2001 Grand Am - exhaust fumes

Strong smell of exhaust in passenger compartment, first noticed in June when moving after having sat at stoplights. Steadily been getting stronger, worst when defroster fan is on--now I have to drive with windows open when the heater is on, which seems kind of useless, even in Florida--yes, it does get chilly here! Had it to the dealer three times, no leaks found; yes, oil cap is on nice and tight. Please help! Thanks.

Does it smell even when you're driving down the road? If only at stops, it is possible that the tailpipe off the muffler is too short and is letting exhaust up under the car. If it is all the time, I don't see how it is possible without an exhaust leak. I would try taking it to an exhaust shop. Are you absolutely sure that it is exhaust you are smelling? I once had a customer mistake a coolant smell for an exhaust smell. In this case, her heater core was leaking. I'm only asking because it doesn't seem that what you are describing is possible.

I would agree, you would have an exhaust leak to smell the fumes.

and Welcome to AF sherrylynn2535.

Thanks for replying. Yes, I'm sure it isn't coolant--coolant has that sweetish smell. This is definitely related to fuel or exhaust. When I get new tires, I'll go to someplace other than the dealer and have them look. I'm thinking there's a hole in the top of the exhaust where it can't be seen...

Hi, Y'all! Mystery solved--it was raw gas fumes! The fuel pressure regulator finally sprang a major enough leak that it still reeked by the time I got it to the repair shop this morning. Apparently, it has been leaking intermittently since last June when I first noticed the problem. It had been hard to start when hot for a couple of weeks, and yesterday would not start cold until I depressed the accelerator; it would crank fine, just not turn over. Being a child of the carburetor-and-distributor-cap era, I thought I was giving it gas to start when I depressed the accelerator, but the service writer told me what actually happened was that this opened the throttle to allow enough air into the system to start it. In any case, it worked well enough to achieve my objective, which was to get the car started to get it to the shop. Thought y'all might appreciate hearing the solution! Sherry