exhaust smells like firecrackers

[drewgarrett]

I was following my wife (she was driving the 4runner) and going up an incline or passing someone the exhaust would smells BIG TIME like firecrackers. I'm not burning any coolant. It's not a sweet or sulphury smell. Definitely a sharp firecracker smell. I have big oil usage/leakage issues too. Any ideas?

 

[the_dingman]

Sounds like you're burning oil... Probably some worn rings.

 

[drewgarrett]

Would a simple compression test tell me if it was indeed the rings? What would be the symptoms of a PCV valve that isn't working correctly. I've never touched it in 100k miles that I've owned it.

 

[hickory]

firecracker exhaust

A compression test would tell you if rings are worn or bad valves. The smell may be from the cat. converter being plugged up. The comp. should be even over all cylindres, not sure the numbers for a v6 though.

 

[drewgarrett]

If the rings were bad, would there by blow-by coming out of the ERG hose if I took it off of the manifold side? If not, where would blow-by be evident?

 

[drmorbius]

Would a simple compression test tell me if it was indeed the rings? What would be the symptoms of a PCV valve that isn't working correctly. I've never touched it in 100k miles that I've owned it.

If the PCV valve is stuck open it would cause you to burn oil.