It's about 65 degrees out, humid, and I can see my exhaust...problem?

Question

I've also smelled what seems to be burning plastic in my interior. I popped the hood and everything was fine smell wise, and even gave the exhaust a sniff, also fine. I've had issues with my blower motor, so I wouldn't be surprised if that's the source of the smell.
For the record, it's a 00 Old's Alero.

Answer 1

This has to be a compromised water jacket and coolant is getting into the combustion cycle.

Probably need to keep tabs on the coolant level. If the motor is cold you can take the radiator cap of the coolant reservoir or radiator and then start the car and see if bubbles come out or the coolant shoots into the air like a geiser. This would be compressed gasses leaking between the cylider head(s) and the engine block.

Aluminum heads do crack on occasion. Also, there seems to be a rash of intake manifold gasket leaks on some GM engines and I think there was a recall on this. Don't klnow if this model has this motor. The heads and intake manifold ae part of the cooling and heater processes.

If it happened to be your heater core then the coolant would be hitting the exhaust manifold as it leaks out into a tray and there's a tube that lets it drip or run out on the ground on the engine side of the firewall.

Heater cores can be an insane item to repair and the labor is ridiculous for a cheap part.

Either of these possibilities are a need to fix item since you need coolant that is under pressure in the motor to keep it from over heating.

Best of Luck!

Answer 2

First thing I would check is the coolant level,if you can see exhaust gases at that temp it may not be exhaust that you are seeing it may be anti freeze that's going into the combustion chamber,you mentioned blower motor was that the heater or cooling fan motor if it was the latter definitely check the coolant.

Answer 3

It may be a problem but it is usally called running rich and it is caused by bad gas. The smell in the interior could be electrical and its probably a good idea to have that checked