Exhaust fumes in cab
I have a 2011 Honda CR-V I-DTEC 2.2 with 70,000 miles. When the car is idling and stationary with cabin air recirculation switched off (ie, with ventilation coming from outside), there is a smell of exhaust fumes in the cabin. The smell goes away when driving or if I switch on the air recirculation.
My trusted local garage said that there was nothing obvious leaking, although they were unable to visually inspect the exhaust components because of the DPF heat shield. They said they didn’t think it was the EGR valve pipework because, when that fails, it emits a pulsed ‘pffft’ noise and they couldn’t hear this. They tightened up the turbo hose, but said this was unlikely to be the cause. They suggested that whatever it is will get worse and, at that point, it will be easier to diagnose. Meanwhile, I have a two-year-old daughter who I do not wish to subject to diesel exhaust fumes!
Is there anything you can suggest to help find the leak? My wife and I are both competent home mechanics and we would be happy to undertake an investigation to help diagnose the problem. Chris Roberts
Any leak from the exhaust would normally be highlighted by an area of black smut around the leaking area. This does appear to be a common problem on the CR-V 2.2 and the most likely area of the leak is in the flexible section of the EGR valve pipe.
There was an extended warranty in place for this failure and I would contact your Honda dealer to check if this is still applicable. By entering your VIN number (found on the V5) into the website https://bit.ly/2d7enam you can check for any recalls on your vehicle. Even if no recall is listed, this does not rule out the possibility that a warranty on the EGR pipe will be honoured.
Letting the situation get worse is not a viable option with fumes entering the vehicle, so this should be attended to as soon as possible. If the EGR pipe is not the culprit – although I suspect it will be – I would recommend that the DPF heat shield is removed to allow a proper inspection of the exhaust system.