Exhaust seen on American car (4)

I believe the answer is:

tire

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'exhaust' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'on american car' is the wordplay.
'on' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'american' becomes 'ire' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'car' becomes 't'.
'ire' after 't' is 'TIRE'.

'seen' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for tire that I've seen before include "Weaken" , "Become exhausted" , "Flag" , "Exhaust" , "Grow weary of rithe" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.