Horrible Exhaust Smell

[shlby123]

Hey fellas. I've had my mustang for roughly a month now (89 LX 5.0) and the gas fumes that this car puts out are starting to make me nauseous when I drive. I gotta get this taken care of before I throw up in the car one of these days. I have to use 93 octane for the car to run smooth. But what are the many different possibilities that could be the culprit across the board?

 

[04sleeper]

Go under the hood and make sure the charcoal canister is hooked up and all the connections are good.

It is located along the inside front frame rail on the passenger side of the engine compartment. It has a couple of hoses running to it and a plug.

If it is gas smell coming from your exhaust, then check to see if you do not have any leaks.

 

[shlby123]

will the charcoal canister be pretty apparent? Never noticed it from looking under the hood.

 

[DMAN302]

Pull the codes on the car to see if it wants to tell you to check something. Charcoal canister is black box located on the passenger side by the front of the engine. It's litterally a box with rubber lines going into it...very very close proximity to the smog pump located at the bottom passenger side front of the motor.

 

[shlby123]

can running a car without cats cause that nasty smell? I dont even know if have them. but then again, i dont know **** about exhaust systems in general.

 

[04sleeper]

Charcoal canister looks like this.

Catalytic converters will look something like this.

Not running them could cause somewhat of a gas smell. Yes.

 

[shlby123]

badass! Thanks fellas, Im gonna go check for both and their condition as soon as I take my break!!

 

[just4bob50]

the rubber tube on the charcoal canister, where does that run to exactly. I have all my emissions on and working, and the car is in a good state of tune with no codes up on my code scanner. Every once and a while i get a bad exhaust smell, and I saw this post and checked the canister. The rubber hose must have been knocked off from some where but I can tell where.