[freebirdrfd]

Originally Posted by scottt

diesel exhaust has hardly any carbon monoxide in it.

wrong...................

[freebirdrfd]

It has enough to kill ya.

[Mr. Ford95]

You know this got me wondering, what about "Clean Emission" exhausts............are they safe from carbon monoxide poisoning? To my knowledge, any vehicle or piece of equipment that puts off exhaust fumes has the potential to kill you. Just living in a house can kill you also, particularly if it is an older home.

[Malaki86]

Exactly - ANYTHING that burns puts off carbon monoxide. The amount it takes to be dangerous or lethal are very low. CO in the range of 40 parts per MILLION affects your nervous system. That means if there are 1 million molecules in the are, with only 40 of them being CO.

[Scottt]

I had the same symptoms you described this winter. I was driving with the temp around -20 with the windows all the way up and I got sick as you described. I have a Co2 detector in my truck and it never beeped.

When I got home I took my truck to a shop and found a large hole in the exhaust under the sleeper. I was checked for carbon monoxide and levels were normal. I was in the truck for 2 1/2 days and got to the point where I could hardly hold my arms up.

It took over 2 days at home before I started to feel normal again.

Copy and Paste:
The lean-burning nature of diesel engines and the high temperatures and pressures of the combustion process result in significant production of nitrogen oxides, and provides a unique challenge in reducing of these compounds. Modern on-road diesel engines typically must use selective catalytic reduction to meet emissions laws, as other methods such as exhaust gas recirculation cannot adequately reduce NOx to meet newer standards in many jurisdictions. However, the fine particulate matter (sometimes visible as opaque dark-colored smoke) have traditionally been of greater concern in the realm of diesel exhaust, as they present different health concerns and are rarely produced in significant quantities by spark-ignition engines.

Diesel engines produce very little carbon monoxide as they burn the fuel in excess air even at full load, at which point the quantity of fuel injected per cycle is still about 50 percent lean of stoichiometric

[Malaki86]

There's a big difference between NOx and CO.

If you saw what I posted about what the doctor said about the CO levels in your blood, they drop FAST on just room air. So, just driving from the truck to the hospital was enough time for my levels to drop a lot. Then, with 100% oxygen, it dropped even faster.

[Mr. Ford95]

Scott, that's all fine and good but that report is relying on an engine operating properly, in Mal's case it was apparently not operating properly. If you had the same thing go on and your detector did not go off and your levels were fine, then you weren't suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning. Your exhaust had a hole in it, must not have been getting into the cab/sleeper if your detector didn't go off. Means your truck had no tiny holes for it to leak in and is sealed up tight. Sounds more like you were simply sick from a cold or the flu. I have days like that with allergies, arms feel like concrete, head is pounding, eyes watering............

[Scottt]

Ask any diesel mechanic about carbon monoxide in the exhaust and they will tell you it contains very little but the exhaust will make you sicker than hell.

The mechanic that put my new exhaust on from the turbo to the tip of the stack made the comment that I bet you got sick running this in this cold weather all closed up. I said the thing I didn't understand was my carbon monoxide detector never even chirped once so I thought I was fine until I got so sick I couid hardly move.

He said there wasn't enough carbon monoxide in the exhaust to set off a detector in a cab. He said the exhaust will make you very sick though.

Call me clueless that's fine. I have asked the question many times after my episode in all the shops I have visited and always got the answer that there is hardly any carbon monoxide in the exhaust.

Here is a pic I took of my exhaust after they took it off.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y20...ps7a7af1f7.jpg

[GMAN]

A few years ago I had an exhaust leak under my bunk. I didn't know what was happening. I had a problem staying awake while I was driving. I got the leak repaired, but have since made a habit of leaving a window down a little in case it happens again. You can't smell carbon monoxide. It can make you disoriented, sleepy and even nauseated. I was very lucky. I make sure that if I idle that a window is cracked.