anybody good with cars

[nealric]

Im a little worried about my car.
No car= no skiing.

I drive a '92 nissan maxima with 140k miles on it.

I got into it tonight after a week of not driving it and smelled gas inside the car. Also, I noticed what was either smoke or what seemed like a lot of condensation coming out the tailpipe (it was about 15 degrees).

Do I have reason to be worried?

Im thinking maybe the recent cold weather caused a seal to leak or something.

[LaramieSkiBum]

Unless your anti-freeze is seriously fucked up with too much water, I would seriously doubt there is any real damage to the engine as far as a cracked block goes. Condensation out exhaust pipes is perfectly normal, as water is a product of all combustion, it usually gets released as steam but whats left in the pipe condenses after the system cools. Also any water in the atmosphere will condense as well as temperatures drop. This water that has condensed will not nessisarly go back into the atmosphere after the air heats up again during the day, as there is no real air movement in a shut down exhaust system and the air in it will reach a saturation point where it will not evaporate any more water. At night the cycle continues.

When air cools down, it is the same effectivly as squeezing a sponge. Molecules slow down, get closer together, and sqeeze water vapor out and it condenses on surfaces. I.E. inside exaust systems. Think of your tent when you wake up on a cold night, dew in the morning...clouds, rain...on and on...

If you smell gas in the car, there is a problem...and you should be very careful. A few possiblities:

A) Fuel system leak (I'm assuming your car is not carborated as it is a '92)
B) Fuel vapor suppression problem

A-->major danger here, do not drive the car until you are POSITIVE this is not it....
B-->usually vapors in a gas tank are soaked up by a filter of some type, this might need changed out....I would think (but not stake my life or jeep on it) that the vapors from this sort of thing would not be sufficent for combustion.


I would suggest to you that if you are asking a question like this that you are probably not qualified to diagnose or fix the problem....you could try....but engine fire and 3rd degree burns on your face and hands = no skiing and plenty of bills if not death.

On the other hand if your car is carborated or some older kind of fuel injection other than direct injection (such as throttle body) than a little gas smell might not be unusual. If you can smell it in the cabin tho, something is wrong.

Take it some where, have it towed - gas leaks are not something you fuk around with.

Just my opinion --> I'm no mechanic, just a jeep lover.

Others will have more to add I'm sure....try www.google.com also

[Keoni]

www.maxima.org

Go to the tech forums, lots of info