After ride on the weird side, couple wonder if car is safe

Q. My husband and I purchased a 1987 Chevrolet Celebrity with52,000 miles on it. It is a nice car, and we really like it.Recently, something strange happened while driving it. We went on ashort trip, and on the way there, we had the air-conditioner on andhad no problem. On the way back, we had the windows closed and thevent on. About 45 minutes into the drive, my husband, who wasdriving, started to feel weird.

He felt like he was on the edge of a cliff and about to fallover. His sense of balance was off. I felt fine so I drove home.And when we got home, I felt like I was going to fall over. Itlasted about five minutes, and then I felt OK. We didn't smellanything, and we had not eaten any food. What do you think? Gail

RAY: I think you're lucky to be writing to us today, Gail. Itsounds like it could be carbon monoxide poisoning. My brother's beensuffering from that for years now.

TOM: Huh?

RAY: You see what I mean? Seriously, you could have an exhaustleak somewhere under the hood.

TOM: When people hear the word "exhaust," they usually thinkabout the back end of the car, where the muffler and tailpipe arelocated. But the exhaust system actually starts in the front of thecar and carries the exhaust to the rear end.

RAY: There's a piece of weather-stripping that's supposed tokeep engine fumes out of the car's ventilation system. If you havean exhaust leak and that weather-stripping is not doing its job, thatwould explain how the carbon monoxide is getting in through thevents.

TOM: And that's very dangerous. Carbon monoxide is colorlessand odorless. And in fact, most people don't even notice thatthey're being poisoned. It slowly makes you stupid until you loseyour judgment.

RAY: You should get this looked at right away. Your mechaniccan use his emissions tester to search for an exhaust leak under thehood. And a visual inspection of the weather-stripping ought to tellhim whether it needs to be replaced.

TOM: Of course, there is one other possibility. We all knowthat light-headedness is a sign of euphoria. And if this was thefirst time either of you had driven an '87 Celebrity, well, thatwould explain it, too.