Your car's exhaust system can occasionally develop a leak, which can be acause for concern.
An exhaust leak can cause your check engine light to come on because itcan affect your oxygen sensors' fuel/air mixture reading. This willcause a bad sensor reading, sending a trouble code to your enginecomputer.
Keep reading to find out more about the problems you may encounter if youhave an exhaust leak.
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Will Exhaust Leak Give A Check Engine Light?
An exhaust leak can cause a check engine light in your car.
One or more oxygen sensors monitor your exhaust system, which reports theair and fuel levels sent through the exhaust manifold and the tailpipe.
If these levels are thrown off from their normal measurements, the oxygensensors will detect this and send the information to your engine computer.
When this happens, the computer will turn on the check engine light to warnyou that there is a problem with your vehicle that needs your attention.
Will An Exhaust Leak Throw A Code?
An exhaust leak that lets extra air, known as "unmetered air," into yourexhaust system will cause the oxygen sensors to register this as a troublecode.
The oxygen sensor will send this code to your engine computer, which willstore the code. You can then read the code with a code reader, which youcan use to pinpoint where the problem has occurred.
What Does An Exhaust Leak Sound Like?
An exhaust leak that happens before the muffler will cause an unmistakableloud rumbling noise under your car.
If the leak occurs after the muffler, it will still be loud enough tonotice, but the muffler will help to reduce a little of the noise.
What Are The Symptoms Of An Exhaust Leak?
Thankfully, you can easily identify an exhaust leak because it has a fewsigns that are hard to miss.
1. Loud noise under your car
Your exhaust system is designed to reduce the noise level caused by yourengine's combustion process.
If your car develops an exhaust leak, it can reduce the ability of themuffler to keep your engine running quietly.
If you start noticing loud noise under your car when your engine isrunning, it's a sure sign you have an exhaust leak.
2. Exhaust smell around or inside your car
Ideally, the tailpipe carries your car's exhaust to the back of yourvehicle and away into the air.
A leak in your exhaust, especially toward the front of the exhaust pipes,can cause the exhaust fumes to collect around your car instead.
This can be dangerous because it can cause toxic exhaust fumes to be pulledinside your vehicle while running.
3. Problems with stalling or misfiring
As stated before, your engine measures your exhaust fumes to adjust thefuel/air mixture to the correct levels to run its best.
An exhaust leak can throw off these readings, causing your engine to eitheruse too much or too little fuel.
If it adjusts too much in either direction, it can cause your engine tostall out, run rough, or misfire in one or more of the cylinders.
4. Exhaust backfiring
This goes along with other loud exhaust noises, but it's worth it's ownlisting. If you've heard a car backfire, you know it's impossible to miss.
A backfire happens when unburned fuel inside your exhaust pipes gets hotenough to ignite, causing it to combust inside the pipes.
This will cause a loud, sharp bang that sounds similar to a gunshot, whichwill get the attention of everyone around you at the time.
What Problems Can An Exhaust Leak Cause?
An exhaust leak can lead to several potential issues you should watch out for, so you should get it fixed as soon as possible.
The leaking exhaust fumes can collect inside your vehicle, harming you andother passengers.
It can also cause poor performance in your engine, such as stalling,sputtering, and misfiring.
How Expensive Is It To Fix An Exhaust Leak?
The cost to repair an exhaust leak depends on the location and severity ofthe leak.
For example, if the leak is bad enough to require a new section of pipe tobe welded in place, it will be more expensive than a crack that needs to bepatched up.
The cost also depends on who does the repair work for your car. Forexample, if you or a friend have welding knowledge and equipment, you couldrepair it for much less than a muffler shop would.
The total repair cost for a leak could be anywhere from less than $100 toseveral hundred dollars. It all comes down to what is required to fix theproblem.
Conclusion
A leaky exhaust system can cause a check engine light, which will give youa hint that it's time to have it checked out.
It's worth taking this problem seriously, but it can also be an easy fix ifcaught early and not given a chance to get worse over time.
