Smell in cab despite extending vent!

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Originally posted by RonWeiss

The breather itself which lies under the valve cover hood lets the out-gassed fumes escape under that hood.

The breather on the valve cover is totally sealed, nothing can escape from it, unless it's cracked somehow or one of the hoses leading to is isn't secured to it. It only takes a minute to remove the plastic cover and investigate.



HVAC I just changed my oil to Amsoil and mine's nice 'n smelly again. Bein' a diesel gearhead it don't bother me that much



Vaughn

 

[sag2]

My theory is moving the vent to the rear of the truck makes it worse because the blow by can not get mixed up as easily with air from the fan. Also 3rd gen's might be worse than 2nd because the 03's have electric fan that spends most of it's time freewheeling.

By the way, mine was bad for about 5000 miles, and now only after an oil change for a 1000 miles or so. My vent is still stock.

 

[Johnstra]

direct from Cummins

Man, I'm impressed with Cummins' responsiveness - they've really been super quick to respond to my questions! Even though I really don't like the answer in this case. Here is the response I received when I asked if they'd heard of exhaust smells in the cab. Note that for me, the smell has a distinct raw diesel quality to it at cool-down, so that's the way I phrased the question...

... . we have heard some about diesel fuel smells, and it has been the later models with high-pressure common rail (HPCR( fuel systems.



We suspect that there may possibly be subtle fuel leaks on some engines, but DON'T GO LOOKING FOR THEM.



The HPCR fuel systems are potentially hazardous in that sufficient pressures exist ALL OF THE TIME WHILE RUNNING to easily penetrate the skin and inject toxic diesel fuel into the body; we have heard of one fatality of a Dodge service technician as a result of this experience going untreated.



The HPCR has around 25,000 psi present in the "rail" (from whence all of the individual injector tubes eminate), and there are possible leak paths; the pressure is such that any small leak may be atomized and quickly evaporate ... possibly leaving no trace. We can only postulate that this is possible and suggest that you have the subject engine looked at by an authorized, certified Dodge dealer.



AGAIN, PLEASE DO NOT GET PHYSICALLY CLOSE TO A RUNNING COMMON RAIL SYSTEM THAT YOU SUSPECT MAY HAVE A LEAK; DO NOT LOOSEN ANY FUEL SYSTEM FITTINGS DOWNSTREAM OF THE HIGH-PRESSURE PUMP; DO NOT ATTEMPT ANY SELF-SERVICING OF THIS SYSTEM WITHOUT PROPER TRAINING, TOOLS, INFORMATION, FACILITIES AND APPROPRIATE PROTECTIVE MEASURES AND DEVICES.



Diesel fuel injected into the human body can cause death. Think of it as being analogous to those pneumatic shots given to the army recruits ... . only under much greater pressure.



Because high pressure is available all of the time, a very small leak may manifest itself in the smell of raw fuel; this is only conjecture and we advise you to take the vehicle to the dealer.

 

[Elite1]

Mine is not a diesel smell it is oil. It was much stronger when using Rotella (rosmella), with delo it is still there, but not as strong and worse right after an oil change.