Diesel exhaust smell

[phil1968]

Originally Posted by GreenBrick

Diesels smell, just follow one for a bit.
Which is why I am astounded that people buy open top diesels!

Never been a problem on mine

[monkeh]

All silliness aside. It may be a leak under the bonnet, May be worth whipping the lid off and looking around. Diesel smells should be pretty minute coming from the back end as the cat, and DPF take a lot of the nasties out.

If its a really 'makes the nose itch' smell then Its a leak from the downpipe
back to the catalyst system.

I had a leak on the 300c, Only evident at slightly higher revs and at startup. Caused by a loose banjo clamp on the exhaust elbow to turbocharger.
Previously it was leaking from the previous turbos casing. Which is why I replaced it.

The tell tale sooty bits help immensely.

[5cilinder]

A bit of tailwind at the lights is like farting in a closet

[bigbad]

Originally Posted by cassell

Hi,

My car is a XC90 D5 185bhp 2006 model 90k miles from new. I get an annoying burst of strong exhaust fumes on a random basis, never continuously.

It only ever enters the car when either the sunroof is tilted or open, or if a front window is slightly open, it never happens when all are closed, nothing ever smells via heater vents or bulkhead seals. It is perhaps most apparent after a prolonged drive, slow down for a roundabout, apply the power again, that's when it becomes noticeable.

There doesn't appear to be any exhaust blowing noise when stationary, there are no fault codes, the DPF and EGR appear to be clear, fuel consumption is an average 28mpg on mixed driving. A Volvo dealer, a reputable independent and my local garage have all been unable to find the cause, emissions at MOT test were excellent.

It's frustrating and puzzling and now the better weather is coming I'd love to use the sunroof more often, but my wife forbids it!! Has anyone had a similar situation or can anyone suggest a remedy?

Thanks.
Paul.

hi did you ever sort out the diesel fume problem , mine is the same as yours and no one can find a problem
flipping hate diesel !

[Bashy]

What about a leaking exhaust, this is normally cause for exhaust smell into the cabin, you think there is no leak but it sounds like youve not had it professionally checked?

[YorkshireDave]

FWIW I suffered a similar issue when an injector was beginning to leak and long before the chuffing stage.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by cassell

Has anyone had a similar situation or can anyone suggest a remedy?

Thanks.
Paul.

Sell it and buy a petrol!

Seriously, that would be one solution.

Second is find a friendly local mechanic with a decent 4-post ramp and get it up in the air while a willing victim sits in the driving seat with the engine running.
Get them to periodically give the throttle a hefty blip and from underneath observe the engines movement (possible engine mount failure) and the exhaust movement as it may have a small break in it that is only obvious on the over-run - you can't lay underneath it while decelerating for obvious reasons so blipping the throttle heavily will hopefully recreate the movement.

Note that a 2-post ramp wouldn't be suitable, first there would be the problem of getting the willing victim into the car, second most 2-posters tend to let the car become unstable during procedures like this and you don't want it falling off!
Last but not least, the suspension would be on full droop so may serve to restrain the engines movement by virtue of the driveshafts - unlikely but possible and you need to eliminate as many error factors as possible to try and find this.