Exhaust leak or fumes in the cabin on the 1998 Honda Civic
Only 7 reports for this mode came with an odometer reading, which is too few for percentiles to mean anything. The page is here because someone linked to it; treat the figures as anecdotes, and see the full report for this year instead.
When exhaust leak or fumes in the cabin gets reported
There are 21 reports of exhaust leak or fumes in the cabin on the 1998 Honda Civic, 7 with a mileage attached. That is too few to place the failure on the odometer with any confidence.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 100,000 miles. It is the 6th most-reported problem on this model year.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 90,891 miles | — | — |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $250–$2,000 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 4 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 1998, at a median of 90,000 miles, and latest on the 2005 at 130,000 miles.
By volume the 1998 is the worst of them, which makes this a problem of this specific year rather than of the model as a whole.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
10 months ago I became aware of exhaust smell inside my 98 honda civic lx VIN-[xxx]. The problem was worse when I idled the car for a quick warm up before driving. *la the problem got worse and I was getting headaches each day after my commute to work. Complained of I removed the heat shield from the engine to investigate the source of the exhaust leak. I found the exhaust manifold had split approx. On each side of the "y" for a total crack of 6 inches. This was allowing large amounts of exhaust gas to enter the cabin when using the heater or A/C. I was informed by four honda dealers locally that the problem was well known and all 7 local dealers had many manifolds in stock in their parts department. This was an indication to me that many of these were breaking and I was far from alone on this issue. The replacement manifold part number is- 18160-p2e-a12. At ken garff honda in ogden utah, I was told that an extended warranty was in effect for the problem for 8 years or 80k miles. (my civic has 93,000 miles) they stated this was a very common problem for 96,97 and 98 honda civics to have. My concern is if I had sufficient exhaust…
While driving there was a loud noise like the muffler had gone bad. Upon inspection of the vehicle, the consumer noticed a large crack in the exhaust manifold. The dealership indicated this was a common problem on earlier model years, and the manufacturer extended the warranty on this part. *ak the dealer replaced the manifold with a reinforced part. *jb
Had taken car to get inspection. Would not pass due to the exhaust manifold having a crack in. This car had 59827 miles on it! Naturally I was very upset. This car was only used minimally as witnessed by the year vs miles. Hardly any hwy use. Contacted the dealership and they put up their hands. Can't fix because I don't have $ 2,000. Car will not pass insp. Due to strict codes in texas. I now have my fifth honda. Honda just dropped the big one on a loyal cust.!!!!!!! *nm
Also reported on the 1998 Honda Civic
Other powertrain problem
Other electrical problem
Airbag failed to deploy in a crash
Other body or interior problem
Ignition switch, key fob or immobilizer failure
Other speed control problem
How far this goes
This page is kept out of search results because 21 reports is not enough to publish percentiles from. It stays reachable because somebody looking at this exact car would rather see the reports than be told there are none.
Complaints are voluntary, so 21 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does exhaust leak or fumes in the cabin happen on the 1998 Honda Civic?
Across 7 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 90,000 miles. A quarter were filed before — and a quarter after —. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is exhaust leak or fumes in the cabin on the 1998 Honda Civic?
21 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.1 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed