I Smell Gas In The Exhaust But There Is No Smoke... What Can It Be?

[DETANE]

Early In The Morning When I Start The Car It Gives Of A Very Powerful Smell Of Gas In The Exhaust But There Is No Smoke. I Took It To My Friend Today Who Works For A Shop To Put It On The Lift. He Checked The Cats (catalytic Converters) And He Said They Where Fine, He Then Checked The Resonator And Muffler And He Said Those Where Fine Too. He Then Told Me It Might Need A Tune Up, So When He Brought It Down Off The Lift He Check To See If The Engine Was Running Even And Smooth And He Told Me The Engine Is Running Perfectly, He Checked Compression And Everything He Thought Might Be Causing This Smell But He Found Nothing. Infact He Told Me My Car Looks And Runs Like A New Car (thanks Buddy). I Told Him I Take The Car For Regular Oil Changes And I Clean My Filter Often.

So Can Any Body Please Tell Me What Is Causing That Smell??

[lkchris]

Cold cars run rich.

This does not necessarily create smoke.

[DETANE]

is this normal??

[cap_n420]

my car doesnt really have to much smoke coming out the exhuast unless its warm in cold weather.

[xlimodriver]

Originally Posted by cap_n420

my car doesnt really have to much smoke coming out the exhuast unless its warm in cold weather.

I assume by "smoke" you mean the condensation vapour when your running the car when it's cold outside?

[cap_n420]

im not even the one asking the question but yea

[ProV1x]

my E420 gives off TONS of white condensation vapor during wintertime. why is this?

[Musikmann]

Originally Posted by lkchris

Cold cars run rich. This does not necessarily create smoke.

I agree with Kent. If this is your only symptom, I don't think you have anything to be concerned about.

[Musikmann]

Originally Posted by DETANE

is this normal??

In my opinion, yes.

[Musikmann]

These are 2 different things guys! If your car is burning oil, that is what I call "smoke". If you see "vapor" coming out of the exhaust pipe in cold weather, that is mainly due to the warm water content entering the colder outside air and completely normal for any car. Plus, you will see smoke in the air much longer than you will vapor.

These things have different colors too. The smoke from burning oil usually has a bluish/grey tint to it, and it will smell like burning oil. The condensation vapor should be mostly white, and it will smell more like burning gasoline.