Smell in the cabin? No idea where it's coming from

Stangninjak

Member

Apr 16, 2004

324

2

19

May 23, 2011

#1

• May 23, 2011

• #1

I have finally put the 65 back on the road. A little background: I am running a 351w in it, with twisted wedge heads, a track heat cam, and a 670 street avenger on top. Mated to a a C4 now.

I went Saturday morning and basically had tail pipes put on, (I had dumps, and now I have ran the exhaust over the axles and out the back of my Shelby valance.)

Before this the car would get a little hot inside the cabin, and I figured it was the dumps. Well now its not getting hot, but I am still getting a smell in the car...like exhaust, or a feint gas smell...Its strong enough that it gets into my shirt after a while.

I am a little loss of where this is coming from. There are no exhaust leaks, I had it checked twice. Is it my carb ? Is it running rich ? I have no clue...Help ?

 

rbohm

Founding Member

Apr 12, 2002

6,698

550

204

tucson,az

May 23, 2011

#2

• May 23, 2011

• #2

check the rubber tube that connects the tank to the filler neck, it may be leaking which is where you get the gasoline odor from. also check the top of the tank for pinholes from rust. again that will allow gas fume to leak from the tank.

 

2

2+2GT

10 Year Member

Apr 25, 2009

3,333

10

79

Southeastern Pennsylvania

May 23, 2011

#3

• May 23, 2011

• #3

Exhaust fumes can get into the rear end of the car in a hundred places. Trunk lid seal, gas tank lip, taillights, bumper guards, backup light wiring, bumper brackets, quarter extensions, sheetmetal seams…

 

Stangninjak

Member

Apr 16, 2004

324

2

19

May 23, 2011

#4

• May 23, 2011

• #4

Hmm.. ok I'll take a look. Also is there a way to close up the vents from up front ? is there a lever or some type of control ? My 3 lever controler is basically just there at the moment. Nothing is actually hooked to it.

Though my AC unit works fine.

 

rbohm

Founding Member

Apr 12, 2002

6,698

550

204

tucson,az

May 23, 2011

#5

• May 23, 2011

• #5

the fresh air vents under the dash are not connected to the heater controls. they are purely mechanical. the drivers side vent should have a cable attached to it with a knob uder the dash. the passenger side is a door that you can open or close.

 

MustangB

New Member

Apr 24, 2011

31

0

0

Central Florida

May 23, 2011

#6

• May 23, 2011

• #6

I smell exhaust in my convertible, but only when the top is down. This was not the case before I took the time to carefully seal every penetration into the cabin. My torn shift boot was a big source of "smell". My heater hoses let some air get by too. Check your firewall carefully.

 

Stangninjak

Member

Apr 16, 2004

324

2

19

May 23, 2011

#7

• May 23, 2011

• #7

Hey thanks for the tips. I going to take a look. I know I want to replace a lot of hoses with braided ones. Also thanks for the info on the flaps.

Edit: After taking a look I now see that there are big pieces of foam in the vents. I also do not see a knob, so I guess they were broken somehow ? But yeah, the foam is inside the vents, and its in there pretty tight. So not sure if air is coming in from there...if so, I would have to say it could not be a lot.

 

tx65coupe

Active Member

Nov 29, 1999

1,551

1

37

May 23, 2011

#8

• May 23, 2011

• #8

Mine does this a little bit too, and I have never been able to fully get rid of it.

 

6

68RCodeConv

New Member

Oct 2, 2003

345

0

0

Houston, TX

May 25, 2011

#9

• May 25, 2011

• #9

Do you have a PCV system? Does the breather on the valve cover vent into the air cleaner?

I had this problem big time. I changed the PCV valve to one from a Boss 302 and replaced the breather cap with one with a nipple. Drilled a hole in the bottom of my air cleaner and ran a hose from the breather cap to the air cleaner. This solved the problem.

 

Stangninjak

Member

Apr 16, 2004

324

2

19

May 31, 2011

#10

• May 31, 2011

• #10

Ok. so what I have done is

Check the trunk seals. One part was loose so I glued it up.

Check the firewall. Did not see a lot going on there, but will get some silicone to put in various spots.

Check Undercarriage. Yeah need some silicon in the spots I moved the seat back with.

What may have worked....
I took out my filter and finding that it was a actual K&N..(I had forgoten...its been a while) I went and bought the charger/cleaner for it. After cleaning and charging, it has seem to stop the smell. Or at least its not so strong as before.

It may also have been the tips burning in, or whatever its called when you do the exhaust. For now, its not to strong anymore, but is still slightly there. I will seal up some of the things I found and see how that helps. Thanks for the info in this thread, and keep it coming. Its been a great help.

 

tx65coupe

Active Member

Nov 29, 1999

1,551

1

37

Jun 8, 2011

#11

• Jun 8, 2011

• #11

I don't see how cleaning the KN could have much affect on the smell. I would replace it with a good Wix filter.

I know what you mean about the new exhaust smell. Its the coating burning off on the pipes for storage so they stay nice until they are installed.

 

L

Loftus

New Member

May 5, 2011

52

0

0

Western US

Jun 8, 2011

#12

• Jun 8, 2011

• #12

I had the same issues with my 71. Here is what I found.

Leaky block to flange gaskets(bad hedders to gasket match)leaky collector gaskets, rust hole in 4to1 collector(and coated hedders too!)leaky collector gaskets(I now have thick dead soft ones) and many pin holes in rear floor pan.

I am sure the cruddy trunk rubber molding is toast to (a good suggestion this thread).