I think my 95 SE has an exhaust leak (or some other problem), somewhere near the back of the motor on top, driver's side-- in the neighborhood of the throttle body. Any ideas on how to diagnose or what this might be?

The sound is hard to describe-- kinda like a 'hole in muffler' sound. Noticeable when the engine is revved. With the hood up, there's a STRONG exhaust smell when the engine is revved. Sound starts fairly early - 2-3k RPM.

The car had run rough/hesitated/very slow for 4 months. 2 months ago I had some injection cleaning and fuel filter change; didn't help much. 3 days ago I replaced the spark plugs and wires. 2 of the replaced plugs seemed shot and the wires showed some significant damage (on the shaft thing that sits on top of the plug). New plugs/wires were a huge improvement (engine runs like it should now) but after 15 minutes I started hearing a strange noise and an intermittent CEL. Could it be that the exhaust leak happened now that the car is all of a sudden running well and firing on all 6 cylinders?
I'm not driving the car now (have an extra vehicle). Is the car safe to drive this way?

This is probably coincidental, but in the past 3-4 days I've noticed a slow coolant leak. I looked underneath, and it appears to be a hose not connected tight enough.


Jason
current 95 Contour SE (V6) MTX owner
former 96 Mystique LS V6/MTX owner