Car question, not audio related, but odor related

PoweredByDodge

i didn't read the whole thread, but most of it - and i'm agreeing with Jstas completely...

YOU DO NOT WASH ENGINES.

even pre-computer motors ARE NOT HAPPY WITH WATER BEING DUMPED ON THEM... this is why we have such wonderful things are weatherstripping along the cowl and HOODS. in the rain, water is splashed up against the oil pan and the fenders, and between the two is usually a rubber shield... very littler water ends up on top of the actual engine.

stupid ****.

some guys in here are very young and/or very impressionable. they may look at something said in these forums as "gospel", so be a little careful about what you reccomend --- if it has to potential to damage someone's equpiment or vehicle, watch your damn mouth, or at least explain yourself VERY thoroughly.

personally, i've never used simple green (but its like gumout engine degreaser right?). i have used gumout with a semi-stiff scrub brush ... i then removed the "icky stuff" with very damp, but by no means dripping at all, rags... then dried it with paper towels. i only did that once -- my 99 had gotten filthy inside and it was sucking "crap" into the 14" open eliment dish air cleaner filter.

what i have had done more than once, and have friends who have done, and have never seen a problem with - is steam cleaning an engine bay. one must be very careful to mask off any areas that may be prone to being hurt by semi-moderate pressures (not high pressure like a power washer, but something a little strong)... this would include the engine computer and associated harness, a piece of cardboard with a few strips of duct tape works great.

personally though, i dont think that's your problem.

either a) you are getting a little too rich mixture after dumping the throttle (gas pedal), which is resulting in unburnt fuel getting into the exhaust manifold (or headers). normally this is not a problem -- if your car was made before 1974. catalytic converters DO NOT LIKE UNBURNT FUEL. it fouls them up real bad... and makes them smell like rotten eggs and stinky doo doo. if you have mini-ox cats which are like not even a foot from the manifold, this would explain why it's coming from the engine compartment.

b) you just plain have a small exhaust leak probably in the front pipe or in the header/manifold... take a look... let the car sit till everything is nice and cold.. i mean REAL COLD. then push it up onto some of those ramp deals that get you about a foot off the ground... block the wheels, all that safe ****, and start it up... then get under there immediately and you'll have maybe 30 seconds to be able to actually touch the exhaust pipe and see if you can feel a leak. after that, it's going to be far too hot to touch without burning yourself. if you can't find it that way - wait till its cold outside - like say 30 degrees or something... do the same thing, but dont worry about pushing it - just drive the **** onto the ramps... lay on the ground (not necessarily under the car, but just so you have a good view of everything) and have a buddy start the car... and slightly rev the motor... due to the cold air and the exhaust being hot, if you have a leak you should see "fog" (the exhaust vapors and ****) coming out somewhere other than the tail pipe (if you have a leak... if you don't - you won't).

hellohello

ok, so it may be a leak... the headers are rusty, dont know how bad, probably pretty bad. Ill probably do the "put it on ramps in cold weather" option since its gettin cold.

what could be done about the converters if theyre the problem?

neomagus00

jstas - yes, that is me in the foreground... you are correct, i introduced myself to few people at polkfest, because 1) i'm not much of a people person, i have a difficult time with people i don't know, which is just me and 2) i didn't go to polkfest to meet the people - note my lack of attendance at the party the next day; i went to see some of the technical stuff, because that is where my interests lie... i also left early because i had to get back that night, previous engagements and all that...

a frivolous confrontation is one like so many recent threads, generally with you in them - instead of a logical, calm discussion, there are personal attacks that have nothing to do with the subject of the discussion... until the comment you made about me, there was none of that in this thread, thus my joy at the lack of a confrontation here...

and the rest of it was massive sarcasm, apparently the smilie didn't get it across... and the valor-discretion-cowardice comment is a direct quote from hitchiker's guide, i wanted to see if anyone would pick up on it

Jstas

neomagus00 wrote:

a frivolous confrontation is one like so many recent threads, generally with you in them - instead of a logical, calm discussion, there are personal attacks that have nothing to do with the subject of the discussion... until the comment you made about me, there was none of that in this thread, thus my joy at the lack of a confrontation here...

and the rest of it was massive sarcasm, apparently the smilie didn't get it across... and the valor-discretion-cowardice comment is a direct quote from hitchiker's guide, i wanted to see if anyone would pick up on it

Wow. You take some pot shots at me and then tell me I'm the one starting trouble. I guess it's ok because you are blowing it off as sarcasm.

I don't see confrontation as frivolous, ever. If I am going to confront someone it's because I see issue with thier statements or behaviors and I don't stand idlly by when I see such depreciations in character and behavior. I will always stand up for what I think is right and I will always give the best argument I can for why I think it is right. The problem with people today is that they are all too chickenshit to call each other on piss-poor behavior. If you do make an effort to straighten things out, your labelled as a ****, an **** or just arrogant because someone else thinks complacency and tolerance is OK. Yet those same people will be the first to complain that they don't know why people get away with what they get away with in today's world.

I don't care if people have a problem with me. I know who I am and I am true to myself. I will stand up for what I believe is right and if someone is going to attack me, I will go right back at them. I learned a long time ago that honesty is the best policy and that you only get into trouble by not saying what you mean and pussyfooting around what you are really trying to say. What does that get me? Brutal honesty. The truth hurts. One thing though, people very rarely misinterpret where I stand on a subject. I get misinterpreted when I am trying to explain a concept but that is a different matter altogether.

So if you don't mind, I will take offense to your statement stating that confrontations that involve me are frivolous. I was only razzing you previously but now I starting to think that there was a truth to my statements that I didn't see before.

I also got the Hitchiker's reference and while the statement is there, the counter argument is presented in the book by questioning the logic. It furthers the thought that how can discretion be the better part of valor when discretion is based on cowardice according to that train of logic? The questioning of that statement exposes it's contradictory nature and shows that one cannot have discretion if one has not had the courage to go to a point beyond discretion and test that limit. Discretion itself does not imply a fear that would be possessed by cowardess but rather a wisdom of knowing where the limit is and where the threshold of acceptable behavior would be and then not exceeding that threshold rather than stomping right up to the limit and achieving a status beyond jerk.

madmax

I've always power washed my chevy engines with no problem. Other products probably vary. A REALLY big mistake is to wash with the motor running. The water will suck right down the intake. As for jeeps, so you can run them through streams with water up to the top of the engine but you better not spray a hose on them?? Very strange.
madmax

neomagus00

please, point out a 'potshot' of mine, because i don't seem to recall making any, and any percieved 'potshots' were unintentional; i really need to learn how to express sarcasm better online... as far as being brutally honest, i respect you for your ability to stand against whatever opposition you see, real or percieved, but i don't believe that honesty need be brutal to be effective... i believe that this is a difference in opinion, not one of fact, and i'm going to leave it at that...

you seem to be a stickler for people 'putting words in your mouth', and rightfully so, but i'll have to argue your statement that i said 'every confrontation that involves you is frivolous'... instead, i said that many recent confrontations involved you - i did not say that you caused them, the intended implication was that you tend to perpetuate them - this thread being a case-in-point - you took a bit of lighthearted sarcasm much too seriously (from my point of view) and ran with it...

as far as the hitchhiker's reference goes, i very much did not intend for anyone to read into the statement that much - i'd actually forgotten the context until you reminded me, though i've never been much of one to read into books like that, i enjoy them at face value and leave it at that... but that's just me...

audiobliss

madmax wrote:

As for jeeps, so you can run them through streams with water up to the top of the engine but you better not spray a hose on them?? Very strange.
madmax

Yeah, it had something to do with some of the electronics in my Jeep. I'm not sure what exactly it was, and I'm not even sure if I was told what exactly it was. But, my dad is a Snap-On dealer and has quite a few reliable connections, so I'm not gonna question the advice.

Dennis Gardner

Now that we are back on track...............hellohello, It sounds like it is happening when you stretch your leg to push the accelerator to the floor during passing, so my suggestion is for you to......"lay off the tamales".

This is no doubt the source of gaseous smells in the cabin.

Send 10$ my way, since I my trouble shooting took all of 15 minutes.

hellohello

...yeah i know what causes it, but i want to know what "it" is

PoweredByDodge

1 - if the converters are bad, and its the mini-ox variety that are actually "pre converters" before the "big" converter - they're a dealer only / direct replacement only type of item... there are aftermarket onces, but they're clones of the OEM stuff, no generics.

2- if its the "big" cat... then you can get a generic one for about 50 - 75 bucks, or grab the OEM for about 3 bills. Walker (owners of Dynomax, or vice versa) make a great "direct fit oem style" cat for various cars. www.partsamerica.com (advance auto parts)

3- jeeps can only go into water that's as high as the motor if you have a snorkel setup attached. and you cannot have the electronics mounted that low ... they have to either be relocated inside the cabin (upper dash) or very high on the firewall.

hellohello

cool

audiobliss

cool cool :rolleyes: