If you are not familiar with used cars, seeing oil coming out of your exhaust pipe could give you some measures of worry. If you are not driving a brand new car, expect occasional exhaust pipe oil leak problems reason being that it’s a common problem with used cars.
How to Identify Exhaust Pipe Oil Leak Problems.
Check to Know if The Oil is Limited to The End of The Exhaust Pipe: The starting point when trying to solve exhaust pipe oil leak problem is checking to know if the leakage is limited to the tip of the pipe. This is very important because sometimes the liquid that comes out of the exhaust are not oil but a mixture of soot and condensation.
You are likely going to experience burning of soot that appears like oil if you haven’t cleaned your car exhaust over a long period of time. Just wash the soot and condensation off and and thereafter watch to see if the oil leakage is still reoccurring. If it does, you may need to visit your mechanic for further diagnosis.
Ruptured Head Gasket: The head gasket is a part of the exhaust system hence, can contribute to exhaust pipe leak problem. If the head gasket is ruptured, the exhaust system becomes more prone to oil leakages through the seals.
This usually results in diverse problems which are but not limited to high fuel consumption, overheated engine as well reduced engine performance. To solve this problem, visit your mechanic to replace the bad gasket as soon as possible.
Congested PVC Valve: If your PVC valves are congested, there will be too much pressure on your engine no thanks to the volume of gas that pass through it. The usual result of a pressured engine is that it forces oil to pass through several seals into the exhaust pipe.
Be sure to replace clustered valve as soon as you can knowing fully well that it is the primary channel through which gasses get to the combustion chambers.
Worn Valve Guides: Worn Valve guides allow oil to seep into cylinder or cylinders overnight and this may result in exhaust oil leak problems. This problem usually doesn’t last long reason being that after the seeped oil tend to burn off after a short period of time.
One major problem with worn valve guides is that your car tend to release too much smoke into the air for a period of time.
The Smoke Colours: If you notice oil leak in your exhaust, another way to diagnose its real cause is to identify the real color of the smoke. Each smoke color is traceable to specific cause and this can in turn make it easy for you or your mechanic to proffer solution to the exhaust problem.
For instance, if your exhaust pipe emits black smoke, it’s a clear indication that your engine has failed to burn some fuel components. Also, if engine oil leaks into the combustion chamber, your exhaust will sure produce bluish or gray smoke.
Signs of Exhaust Problems
Exhaust problems come with several signs such as excessive noisy engine, decreased fuel efficiency as well as decreased power and acceleration. Others include hanging exhaust pipe, burning smell from the engine bay and gas smell.
Excessive Noisy Engine: Always pay close attention to the sound of your engine so as to know it suddenly becomes excessively noisy. An excessively noisy engine is a sign that something is wrong with your exhaust and there is need for immediate fixing. Faulty and leaking gasket usually produce irregular sounds such as hissing or tapping.
Such irritating sound becomes obvious during cold start or acceleration and gets worst as time goes on. When next your engine produce such irritating sounds, tank to your mechanic for immediate fix.
Decreased Power and Acceleration: A faulty exhaust affects the performance of the engine. Accelerating a car with faulty exhaust is usually difficult and of little or no impact. Expect worse scenario if you don’t take care of the problem on time.
Decreased Fuel Efficiency: Fuel efficiency decreases along side power and acceleration. Your engine will consume more fuel than usual because you have to apply more pressure in order to get result. Also, cost of fueling your car may for very few period of time may surpass cost of fixing problem if you exhibit delay.
Hanging Exhaust Pipe: If by any means your exhaust pipe falls and drags on the ground, have it fixed immediately. Any act of delay poses danger to you and other road users. Also, think about the the pollution and other hazards it tends to cause if it falls off.
Burning Smell from the Engine Bay: When a gasket fails and begins to leak near engine wiring, it could burn due to the heat that emits from there. It emits smoke and burning smell and at times it does not emit smoke. Do not wait till you see smoke before you check and take necessary action so as to avoid disaster.
Gas Smell: The smell of gas inside the car especially when driving is a sign of exhaust problem. This happens when the exhaust pipe or one of it gets damaged and begins to leak. It sometimes happens in the cabin of the car.
Reasons for Exhaust Pipe Oil Leak
Exhaust pipes are made from metals hence, they are bound to experience some forms of wear and tear after a long period of time. This is traceable to the amount of heat they absorb whenever an engine runs as well as and vice versa.
Also, just like the wear and tear of the exhaust manifold, the gasket may as well become weak and subsequently give way to leakages. The gasket is going to give in to pressure after a certain period of time and if not replaced on time, leakage becomes inevitable.
However, leaking exhaust pipe is common problem with cars that have been in use for a very long time. The more you use your car, the more the parts wear out if you don’t take proper care of them.
To avoid most the problems associated with pipe leak problems, adhere to professional recommendations with respects to your car maintenance.
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