Help! Exhaust gas comes in through my vents!

[blaze93gs]

Just like the title says sometimes when I drive my car exhaust gas and smoke will pour through my vents filling the car with smoke. I'm completely stumped as what it can be. I'm hoping some of you mx-3 gurus can help me out. Also motor is a k8 and the smoke that comes in is a little white/grayish in color.

[Ryan]

How badly?

Does it smell like exhaust or coolant or oil?

In any case, you have a leak in your engine bay, somewhere.

the intake for the HVAC system is under the wiper cowl. At highway speeds this probably doesn't bother you, but when you're going slow or stopped the engine bay air comes up through there and sucked inside.

Start looking for leaks in the bay area.

[mitmaks]

Check under the hood, perhaps your exhaust is leaking inside engine bay and gets sucked into interior.

[blaze93gs]

The smoke is bad enough that it i could probably be an extra in cheech and chong movie. The smoke isn't always there but I can still smell the fumes and it smells like exhaust not like coolant. I checked for leaks in the engine bay before but couldn't find anything I'll look under the wiper cowl, but even if I'm on the highway I can still some what smell it. It's very annoying and also hazardous to the health.

[Daninski]

Check your valve covers for a disconnected hose. Oil can leak out and drop onto your exhaust manifold and remember. Carbon monoxide is absorbed 50 times faster/easier than oxygen by the lungs so get this fixed and fast. Your brain cells will thank you.

[blaze93gs]

Hahah I need all the brain cells I can get but seriously tho everything is hooked up in the back and I see no oil dripping or leaking, and I pulled the wiper cowl off and started the car and I couldn't see any smoke coming out of the engine so I'm lost. Could it be the egr by any chance or maybe a bad exhaust manifold gasket? Also it doesn't sound like any exhaust is leaking any where too.

[Ryan]

You should be able to hear an exhaust leak quite clearly.

[blaze93gs]

When I was under there I couldn't hear anything that would sound like a leak. On the car I used to have it had an exhaust leak but nothing under the hood of the mx sounds like a leak.

[mikeinaus]

any chance your rear valve cover is leaking oil onto the exhaust manifold? when you say your car fills up with smoke, do you mean fumes or actual smoke like its hot boxed?

[blaze93gs]

Well there's no oil leaking it dry as a bone. The car literally does fill up with smoke and fumes.

[Daninski]

Sounds to me like your heater is leaking and what you think is oil is really coolant.

[Nd4SpdSe]

Question it does it make a difference if your air is on Fresh or Recirculate?

[blaze93gs]

If I have it on fresh air the smoke and fumes come in, if it's on recirculate no fumes or smoke. Now would coolant burning off smell sweet?

[mitmaks]

If I have it on fresh air the smoke and fumes come in, if it's on recirculate no fumes or smoke. Now would coolant burning off smell sweet?

yes, it smells sweet, that's why cats love it and lick it all the time.
It sounds to me like your heater core might be leaking or where lines go through firewall, must be dripping on exhaust somewhere and burning off.

[Daninski]

The smoke is bad enough that it i could probably be an extra in cheech and chong movie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RX_Wuvya0iU

Anyway I think you should hang one of those Xmas tree fresheners and stop worrying about it.