Oil/gasoline odor, 08 Sentra

08 Nissan Sentra ~95k miles. The exhaust pipe broke off at the flange that connects to the mufflers. Mechanic welded on a new flange.

Ever since then when the car starts and while running inside the car you can get a whiff of an oil/gasoline odor. It’s not overpowering but noticeable. It’s strongest when starting the car and pulling away, dissipates fairly quickly, then every once in a while randomly you will smell it again. I don’t notice anything odd coming out of the tailpipe no plumes of smoke or anything. Checking under the hood I can’t see any leaks of any kind or anything out of the ordinary. I took it back to the guy who did the weld job and there were small gaps in the weld spot that he put some putty on. There is no check engine light and the car drives just fine.

I saw a YouTube video that recommended to check for exhaust leaks by putting a leaf blower in the tailpipe with the car off to put positive pressure on the exhaust system and spray soapy water along the exhaust looking for bubbles. I can do that, but anyone else have any idea what the odor could be?

Do not do that! ,Ask someone to plug the tailpipe with a rag while you look for the leak.Ask another shop to take a look at the repair the guy did. He probably didn’t weld the flange correctly.

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Find somebody that knows how to weld.

Tester