Today on Car Talk, a caller complained about getting dizzy after driving their car. The brothers replied that the particular car was infamous for having manifold cracks, which allowed carbon monoxide into the passenger compartment. This seems unsafe. CO detectors are now available at hardware stores. Car makers should install them in the passenger compartment as standard equipment. An alarm should go off long before dangerous levels are reached; a big dashboard light should flash "CO POISONING DANGER - STOP ENGINE!" Actually stopping the engine would be dangerous if in traffic, and annoying for the mechanic trying to find the leak.
-- beland, Sep 27 2003

some research.. http://www.aqmd.gov...s1/In_car_facts.htm
[po, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]

this idea should really have been posted as an annotation on this idea. http://www.halfbake...ing_20Engine_20Kill
[po, Oct 04 2004]

this is interesting.

btw. next time someone mentions pigeons, I will remind them of the coo detector.
-- po, Sep 27 2003


I'm not sure if you need a detector for that, [po]..
-- Pseudonym #3, Sep 27 2003


Oh, and was it a Nissan Pathfinder, perchance?
-- bristolz, Sep 27 2003


Sorry, I don't remember what kind of car it was.
-- beland, Sep 27 2003


Instead of cutting the engine off, how about it automatically rolls down the electric windows?
-- krelnik, Sep 27 2003


CO detectors are not even mandatory in small planes, where the gas is a killer.
-- DrCurry, Sep 27 2003


[longshot] - I fail to see why CO2 buildup should be a problem when you're stowed in a depressurised box at 20,000ft, don't have enough air of any sort and are dying of hypothermia.
-- wagster, Oct 31 2004


This is a fine idea, nice. (+).
-- neilp, Nov 01 2004



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