Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Carbon Monoxide in the cab?????

[Davison]

We have a Snug Top shell with a rubber seal to the cab that allows us the travel with the pass thru open.



A passenger complained of feeling sleepy and worried about carbon monoxide poisioning.



I tend to discount it, as CO being produced by a diesel would smell like diesel exhaust, right? Secondly, The exhaust pipe is sooooo far back, even with the slide window open, could the exhaust go up three feet and into the shell, then into the cab with all the wind forces going to the rear?



A neighbor that has the good taste to have the exact same truck as I do, said that he heard of people warning of exhaust being sucked into the shell and then into the cab!



Anybody heard anything about this?



Thanks!

 

[groser]

I don't know of a specific case but in theory it's very possible. There is a large vortex right behind your truck and the airstream goes every which way. You can see it in the rain when behind a pick up truck with a camper shell. In fact, in this month's Trailer Life mag there is an article about attaching vortex generators to the rear of your truck or trailer when towing to reduce this effect. Under this test the driver found the generators made a large difference in stability at speeds above 55 MPH. . We used similar devices on aircraft wings back when I was a "lad".

 

[Rambunctious]

It is impossible for diesel fuel to make carbon monocide during the combustion process!!

 

[Big_Daddy_T]

I though the reason we dont I. M. is the carbon monoxide released by a diesel is negligible.

Feeling sleepy is a symptom but I usually wait til my throat hurts and my eyes burn before I get out of my flinstones landcruiser. Its blowing about 7%monoxide and it sucks it in through the rear double doors( bad seals). I have to run around with my heater on to pressurise the cab.



One good sidenote on why I love Alaska. I left my truck on some property in a less developed area. There is still plenty of traffic cause its near several excellent salmon fishing holes. Its been there 2 months and no one has disturbed it. I went out there the other day to get the yellow top out of it. It was still there.

 

[CJBoggs]

It has happened to me...

I remember my dad telling me stories about exhaust being pulled into station wagons when running with their rear window cracked or all the way open back in the old days but I never really believed him (hard to smell with a clean burning gasser). My '83 GMC Jimmy (Blazer) 6. 2 Diesel proved the theory though. When running with the rear window closed there is no odor of diesel in the interior, but if the rear window is slightly cracked there is an immediate inrush of diesel particulate (the 6. 2 doesn't burn the fuel very well and emits quite a bit of soot in normal operation) that you can smell. If the window is completely open the inrush is greater. The draw is considerable as you can feel water mist on the back of your neck coming in the window 7 feet away if it is cracked while the vehicle is running in the rain. Additionally, I have noticed that over time as my seals degrade on the tailgate and allow a little leakage that there are "soot stains" appearing around the perimeter of the tailgate. Even with the windows up there is still a sufficient vortex or vaccuum to pull in some of the exhaust.



With our CTD's, the fuel is burned more efficiently than the 6. 2 Detroits and I find the exhaust much less offensive. Maybe that's why you don't actually have the smell of exhaust in the cab and depending on how leaky the seals are at the rear of your topper, I would think that it is possible for there to be some exhaust leaking through. One last thought: When I have the rear window up on the Jimmy and just crack one of my door windows, there is an immediate smell of diesel exhaust in the cab. It seems that the opening of the side windows helps pull a vaccuum in the cab and pull the exhaust through the areas not sealed in the tailgate. If I run with the windows closed and AC on, there is positive pressure and no exhaust smell. The Jimmy and your truck with a pass through and topper are similar in cab volume and function. I would think that if you ran with your door windows cracked or open that it would help to pull some of the exhaust in just as it does in my truck.



Just my . 02 FWIW.



Chris Boggs

 

[Davison]

You guys bring up some interesting points, but first off I'd like to clarify that the shell side windows are the ones that are open, not the rear.



I agree that the turbulance at the rear bumper is something to behold, but I was questioning could exhaust go out of the tailpipe and travel vertically to the shell's slider window and then go in?



And what's this about little or no CO in our Cummins?????:--)



Thanks again

 

[illflem]

Diesel engines, unlike gasoline engines, do not produce large amounts of carbon monoxide (CO) under normal operation, and it is extremely difficult to get them to produce levels of CO sufficient to cause death. The Nazis discovered this in WW II, trying to gas Jews with diesel exhaust.