The exhaust system may not seem as important as other parts of the car, such as the engine, but it plays a critical role in your car's performance. For example, telltale signs in the exhaust system can point to serious problems. Below are some of the signs of malfunctions that you can read from the exhaust.

Strong Smells

Your car's exhaust system emits a mixture of gases that are byproducts of the combustion process. The exhaust gases have a characteristic smell that depends on various factors including the fuel type. However, the smell shouldn't be overwhelming or change too much.

Thus, you should suspect a problem if your car's exhaust gases become too smelly. For example, if the gases foul up your car's interior. It might mean, for example, that the engine is not burning the fuel as fully as it should or that the engine is burning up too much fuel.

Excessive Noise

One of the functions of the exhaust system is to silence the noise that the combustion engine inevitably makes during operations. Of course, the silencing is not perfect, and some noise does make it to the environment. However, you should suspect a problem if the noise becomes too much. For example, it might mean that the exhaust pipe has physical damage that is leaking the noise—and the point of leakage can also leak dangerous gases and pollute the environment.

Decreased Fuel Efficiency

The exhaust system is designed such that it analyses the fumes to determine whether the engine is burning the right air/fuel mixture. The analysis is sent to the onboard computer to regulate the air/fuel mixture in the engine. If the exhaust system has malfunctioned, it may send the wrong signal to the onboard computer, mess up the air/fuel mixture, and cause the engine to burn unnecessarily more fuel than it should.

Decreased Engine Power

Lastly, a malfunctioning exhaust system may also decrease your engine power. As described above, a malfunction in the exhaust system may send interfere with the air/fuel mixture the engine receives. Improper air/fuel mixture has many consequences, one of which is decreased engine power. After all, the example, the engine won't produce enough power if it doesn't get adequate fuel).

As you can see, the exhaust system plays a big role in your car's efficiency. That is why you should watch out for signs of exhaust system malfunctions. Contact an auto repair service immediately you notice such signs before the problem intensifies.

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