Fumes in car?

[rob - 73]

Heavy week in my cupra. I felt lightheaded and a bit sick when driving to work on monday morning, then was ok at work. Then felt the same driving home. Again on tuesday. Changed my pollen filter..still happening. Turns out it was mild carbon monoxide poisoning. I was lucky not to pass out.. Car booked in to dealers, has anybody got any ideas what it could be and how much it will cost?

 

[lc_allan]

Hole/leak in header pipes or breather hoses?.

 

[rob - 73]

Cheers, is this a common fault? How much do u think this will cost? As it'p at the dealers because i don't want to risk not doing it right or missing something as this week has been at total freakout..

 

[olliep]

incomplete combustion of the fuel. i'm not mechanical enough to know what would cause it however maybe poor ignition?. have you noticed your fuel economy getting worse? i had CO problems once upon a time from a hole in my exhaust.

 

[vwbassett]

Havent got a clue what it could be but might be worth sticking a rag over the exhaust when running and see if you can hear a leak further up the system. Dont leave it blocked for long though.

 

[everitt1980]

My mate had this problem with his cupra. Always a smell of petrol fumes inside, turned out it was a split hose in the engine bay. Can't remember which hose it was one that splits from single into a double. Only cost him about £15 from dealers and an easy diy change. I'll find out what hose it was on his.

 

[everitt1980]

Just checked with him and he says it was the breather hose that was split. You can see it if you take the engine cover off. Small black hose about 10 inches long and splits into two. The part number is on it apparently. Dealer only though. Hope this helps.

 

[BenO]

I had a similar issue with a constant smell of fumes in the car, found no split hoses anywhere. Hadn't considered CO at the time, thats a bit of a worry. Anyway the smell has completley gone after having the full exhaust replaced turbo backwards. Might have a good look at the old one and see if theres a weak spot.

 

[rob - 73]

thanks guys..... well the car is in now. I got a call about an hour ago ,they said that they checked everything and found nothing, no leaks, nothing... weird.

The centre section of my exhaust did need welding though... that would be that annoying squeeking... I will keep you posted...

 

[MrJohnnyB]

Surely carbon Monoxide is a bye product of the combustion of Petrol? So i wouldnt be too worried about whether it was combusting correctly or not. I presume you're showing no error codes either?

 

[kineticz]

Initially thought your cat might need replacing but suppose that would be more an eggy smell

 

[bigdavehornsea]

i had the same problem when i had my old car, as daft as it sounds does your boot rattle at all or is loose cause mine was and when your movin your car draws in exhaust fumes from the back ie exhaust. strange how it does it but i had my boot tightened up and it stopped!! so have a check of that!!!

 

[rob - 73]

OK guys... I got the car back from Seat, the centre section of the exhaust welded, the A/C sanitised and all the hoses / pipes checked - no leaks (well any more).

So far no more symptoms so fingers crossed that is it, for the record I also got a new pair of glasses at roughly the same time as the symptoms,... turns out that the cabon monoxide symptoms

lightheadness, headaches and sickness.. can also be a side effect of incorect pescriptions.. glasses are back at the opticians to get cheked out....

Anyone else had this problem with new spec??

Cheers as always for the responses...

rob..

 

[JamJay]

Headaches are a symptom of eyestrain yes, but kind of not related at all to your intial thought of Carbon Monoxide poisoning what so ever

So what was the bottom line, were your peepers doing a number on you or was it the car? At least you got your squeaky exhasut fixed anyway.

 

[antbee123]

i had this same prob on my zafira gsi. only started the day i put my dump valve on.. sounds mad i know smashed it a week later so dont know what it was but defo some thing to do with dv thou.

 

[Avant4me]

i had the same problem when i had my old car, as daft as it sounds does your boot rattle at all or is loose cause mine was and when your movin your car draws in exhaust fumes from the back ie exhaust. strange how it does it but i had my boot tightened up and it stopped!! so have a check of that!!!

This is very interesting. Had a fumes in the car just after my full system was fitted, which turned out to be the turbo gasket fitted upside down. THat was corrected and all was fine. I have had the smell back recently, which coincided with my boot starting to rattle. i have been putting off fixing it as its such a pain to get the plastic off, but i will look at this over the next few days.

 

[olliep]

This is very interesting. Had a fumes in the car just after my full system was fitted, which turned out to be the turbo gasket fitted upside down. THat was corrected and all was fine. I have had the smell back recently, which coincided with my boot starting to rattle. i have been putting off fixing it as its such a pain to get the plastic off, but i will look at this over the next few days.

are you 1000,000 percent sure that its the boot? only that you mentioned the noise and the smell coincided together, it made my head go 'ping' and the thought came to check your turbo/exhaust manifold bolts. mine came lose and caused fumes to enter the cabin and also rattled quite a bit. just a thought

 

[BenO]

are you 1000,000 percent sure that its the boot? only that you mentioned the noise and the smell coincided together, it made my head go 'ping' and the thought came to check your turbo/exhaust manifold bolts. mine came lose and caused fumes to enter the cabin and also rattled quite a bit. just a thought

Thats interesting, as i mentioned the smell in mine went completely after the full system was replaced so it was definitly something with the exhaust. Is there a gasket inbetween the manifold / downpipe that can slip or perish? There is a circular mark on my old downpipe where it used to meet the manifold that is off centre and looks as if something wasn't seated properly.

 

[olliep]

yes there is a gasket in the joint and it does tend to perish. needs to be REPLACED every time you fettle with the turbo/exhaust manifold i.e. new exhaust or repairs or whatever. not expensive. if the gasses are coming from here its worth replacing the bolts and dreanching them in loctite.

 

[SK-1987]

Having the same issue. Fumes / smouldering smell comin in through the vents at stand still traffic. Slowly poisoning me as the days go by.
Cant see any any splits or holes in any pipes. Exhaust looks ok. Brakes seem fine. Pollen filter fine, air filter fine. Smell seems to be coming from between the battery and air filter box.
Any ideas where else to check?
Ibiza mk5