Exhaust gasses in Cabin-cough, cough, cough splutter. bleurgh :-(

A

Andrew

CCCUK Member
Hello People,

A short journey in the car (1989 L98) leaves your clothes and skin with the overwhelming smell of exhaust gasses. I end up feeling a very woozy. Even with the window open the tip of my nose stings and my jumper smells like a 250 year old catalytic converter. Ive been carrying my jacket and jumper with me in an airtight bag to prevent them getting stinky

where should i start looking looking to solve this?

1) Jack up and look for holes in exhaust and loose couplings between the exhaust system elements?
2) replace exhaust manifold gasket? (previous owner included one)
3) buy a glade air freshener and try to ignore the choking carbon monoxide and unburnt hydrocarbon feeling as it denatures my brain cells?
4) trade vehicle in for second hand nissan leaf?
5) Something else
 
Mr. Cricket

Mr. Cricket

Committee Member
I would avoid door number 3 as those air fresheners made my MIL very ill.

Number 2 is looking favourite if it's entering the cabin and the PO had replacement gaskets already. Doubt you would get the same result if there was an exhaust leak under the car..
 
C

Chris Sale

CCCUK Member
Agree No. 2 is the favourite. A few yeara ago I had a similar problem with exhaust fumes in the cabin in my '64. I found that the manifold gasket above the No. 4 plug had failed. You can clearly see the marks left by the exhaust gases here:
 

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A

Andrew

CCCUK Member
You guys are quite right the previous owner left me with a Dana Victor Reinz c4 corvette gasket and as you say it must have need doing...

Is changing the manifold gasket a manageable DIY job in an '89? Cant seem to find a video of someone doing it on a corvette but there is a video of a DANA lady doing that job on you tube
 
Mr. Cricket

Mr. Cricket

Committee Member
I would have thought that the unfettered access the C4 clamshell hood provides would make it one of the easier Corvettes to work the manifold. Alas it's been 37 years since I had a C4

Oh, and happy New Year
 
A

Andrew

CCCUK Member
Happy New year Mr Cricket. Sorry about you mother in law and the air fresheners- they arent what they appear to be- far from making a space fresh- they fill it with chemicals.

Yes- good access on the C4 for the home mechanic. 🙃
 
A

Andrew

CCCUK Member
okay- ill get on with that- i guess the most difficult bit is removing the heat welded/ rusty nuts which hold the manifold on?
 
Roscobbc

Roscobbc

Moderator
I'd perhaps understand the fumes if the car in question was an earlier C3 or C2 perhaps where 'bungs' and sealing of pipes, cables and other items passing through the front bulkhead and/or fumes from a leaking manifold or header are 'leaking' through into the passenger compartment. Couple that with insulation materials and rubber seals will that have deteriorated (or been left-off over time).......in fact I had a similar 'issue' when installing the stroker big block in my C3. Engine builder specialised in race engines where PCV installations are not required.......and, yes I wa getting significant crankcase bypass fumes in the car.
I would have thought that a C4 would have really effective sealing of the pasenger compartment against the ingress of engine compartment fumes.
Are you 100% sure the heating and a/c system hosing is connected correctly and in good order - have you tried taping off all the h & v heating and ventilation outlets in the cabin to see if that helps? - final conclusive proof would be a 'smoke' test in the engine compartment.
 
Chuffer

Chuffer

CCCUK Member
Agree with the guys about manifold being likely cause . You should be able to hear it blow or the characteristic tick tick tick noise . Liberal doses of WD 40 as Mr Cricket said but I would do it every day for a week or two before tackling the job . I have been doing that regularly to my 1980 C3 as plan to replace my gaskets in a few weeks time .
 
Mr. Cricket

Mr. Cricket

Committee Member
Roscobbc said:
I'd perhaps understand the fumes if the car in question was an earlier C3 or C2 perhaps where 'bungs' and sealing of pipes, cables and other items passing through the front bulkhead and/or fumes from a leaking manifold or header are 'leaking' through into the passenger compartment. Couple that with insulation materials and rubber seals will that have deteriorated (or been left-off over time).......in fact I had a similar 'issue' when installing the stroker big block in my C3. Engine builder specialised in race engines where PCV installations are not required.......and, yes I wa getting significant crankcase bypass fumes in the car.
I would have thought that a C4 would have really effective sealing of the pasenger compartment against the ingress of engine compartment fumes.
Are you 100% sure the heating and a/c system hosing is connected correctly and in good order - have you tried taping off all the h & v heating and ventilation outlets in the cabin to see if that helps? - final conclusive proof would be a 'smoke' test in the engine compartment.
Click to expand...
Plenty of gaps for emissions to sneak through Ross. Steering column, clutch?, brake, go fast pedal, wiring looms. Might be worth giving the cats a thump to see how solid and maybe blocked they are.
 
Mr. Cricket

Mr. Cricket

Committee Member
Chuffer said:
Agree with the guys about manifold being likely cause . You should be able to hear it blow or the characteristic tick tick tick noise . Liberal doses of WD 40 as Mr Cricket said but I would do it every day for a week or two before tackling the job . I have been doing that regularly to my 1980 C3 as plan to replace my gaskets in a few weeks time .
Click to expand...
solid plan to avoid any busted studs Chuffers (y)
 
teamzr1

teamzr1

Supporting vendor
Look for black carbon tracks to locate exhaust leaks or if you need to use a smoker machine
Smells can seep up via any openings via the center console area like a shifter or parking bake if there
 
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