Gas engine fumes

Mike M · Jul 27, 2016

Cars with catalytic converters have been around awhile now.
Ever notice how bad the older cars smell when you get around some of them now ! I don't know how we ever stood them ?

rustyfarmall · Jul 27, 2016

(quoted from post at 12:20:11 07/27/16) Cars with catalytic converters have been around awhile now.
Ever notice how bad the older cars smell when you get around some of them now ! I don't know how we ever stood them ?

I very raely ever paid any attention to the smell of exhaust gas, until the advent of the catalytic convertor. Those newer cars REALLY stunk.

The exhaust from my old Farmall H doesn't stink nearly as bad as the exhaust from my 2001 truck.

Mike M · Jul 27, 2016

There are some that have the rotten egg smell.

dr sportster · Jul 27, 2016

I call that a GM gas attack . Mostly GM gets the egg smell.

glennster · Jul 27, 2016

i have an old pickup that is pre cat, burning the e-10 gas really makes it stink. i am guessing its the alcohol and all the additives in the fuel that do that. cat equipped cars prolly burn a lot of that up so you dont notice it.

Geo-TH,In · Jul 27, 2016

Mike, You may find it hard to believe , the exhaust from my 2007 GMC doesn't bother me . Can't smell it. No headaches.
Start any old gas engine, mower or tractor inside garage or barn, instant headache.

Mike M · Jul 27, 2016

I believe you because I notice it too. That's why I started this separate post.

dhermesc · Jul 27, 2016

Back in the 70s and 80s some cars with cats did stink - I think they were burning leaded gas (remember the nozzle adaptors?). It's been years since I've noticed it though.

Brown Swiss · Jul 27, 2016

Correct me if I am wrong but I think a gas engine for the most part only burns 15 to 20% of the fuel you put in the tank the rest is sent out the tail pipe, thanks to the catalytic converter the rest is now burned.

Janicholson · Jul 27, 2016

Not really the answer. The thermal efficiency of the gas engine is in that range but the fuel can, and is for the most part, be burnt up. The heat loss is in the oil pan, coolant, and exhaust. Old engines might burn 75 to 80%, new computer controlled engines can push 97% or more Hydro carbons oxidized. Jim

Frantz · Jul 27, 2016

I love the smell myself. Not that I want to get high off it, but following an old car, running tractors, or working on my own old cars always make me happy, so perhaps thats why I like the smell.

Gambles · Jul 27, 2016

Quite a few years ago, I put in a carb kit on an Chevy Impala. IIRC, it was a late-70s car, V8 and it had a catalytic converter. For those of you too young to remember doing a carb kit, you bottom the screws all the way in, adjust them out 1-1/2 to 2 turns, fill the carb bowl up with gas, start them up and let them warm up before final adjustments.
Anyway, I started this car up and the fumes were terrible. It chased me out of the shop and chased just about everybody else out also. We had tears in our eyes as we hit the outside to get fresh air. The funny thing was that it was just fine after the warm-up and final adjustment. At first, I thought I had done an improper kit installation and none of the other guys could believe that it adjusted out just fine.
While they all might stink a little bit before they warm up, I think there was something about the GM cars doing it. I never had a Ford stink that bad.

ericlb · Jul 27, 2016

since i run older trucks which dont have any converters on them, i can tell you that if the engine is in proper tune, the smell isnt a problem ,except for possibly cold start when the choke is on, several of my trucks spend a lot of time idling with me working only a few feet away, ive never got any smell off them that was bad, the worst smell came from the mid 70's to mid 80's vehicles with the early converters,

WGM · Jul 27, 2016

Leaded gas could not be used with catalytic converters.

dhermesc · Jul 27, 2016

Happened all the time back in the late 70s and early 80s. I know because I did it, you bought the little plastic nozzels because the "regular" pipe was to big to fit in the "unleaded" filler. Fill the tank and toss the plastic nozzle in the trunk. "Leaded" fuel was cheaper than unleaded.

notjustair · Jul 27, 2016

You want a stinky gas engine? The worst was a 1986 Ford school bus I drove for about 10 years. It had the 370 engine and two barrel carb. It was hard to tell if it was running rich - those buses only get 4 miles to the gallon. There wasn't any smoke and it sure ran like a top. Boy did she have some fumes, though. It might be related to all of the smog pumps and things I pulled off of it. Oddly enough, I had an '87 with the 429 and it didn't have an nasty fumes at all (or smog pumps). It ran a whole lot hotter, though. It was a cooker.

oc-18guy · Jul 27, 2016

I thought that was just diesels that gave you a headache???

Texasmark1 · Jul 28, 2016

I can remember back in the 50's when I was a kid just how bad they stunk. Probably 1 in 5 was burning oil. One in 100 was sitting on the side of the road with some kind of mechanical/tire problem. Yepper, those were the good old days........my foot. EPA and all aren't always bad for us.

One of the main stinkers was Chevy and the Quadrajet carb later on in the 60's and 70's and the "manifold heat riser" automatic choke. Belch, belch, raw fuel, black plumes out the tail pipe. Hated to get behind a Chevy pickup especially...Fact, not a bash. My current PU is a Chevy (EPA workover) as was my first, a babbit bearing '47 "three on the tree" that got 50 mpg (of oil, not gas). Grin

Gas engine fumes

Mike M

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rustyfarmall

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Mike M

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dr sportster

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glennster

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Geo-TH,In

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Mike M

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dhermesc

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Brown Swiss

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Janicholson

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Frantz

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Gambles

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ericlb

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WGM

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dhermesc

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notjustair

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oc-18guy

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Texasmark1

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