Hi guys. This car is my first venture into do-it-yourself auto repair. I knew almost nothing about cars before this. The car was a panic buy after my old car's engine cracked. I panicked because I needed a car to get to school/work and didn't have a lot of time to get a new car. Live and learn, huh?

I've already fixed the "car not starting when warm" issue by replacing the main relay and fixed a bad oil leak by replacing the seal and o-ring on the distributer. A month later, I start getting a check engine light and find out I've got the "dreaded" code 43. I replaced the air filter and reset the ECU and everything seemed to be okay, but the code came back after getting up to about 60MPH. The engine has hesitated a few times and it seems to be becoming more frequent.

The radiator leaks. There's still a small oil leak from the seal on the side of the engine where the belts are. I can hear a slight "ticking" sound from the engine. The ticking seems to be louder right after starting and becomes very faint after the first few minutes.

The last owner added a header and told me the exhaust is just a straight pipe with a cat. Looking at it underneath, sure enough, the pipe goes straight from the header to the back of the car and ends with a cylinder about 12" long and 4.5" in diameter.

Around the time the code showed up, I started noticing a funny smell when I drive. I also noticed that its worse when I open the vent and turn the fan on. The smell is something like exhaust, but a little "sweeter" if that makes sense. I'm thinking its the smell of exhaust with unburnt fuel in it.

Based on these symptoms, any of you guys know where I should start to get the code and fumes cleared up?

 

code 43 is often an o2 sensor, test it if bad replace it.

try replacing your valve cover gasket. the gasket usually comes in a kit with the stud grommets and tube seals (upper and lower). change all of them.


might want to get a catalytic converter put it in, it'll get rid of the fumes.

 

Having a straight exhaust give you the smoke an smell...An you might not have a o2 sensor, having a pipe from headers to back sounds like you have no cat, which would cause the code 43..

 

There is an O2 sensor on top of the pipe shortly after the point where it connects to the header. I know this because I had to reconnect the wires to it shorly after I bought the car. The connector halves had come apart just enough to break the connection. I thought they might have just vibrated loose, but maybe this had been done on purpose by the previous owner?

I guess I better go and figure out what a cat looks like and take another look.

Thanks guys.