Rear Window Open and too much exhaust smell

[Jtraskell]

I am no stranger to CO detectors. I work for a natural gas company for starters and have them throughout my house. But what do I know! I will leave it to the tailgate window experts.

Correct me if I am wrong, It was my understanding that CO does not have a smell, hence the need for detectors. If so, could you bring one of your dectors (does it have a meter or just a warning light) roll that back window down with no other window open, drive it for a while and let us know the results? I for one would love to know if I am going to kill my family if I do this sometime!

Thanks in advance. Be safe.

 

[nickson127]

I've noticed the smell in my fathers 04 Limited as well as my 07 Sport. Thought it was normal because of the draft and just kinda lived with it.

 

[-JD-]

Correct me if I am wrong, It was my understanding that CO does not have a smell, hence the need for detectors. If so, could you bring one of your dectors (does it have a meter or just a warning light) roll that back window down with no other window open, drive it for a while and let us know the results? I for one would love to know if I am going to kill my family if I do this sometime!

Thanks in advance. Be safe.

+1

Also if someone with CO detector could see if opening the front windows counters this, and how much they need to be open...

 

[Y2KSR5]

I only notice it on heavy accel. Same with my 4th Gen. Never noticed it on my 3rd Gen. I drove my 3rd Gen to Cincinnati from St Louis with the rear window down and sunroof vented the entire drive.

 

[Brett41]

ok, I did a search and could find nothing....

This particular design of the 4Runner lends itself to collecting more dirt on the rear hatch/door than one would expect. Not a major big deal except its dirty more often than not.

With the warm air we have been having, I have been driving around with the rear window open and bottom line is no matter what speed, it sucks in exhaust gases into the cabin to the point where you cant drive around with it open for long.

Same thing must be going on to attract dirt to the rear, some kind of air flow/ current back there causing it to venturi up in to the cabin???

I did have the sunroof open each and every time I had the rear window open.

Anyone else finding driving with the rear window open either a hit or miss? and what I mean by that is that you can drive for a bit and all is well and your enjoying the warm air then.... boom, the exhaust hits you in the face and you say, WTF? and close up the rear window.

I haven't had the exhaust smell while driving, but I have noticed that the back window collects a LARGE amount of dirt on it. I drive the same rig as you: 2011 Blizzard Pearl with beige leather and third row seating. I will ask a friend of mine that is a general mgr. at Price Leblanc Toyota in Baton Rouge, LA and see if he has an answer.

 

[-JD-]

^Yup, all three of my 4runners suffer from the same problem. Like i mentioned before, the 3rd gen seemed to suffer from it the least. I chalked it up to the spoiler that stuck up a bit to 'catch' the air going over the car and force it down over the back window...

And to be honest the 5th gen seems to be worse than my second gen was too....seems impossible to keep the back clean...

 

[Riser]

Correct me if I am wrong, It was my understanding that CO does not have a smell, hence the need for detectors. If so, could you bring one of your dectors (does it have a meter or just a warning light) roll that back window down with no other window open, drive it for a while and let us know the results? I for one would love to know if I am going to kill my family if I do this sometime!

Thanks in advance. Be safe.

That is something I plan to do. I will definitely try and get you guys this info.
For today: I took one of my house CO detectors and placed it on the headrest of my daughter's carseat. I drove around with the rear window nearly all the way down, and all other windows closed. It did not go off once. I went slow speeds, I went 60mph sustained, nothing.

 

[Jtraskell]

That is something I plan to do. I will definitely try and get you guys this info.
For today: I took one of my house CO detectors and placed it on the headrest of my daughter's carseat. I drove around with the rear window nearly all the way down, and all other windows closed. It did not go off once. I went slow speeds, I went 60mph sustained, nothing.

Great! Thanks for the update and the test. If I understand you correctly, you intend to do further tests? Either way, thanks for taking the time and reporting back. Makes me feel like I can breath a bit easier.. (excuse the pun). Be safe.

 

[Riser]

Great! Thanks for the update and the test. If I understand you correctly, you intend to do further tests? Either way, thanks for taking the time and reporting back. Makes me feel like I can breath a bit easier.. (excuse the pun). Be safe.

I'm going to ask one of the guys in our other location to ride with me, while they hold the CO meter. I'm not sure if it will be this coming week, but I will try. Obviously even if there is little to no reading, I want to stress that this is not a controlled experiment and however anyone decides to drive, they do so at their own risk.

That being said, I will be surprised if anything registers.

 

[SeattleMike]

That is something I plan to do. I will definitely try and get you guys this info.
For today: I took one of my house CO detectors and placed it on the headrest of my daughter's carseat. I drove around with the rear window nearly all the way down, and all other windows closed. It did not go off once. I went slow speeds, I went 60mph sustained, nothing.

Drive like a grandma to the nearest freeway onramp, only rear window down, then floor it to get to highway speed. If you don't get the rotten egg smell, chances are you won't get a reading.

 

[rickwol]

I'm not quite sure why there is a discussion on whether or not there is a health issue here. On page 97 of my owners manual there is a rather prominent CAUTION notice that in part reads:

"Keep the back door and back window closed while driving. if the rear window is left open... etc. In addition, exhaust gases may enter the vehicle, causing death or a serious health hazard. Make sure to close the back door and back window before driving."

Certainly does affect it's utility though. This past weekend my wife and I took some mattresses etc to a Red Cross facility to help the victims of our latest floods here. We had to have the rear window open and my wife said that she felt pretty ill after the 18 mile round trip and that was with the side windows partially open.

 

[Jtraskell]

I'm not quite sure why there is a discussion on whether or not there is a health issue here. On page 97 of my owners manual there is a rather prominent CAUTION notice that in part reads:

"Keep the back door and back window closed while driving. if the rear window is left open... etc. In addition, exhaust gases may enter the vehicle, causing death or a serious health hazard. Make sure to close the back door and back window before driving."

Certainly does affect it's utility though. This past weekend my wife and I took some mattresses etc to a Red Cross facility to help the victims of our latest floods here. We had to have the rear window open and my wife said that she felt pretty ill after the 18 mile round trip.

Good catch bud. If all else fails, read the manual! Thanks for the post and be safe. (With the window closed.....)

 

[Riser]

I'm not quite sure why there is a discussion on whether or not there is a health issue here. On page 97 of my owners manual there is a rather prominent CAUTION notice that in part reads:

"Keep the back door and back window closed while driving. if the rear window is left open... etc. In addition, exhaust gases may enter the vehicle, causing death or a serious health hazard. Make sure to close the back door and back window before driving."

Certainly does affect it's utility though. This past weekend my wife and I took some mattresses etc to a Red Cross facility to help the victims of our latest floods here. We had to have the rear window open and my wife said that she felt pretty ill after the 18 mile round trip and that was with the side windows partially open.

Of course they have a notice in there, for liability purposes. I think my electric toothbrush even has a warning about getting electrocuted. It's called covering your a$$

 

[Riser]

Disclaimer: This was not a controlled test. Drive and operate your vehicle at your own risk

Ok, so we did the test about 30 minutes ago. I didn't get to go on the highway, because my coworker was pressed for time.

Keep in mind, regardless of the results I got, do not take this as an experiment done in a controlled environment. None of us are scientists.

We used a Sensit Gold CGI. I had a coworker sit in the back seat and position the sensor in the cargo area. My 4runner was at operating temperature and there was little to no wind here today. I had all windows closed and only the hatch window open.

Sitting idle in the parking lot:
When we were sitting idle, the CO reading was 0. It remained 0 until we backed up and went to leave the parking lot. At that time, it read 1 very briefly (a candle burns around 14, for comparative purposes)

Around town:
We drove around town for several minutes. There were stop lights and stop signs. We went into 25mph, 35mph zones and 45 mph zones. Stopping a few times at each part. The meter read 0 throughout this entire time

Hard acceleration:
I floored the car from a light (0-40mph roughly). It read 0


Idle
We then went back to the parking lot and positioned the sensor right in the backseat area this time, and let the truck idle. It still read 0 after several minutes

I had a conversation with one of our supervisors in the metering department. He said he was not surprised we got a reading of 0. He said the only time he would think any CO may enter the cabin area, is stopped at a light. But our test showed 0 when we idled in the parking lot.

Take this for what it's worth. I will continue driving with my rear window down.

 

[rickwol]

Of course they have a notice in there, for liability purposes. I think my electric toothbrush even has a warning about getting electrocuted. It's called covering your a$$

So you think Caution notices and Warnings are all there strictly for reasons of liability and not because of any possible safety or health dangers? Do you teach your kids to interpret warning and safety notices with this same sort of dismissive attitude? You're too funny, friend. I say, keep driving and breathe very deeply when that window is down !! In a previous post, I had already mentioned that my CO detector sounded an alarm with the window in the open position for less then 45 seconds moving at about 40mph but mine doesn't have a meter so it's probably not as good as yours. But, for what it's worth, I will continue to keep that window closed whenever I'm moving, if possible.

 

[Riser]

No need to get angry or personal Rick, it will be OK. You asked me to place a CO detector in my vehicle and to "tell me what happens." I did and reported the results. I then took it a step further and used a professional grade CO detector and operated it under the instruction of a Gas Detection Manager with over 20 years experience. You do not know how thorough and bright these guys are.

Were you expecting different results?

 

[1engineer]

So you think Caution notices and Warnings are all there strictly for reasons of liability and not because of any possible safety or health dangers? Do you teach your kids to interpret warning and safety notices with this same sort of dismissive attitude? You're too funny, friend. I say, keep driving and breathe very deeply when that window is down !! In a previous post, I had already mentioned that my CO detector sounded an alarm with the window in the open position for less then 45 seconds moving at about 40mph but mine doesn't have a meter so it's probably not as good as yours. But, for what it's worth, I will continue to keep that window closed whenever I'm moving, if possible.

To each their own man. The other guy went above and beyond with his meter and posted results. He even put disclaimers in his post. Everyone is different and some are more sensitive than others to odors. Warnings and Cautions are there primarily to protect and inform the consumer AND limit liability. Do what you like but don't castigate someone else for it.

 

[rickwol]

No need to get angry or personal Rick, it will be OK. You asked me to place a CO detector in my vehicle and to "tell me what happens." I did and reported the results. Were you expecting different results?

Sorry if I came across harsh Riser and I did not mean to castigate or pass judgement on you as engineer1 above referred to it as. You went ahead and ran your informal test and it showed no CO levels which may put your worries to rest but I'm sure as you would agree there are variables not accounted for that otherwise may produce opposite results. I guess the point that I was trying to make was that yeh, we all know that everyone needs to cover their butts these days from litigation but some of these Cautions and warnings do have merit and are usually based in some fact despite of how ridiculous some of the warnings may sound. But yes, we are all free to make decisions based on our own risk assessment so long as the resulting decisions/actions don't harm anyone else.

 

[Riser]

The test was done in an actual day-to-day driving condition. The point is, we used one of the best CO detectors made. If there was CO in the cabin, it would have picked it up. This device is SUPER sensitive. This particular piece of equipment is used at tank yards, businesses and customers' homes, by our technicians, to find various types of gases/leaks. This is a detector several fire companies use across the nation. If CO was not registering when we were at stop lights, accelerating from stop lights, turning, or general stop and go traffic....when would it?

While none of us are scientists, it doesn't take a genius to figure out no CO was getting in. Our techs aren't scientists either and they have the ability to tell if there is a leak or not in various environments. Furthermore, I don't believe any other test has been conducted on a 5th gen, informal or not. As I stated in my previous post, operate your vehicle at your own risk.

 

[harper7]

My theory is to let your senses,especially smell in this case, be your judge. I'm not sure what they were thinking,other then style points,when they changed the exhaust from coming out the side in the 3rd Gens to the back with the introduction of the 4th Gen.

It was only $65 to weld my muffler and the pipe for the exhaust out the side and have no complaints or smells with other front windows cracked open. They make oval or rectangular exhaust tips for those with SR5/Limited that have that plastic hang lower behind the wheel then TE's and are worried about it exiting too low.

There more to worry about breathing exhaust then just CO2.
Automobile Exhaust

From the EPA.....
• CARBON MONOXIDE
Carbon monoxide (CO) is a product of incomplete combustion and occurs when
carbon in the fuel is partially oxidized rather than fully oxidized to carbon
dioxide (CO ). Carbon monoxide reduces the flow of oxygen in the bloodstream
and is particularly dangerous to persons with heart disease.
• CARBON DIOXIDE
In recent years, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has started to
view carbon dioxide, a product of “perfect” combustion, as a pollution concern.
Carbon dioxide does not directly impair human health, but it is a “greenhouse
gas” that traps the earth’s heat and contributes to the potential for global
warming
• HYDROCARBONS
Hydrocarbon emissions result when fuel molecules in the engine do not burn or
burn only partially. Hydrocarbons react in the presence of nitrogen oxides and
sunlight to form ground-level ozone, a major component of smog. Ozone irritates
the eyes, damages the lungs, and aggravates respiratory problems. It is
our most widespread and intractable urban air pollution problem. A number of
exhaust hydrocarbons are also toxic, with the potential to cause cancer.
• NITROGEN OXIDES (NOx)
Under the high pressure and temperature conditions in an engine, nitrogen
and oxygen atoms in the air react to form various nitrogen oxides, collectively
known as NOx. Nitrogen oxides, like hydrocarbons, are precursors to the
formation of ozone. They also contribute to the formation of acid rain.