can tell there are no problems with the windshield. I can drive
with the windows open and I won't get that slight headache (after
30minutes). It only happens with the windows closed. Thanks for the
suggestion though.

 

John makes excellent points here. However, the two leaks have to be

I learned that pretty fast when I tried to get at the carpets yesterday. I
will check underneath. Also, I'm wondering if it could be the pvc valve
area that is leaking? I did a scan with my nose around the engine bay and
found that there is a slight odour around that area. I pulled the pcv valve
a few months ago to give it a check. The initial pull was quite difficult
(lots of effort pulling), but since then it's really easy to install and
remove. So, I'm wondering if the seal around the pcv has weakened? Is that
possible?

 

PCV valve does not vent exhaust. It provides an outlet for gasses from the
crankcase (oil) and sucks them back into the engine to be burned. Those
gasses should not make you feel sleepy. Until PCV valves were added in the
'60s, there was a "breather" pipe where the PCV valve is now that simply
vented to the atmosphere.

If you are feeling the effects of an exhaust leak, it's not the PCV valve.

By the way - (per the factory service manual) you test the PCV valve on a
Honda by pinching the hose with the engine running and listen for the valve
to click. There is no need to remove it to check it.

 

And if it is currently rainy weather, the carpets may be damp/wet
if there's a pathway from outside.

 

Thanks E. Meyer for the info.

 

Yes, it is harder, but I stand by my advice as a result of my
experience a few summers back with a CRX. I had the car up on a hoist
and went around poking with a philips screwdriver to see if there were
any holes. I found a few, but things didn't look too bad.

So I pulled out the seats and pulled up the carpets with the intention
of spending a few afternoons patching things up.

Ha! It was a disaster area! There were holes all over the place as a
result of road salt in the carpets. The worst places were directly
under the damn sealing compound the factory puts in all the cracks.
I spent weeks brazing sheet metal all over the floor of that car!

Of course maybe you don't have to worry about road salt where you
live. But if you do, remember that the worst salt isn't what the
wheels spray onto the fenders, it's the salty slush that falls off
your boots onto the carpets.

 

Thanks John. I'll give it a go one weekend when I have time off. I'm in
Toronto so they do fill the roads with salt. Just hope my car isn't like
swiss cheese.