exaust smell at idle after short trips

[themadness]

94 base 3100

i can smell an exhaust like smell when i walk up on the car at idle esp after short trips. its not rotten eggs and not a gas smell. its kind of hard to pin down what it actually smells like. i can smell it just a little when i am inside the car, again when it is at idle.

could that be the cat? o2 sensor?

[SuzukiGhostRider]

Sounds more like a bad exhaust donut gasket, manifold gasket or leak in the pipe to me.

[themadness]

tu parles englais si vous plait?

leak in the pipe seems straight forward to check, what about the others?

[keiffith]

Cats usualy suppress that "smell". If you have your original cat than thats what I tag it as.

[themadness]

cat is probably original, just a guess though. i have noticed my gas mileage is squat. i havent calculated, but 1/2 tank doesnt last me what i think it should and i dont do lots of driving. what other options(reasonably priced) are there to replacing it?

magnaflow? k&n.......straight pipes(idk if they are legal)

i had magnaflow on a s-10 with the 4.3 several years ago and loved the sound.

[DTMAce]

Just a note. Half a tank (by the gauge) is not really half a tank with these cars. LOL

More like 3/4 on the gauge is a half tank actual. But then maybe its just my gauge. When I have it full, it is buried clear in the F. And I usually am halfway to empty around 3/4 tank on the gauge, going by the mileage trip. But I know I can run it till it is well on the E before it starts to stumble. Did that this summer, see my sig below.

I would check for leaks, but sometimes I have noticed things like that over the many years I have had this car, always assumed it was a normal characteristic. It was worse when the muffler finally went bad, but since I put the new on, no problems.

[themadness]

it could be just one of those things since it is 17 years old, which makes me feel ancient. i always like to be safe about it. its a huge contrast from driving a jeep for 7 years. i was thinking about performance exhaust if the cat or muff goes out. how does the 3100 sound with something like a magnaflow set up? i know the s-10 i owned had the sexiest rolling rumble i had witnessed on a small truck.

[Barry]

I agree with ace, these gauges are a joke. Ill go 200 miles on the first quarter and 75 on the last 3/4

[DTMAce]

That's all you get Barry? Damn. I have to really pound on the gas pedal the entire tank to get it that bad, I rarely get under 300 a tank, mostly in cold weather.

Been averaging over 350 a tank lately, and that's getting over 25mpg. Hit my fuelly page if you guys don't believe me.

Fuelly

[3X00-Modified]

I'm bringing my fuel pressure checking gauge when I come to 2012... As well as my OBDI scanner.

[DTMAce]

Just have to check it don't you? *snicker