My car stinks....literally....

[nealf]

I am talking about my Bavaria. Very very fumey from the exhaust with the windows down but with the windows up no smell at all. I reinstalled the trunk gasket and it does not seem that the stink is getting sucked into the trunk, it seems to swirl outside the side of the car while moving. I guess it is coming from the front of the car.

What are the possible sources? Gasket on air cleaner? Running too rich? Anything else? Hood gasket? (which appear to be fine)

The exhaust from what I have inspected is tight with no leaks anywhere.

My coupe and '02 do not have this problem.

Thanks.

nf

'70 2800CS
'72 Bavaria 3.0
'73 2002

 

[Laldog]

I wish....

....I had your problem.

My solution would be to drive the coupe on sunny days and the 2002 on the rainy ones.

Sorry. I miss my 2002, and haven't driven my coupe in 3 years.

 

[Bill Riblett]

Finding smells

Check the firewall from inside the car - look for shrunken or missing grommets or other holes.

Check all the hose connections for the vapor recovery system in the engine compartment and trunk.

Is the engine breather hose connected to the air filter?

Is the gas tank leaking? Fuel level sender seal leaking? (look for stains)

There are several plastic caps covering holes in the floors and the trunk spare tire well that can let smells into the car if missing.

 

[Arde]

If the fumes are coming in only with the windows down then grommets and seals are fine. To reduce the fumes in the engine bay the focus would be the exhaust system. In my case the exhaust manifold attaching to
the motor was leaky. It got better after some "polishing" or resurfacing. I am sure there are other exhaust culprits to check.

 

[Honolulu]

Neal...

I believe, barring a leaky exhaust, that the smell's coming from the trunk.

So... first is to check how exhaust is getting into the trunk.

Many times, a car has been hit in the rear, forcing the rear downward slightly, and perhaps not enought to notice. The seal, may not, or won't, then. Check the seal on that reinstalled trunk seal. Climb in, have a trusted friend close the lid, and find out where you can see daylight. Another way is to see that the trunk "grips" a piece of paper sandwiched between the trunk and seal, all the way around. If the grip is good all the way, then the seal is doing its job.

Also check the spare tire well. There was a plastic (?) plug(s) through the bottom; if the plug(s) is/are gone, exhaust may come in that way.

Once in the trunk exhaust can easily come into the passenger compartment over the tops of the rear inner fenders, through holes in the rear parcel shelf that were cut for speakers, through mismatched installation of the bulkhead behind the rear seat backs. Lotsa ways.

The passenger compartment is at lower pressure than the outside, for some aerodynamic reason. Thus exhaust if it is inside the trunk, will get into the passenger compartment. Windows open, there is enough flow and turbulence to largely dissipate the smell, perhaps to the point where it is not noticeable, or opening enough windows equalizes pressure inside and out.

I don't think exhaust is coming in from the air vents forward unless you have a leaky exhaust. Then it's a different can of worms, but easily attended to by dealing with the leaky exhaust first. Hint, block it up securely, start the motor, and run your hand around all the exhaust joints. Also look for black smudgy stains.