Be very careful folks, with the new more aerodynamic trucks being put out on the road, it's a very real threat now!

I just stepped out of a truck that had a leak, I'm lucky to be alive. I didn't realize what was going on until last night after about 4 days of dealing with it. These trucks have ground effects and sit much lower, there is very little airflow going under the cab these days, any exhaust leaks just sit there and can only go up into the cab while going down the road. All in the name of better fuel mileage. Don't believe me, go down the road and touch your floor, if it's hot then there ya go, no airflow going under the cab pulling the heat and potential exhaust leaks out.

I couldn't figure out why after about an hour of driving I was suddenly practically falling asleep at the wheel and having a nasty headache. Felt sick to my stomach and my throat felt swollen. I thought I was just coming down sick............no it was much worse.

 

Glad you are okay Amigo, and you sure it's not your feet?

Too bad they don't install these sleepers with smoke and carbon monoxide alarms from the factory, but the smoke alarm would go off all the time with some guys

 

Yep, just got home from the ER, definitely not my feet!

I'm going to pick up a detector to carry with me from now on. I was told tonight, truck was checked and no leak was found..........my blood test number calls BS on that! I'm also DQ'ed for a minimum of 7 days by the doc, company would have set me out 7 days anyways since I went to the ER.

 

having a detector is what should be recommended by the makers. in fact, YES< they should install them. it wouldn't hurt if drivers reported this to the makers, or even to the DOT. maybe if the drivers affected by this were to pull a class action lawsuit, someone will wake up at the manufacturing plants, most notably, the stupid designers of these plastic behemoths....

glad you are ok.

 

I don`t have all that aerodynamic stuff but I had a exhaust leak,or 2,and got a cab full of exhaust fumes.A carbon monoxide detector could save our lives.Glad to see you survived the hazard,and it is a safety hazard.

also those hot fumes and hot exhaust leaks can wreck air lines and electrical lines under a cab.I had all kinds of air lines popping on my secondary air

 

Thanks guys, just wish the headache would pass now. I can handle the tiredness! Not even 800 mg of Advil helps the headache.

 

Several years ago, the same thing happened to me. The ambulance brought me to the hospital, where I spent 23 hours on oxygen. The doctor said if it was any worse, I would have been put in the oxygen chamber. Just like your case " no leak was found ".

 

Yeah they had already put the truck back in service this morning, when I called in to tell them the bad news the head of our operations was the only one in to take my call. She immediately called the newest driver in it and told him to get out, he hadn't left the yard yet.

It's a DOT shutdown deal! I wrote it up, told the shop, told the office. It doesn't have a leak at idle, only at higher rpms like when driving down the road. That explains why an hour into driving the symptoms starting hitting. Just wish I had picked up on it sooner. Hopefully I don't end up with long term effects from it.

 

the headaches will pass, but remember, you are breathing in ordinary air, loaded with various pollutants. . in a hospital, they load you up with oxygen, which is quicker to remove that crap from inside you.

 

So I meant to update this a while back. Talked with the shop after I finally got cleared to run again. Only took 8 days for the fog to clear! They never found the leak, spent several days on it. Their only guess was that the manifold might have been leaking at the head which......the fresh air intake is right beside in the engine compartment. What they weren't sure about was why I had the AC cranking and window's up didn't make it worse. I asked about the DEF box BS, could a leak happen between there and the end of the exhaust. The answer was no, the air from the exhaust AFTER the box behind the right side steps is clean breathable air. It would have to be before that and after the engine, so the manifold area.