What happens if exhaust pipe is blocked

However, there is no way snow would be able to block the tail pipe sufficiently. Putting the heater on recirculate may have limited the intake of fumes, but a car's passenger compartment is not air tight, so the fumes will still find a way in if the car is totally surrounded by fumes as it will have been in that photo.

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Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. How does clogging tailpipes result in carbon monoxide in the cabin? Ask Question. Asked 5 years, 8 months ago. Active 2 years, 11 months ago. Viewed 17k times. Improve this question. Stock images, false article. Don't believe everything you see on the internet. Add a comment. The result is typically immediate, ranging from the car stalling to it outright exploding in more dramatic cases.

But is that how a vehicle would react in real life? Car Acting Up? Maybe these service tips will help. The most common result of shoving a banana or potato in a tailpipe—according to examples and testimonies from experts and everyday users—is that the object wedged in the pipe will shoot out before enough pressure builds to damage the engine. To get your car to function in the same way that it does without an exhaust problem, it has to work even harder, therefore using more fuel.

If your gasket fails and begins to leak near any engine wiring or any parts under the hood that are made of plastic, the heat from the exhaust gases could cause these parts to burn.

Those burning parts then release a burning smell that can smell like a burning engine. If you begin to smell any burning or see any smoke you should have your vehicle checked immediately to avoid any risk of danger to yourself or your passengers. If your exhaust pipe is hanging or dragging on the ground, you should have it fixed immediately.

If any part of the pipe breaks, even a part that does not cause a leak, it can begin to hang under the vehicle. The dragging is not only a danger to you, but if it falls off of the vehicle it becomes a danger to the drivers around you.

It is usually caused when one of the exhaust pipes or tubes gets damaged and starts to leak. When that happens, the fumes from the gasoline escape through any place they can.