Exhaust Smell
 

I have a stinky car! I have been working on getting the smell out of it but I don't know if it's possible... I had a fuel leak, got that fixed. (turned out there was a little hole near the fuel tank) There was and exhaust leak, got that all welded up, and now it's just that exhaust smell that comes in the windows when I slow down. I think other people have this problem and I don't know if there is a cure for this or not. I'm thinking there may not be. I know I need new weather stripping around the 2 doors, I have already replaced the back hatch stripping. Is this just going to be something I have to live with? I would need to keep my windows up most of the time? Especially when I slow down? Ugh! I'm getting tired of this! I have extended my tail pipe, just past the bumber, not much passed it though. Anyhow... does anyone have any ideas? I'm getting to where I want to sell her :-( this smell give me a headache.

hehe... I have the same problem. It sucks because every time I drive my Z, I come back smelling of exhaust. I've done extensive searches all over the car & can't figure out why exhaust is coming in. :D

Is it happening on your 280zx? It didn't happen to me when I had that car.

When I had my non-turbo engine, it didn't do it, but since my turbo engine swap it's really bad. I usually run w/o a cat... that makes it really bad. But even w/ the cat installed I get fume'd. Someone once said that they had probs w/ fumes because they didn't have their carbon canister installed, and the valve cover vent wasn't connected to the intake (exactly my situation), but I haven't checked those out yet. Double check those & also get under the car (make sure it's secure on jack stands) and check for exhaust leaks (by sound, feel, and looking for black carbon leaks on the pipe).

check for exhaust leaks and rotten rubber seals on the fire wall where wires etc pass through...althouygh you say that you replaced the hatch weatherstrip already ...is your hatch sitting tightly on the weatherstrip.

I'll double check my back hatch. I'm going to replace the stripping around the 2 doors. Where's the firewall? under the hood? I didn't know there was weather stripping there.

The firewall separates the engine bay from the dashboard / cockpit. It's just the sheetmetal body between the two. Since there are wires, tubes, hoses, etc going through that wall, manufacturers use gromets (rubber seals) to seal off the holes best they can. So.... no seals = possible fume-age from the engine bay. :D

also check around the tail lights, if that sealent is bad it can leak in through there. Another way to get rid of it is to either cut the exhaust pipe at the end and rotate it twards the ground so the air flowing under the car will take it away. you can also just extend the pipe out from the tip. It seems that the airflow around these cars are not that great and it creates a swirling effect. if that makes sence to you.

I do understand the airflow thing. I'm not sure exactly what you mean about the exhaust pipe. I have it to whear it points downward just past my bumber. But not much past it. I'm thinking I should extend it a little more, and not have it pointed down, but actually it probably is good to have it pointed down... I'm not sure. I should take a picture of it when I get home to show you. I really don't want to sell it. I will check the seals around the lights. I'm pretty sure they are bad.

FWIW, the seals around my taillights disintegrated when I removed them for the body work. Literally fell into lots of little pieces. I'm sure they weren't sealing at all. The boot for the accelerator where it comes through the firewall also is usually dried out and rotted away. Same thing with the wiring harness grommet on the firewall under the battery. Fortunately, those parts are pretty cheap (and a tube of silicone sealer is even cheaper, if you so choose). Glad you got the other stuff fixed! Every bit helps.
good luck,
Dave

okay, I'm going to fix up the seal around my tail light fixture. I hope that's it.
I don't want a new car. I bet it's some kind of seal... the car didn't start out stinky like this when they came out new! Myne really runs great too... passes smog and everything. I'ts got to be a gasket somewhere...

All of these will reduce but not eliminate the exhaust stench. It's all about aerodynamics which the S30 suffers greatly. Closed windows and a/c or heat are the only real resolution here. I can drive my Z moderately and the reeking of fumes is all but non-existant. If I do any spirited driving then I definately smell of hydrocarbons when I exit the car. There is going to be some windtunnel testing done over at hybridz.org very soon. We hope that a variety of tests may help Z owners find a helpful fix for this and other aerodynamic issues.

They haven't done the wind tunnel tests yet? :paranoid:

HA HA HA! you love stinky Z's? he he, well I love her too... I'm still working on this problem. So, I got the gaskets for the rear tail lights and did the job at home with some friends. My gaskets were perfectly fine. I crawled under the car and took a look for myself and found a tiny pin hole exhaust leak, and the rubber boot for the shifter was all cracked and torn. It seems like the exhaust would come rite into the car from that hole up the boot. there were very near each other. So my mechanic fixed the exhaust leak. (He said he was so focused before on the exhaust he didn't notice the boot being cracked) Anyhow, I got a new boot but haven't put it on yet. I haven't driven it yet since the tiny hole has been welded, I want to get the boot on first because I don't want to chance another headache.... So..... I'm still working on it.... does anyone think new weather stipping on the doors will make a big difference on this? and what about getting my tail pipe to go straight out instead of turning downwards.... Those are about my last 2 ideas!

I sure hope I found the problem... I haven't driven it yet to find out. Maybe tomorrow or the next day I will. I am not getting my hopes up too much though.