Exhaust Or Gas Smell In Car Options

[altons4439]

When its cold outside I sometimes start my 2001 Eclipse GT to warm it up before going to work. About half the time I do this, when I get in the car there is a strong exhaust/gas smell in the car. It's usually strong enough that I have to let the windows down as I drive to work to clear it out. Like I mentioned, sometimes it doesn't happen.

Does anyone know what might cause this such that I can get it fixed?

[altons4439]

I have a 2001 Eclipse GT. My battery completely died on me one day and when I took it in for repair, they told me that my alternator was dead which in turned killed my battery. They then replaced both the alternator and battery. When I left the mechanic, my battery indicator (along with another indicator, can't remember right off) were flashing irratically on my dashboard. I took the car back to the mechanic and was told that I had a bad alternator, so that put a new one in. Problem didn't go away, so then I was told that my harness is probably bad and needs replacing. I asked if I could drive it as-is without hurting anything and they told me yes. I did this until one day my car wouldn't start because the battery was dead again. When I took it back to the mechanic, they told me that everything looked good (battery, alternator and harness), now they're thinking the computer might have a problem. They recommended taking the car to the dealer at this point.
I did my own measurements at the battery terminals to understand what is going on. This is what I found:

When idle - ~13.8VDC
When above idle but below 2500 rpm - ~12.3VDC
When 2500rpm and above - ~13.99VDC

Sometimes at idle the voltage is less than 13V.

Based on research, all indications are that its my regulator. The regulator is built into the alternator and they changed it twice, so is it likely?
Could I have a bad battery?

One other strange behavior: 90% of the time I can drive the car normally, park, turn off the car and come back and it'll re-start as if nothings wrong. But about 10% of the time when I go to re-start, I get virtually nothing, not even a weak attempt to turn over. I then jump it off and it starts ok again.

I plan to take it in for another repair attempt, but I would lke some indication of what might be happening. Hope someone has an answer.

[altons4439]

Is there a recommended best way to lubricate the sunroof on 2001 Eclipse? My currently sticks and I have to manually push it up to get it to open. I know I can lub it with anything, I just wanted to see if there was preferred way or preferred type of lubricant.

Thanks

[altons4439]

Anybody have a recommendation on clearing the windshield washer fluid line? Marginally works on the driver side, but not on passenger side.

Thanks

[altons4439]

I have an intermittent noise that concerns me. When its very cold outside, my car makes a whining sound, like the blades of a fan or pump are barely touching something. Seems to get more pronounced when I turn the steering wheel. Goes away after the car warms up. Not sure if its the water pump or maybe power steering?
Any ideas? I don't want a sudden failure, I'd like to plan to fix it. My car has 180K miles. Water pump has been replaced once.

[a1amap]

Most likely loose or worn belts. If the belt looks good they also have conditioners to treat the belt to quiet the noise

[Az3g]

When its cold outside I sometimes start my 2001 Eclipse GT to warm it up before going to work. About half the time I do this, when I get in the car there is a strong exhaust/gas smell in the car. It's usually strong enough that I have to let the windows down as I drive to work to clear it out. Like I mentioned, sometimes it doesn't happen.

Does anyone know what might cause this such that I can get it fixed?

no car is perfectly seald underneath. It is normal to get these smells inside. the whole purpose for the exhaust coming out the back is to stop the gasses from seeping up into the inside. do you park on a hill or incline?

[Az3g]

I have a 2001 Eclipse GT. My battery completely died on me one day and when I took it in for repair, they told me that my alternator was dead which in turned killed my battery. They then replaced both the alternator and battery. When I left the mechanic, my battery indicator (along with another indicator, can't remember right off) were flashing irratically on my dashboard. I took the car back to the mechanic and was told that I had a bad alternator, so that put a new one in. Problem didn't go away, so then I was told that my harness is probably bad and needs replacing. I asked if I could drive it as-is without hurting anything and they told me yes. I did this until one day my car wouldn't start because the battery was dead again. When I took it back to the mechanic, they told me that everything looked good (battery, alternator and harness), now they're thinking the computer might have a problem. They recommended taking the car to the dealer at this point.
I did my own measurements at the battery terminals to understand what is going on. This is what I found:

When idle - ~13.8VDC
When above idle but below 2500 rpm - ~12.3VDC
When 2500rpm and above - ~13.99VDC

Sometimes at idle the voltage is less than 13V.

Based on research, all indications are that its my regulator. The regulator is built into the alternator and they changed it twice, so is it likely?
Could I have a bad battery?

One other strange behavior: 90% of the time I can drive the car normally, park, turn off the car and come back and it'll re-start as if nothings wrong. But about 10% of the time when I go to re-start, I get virtually nothing, not even a weak attempt to turn over. I then jump it off and it starts ok again.

I plan to take it in for another repair attempt, but I would lke some indication of what might be happening. Hope someone has an answer.

if they replaced both the alternator and the battery, it must be something else... sorry I cant help you out there.

[MPatrickC]

This is a stupid answer. But check to make sure that the line is connected to the sprayer in the hood.
Mine comes un done all the time on the passenger side, it hooks up on my tower bar.

If it is connected take a piece of the tubing out of the car, and head down to the auto store. Tell them what it is and get a replacement line. It shouldn't be to hard to replace it.

Last resort make sure that the pump is working properly, and doen't have sediment traped around the intake.

[bobthecow]

Seriously, try to put all of your questions in one topic, rather than posting 6 topics of problems every day.