I am suddenly smelling exhaust fumes in the car whenever I stop moving (I think maybe carbon monoxide smell, but am not sure - definitely not raw gas smell). Also rough idling when cold but otherwise running fine. I had someone follow me to see how bad the exhaust smells behind the car when moving and I guess it's pretty bad although no visible smoke. I think the problem is that it's just not burning clean rather than that there is an exhaust leak. But I don't think excessively rich because the plugs look nice evenly tan. O2 sensor voltage checks out ok. Plugs, cap, rotor, flame trap are new. Vacuum at diaphragm by ignition control unit seems pretty strong. and all visible hoses look ok. Could it be the catalytic converter is just not working anymore (has never been changed that I know of) or do I need to look more in the direction of checking the coolant temp sensor, cleaning the breather box, throttle body and all that stuff that I probably can't do without removing the manifold? I am a bit overwhelmed by the idea of getting into all of that (I routinely do my own oil change, plugs, cap & rotor, etc and occasionally take care of wiring problems (like the overdrive solenoid wire problem on the automatic transmissions) but am no master mechanic by any means. (I did rebuild my VW engine a couple of times many years ago, but I had the idiot book for that).
If tackling this problem is too much, can anyone recommend a mechanic that would know how to work on the older k-jet injectionsbricks in Sonoma or Napa counties (California).
I'm reluctant to take it to someone I don't know anything about and have never had to take it in for anything but a smog test before since I've been able to take care of the few little problems this wonderful brick had myself.
thanks for any advice. Karin