Exhaust: Exhaust stink

[Hawklover]

I will tell you a story that most likely you will not believe. Remember I have previously mentioned that for many many years I have been experiencing exhaust stink on my clothes every time I drive the Avanti, and as a result when I return home have to jump in a shower and toss the clothes in the laundry hamper. I have tried everything to find why the car stinks from exhaust. Total new ss exhaust, all new hood and trunk gaskets, firewall sealed up, rear seat hole under the gas tank closed off, and other things I have forgotten. Well today I brought the car to my buds shop as he has a very good smoke machine. Well SOAB if he said no leaks anywhere.......................BUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know why you think you smell exhaust, which you are not.............he then asked me who lubes this car????? I said I usually do for the last 50 years.............well, he says you are NUTS with the amount of grease you have on this car...........he then said you have grease all over the drive shaft from too much lube in the universal joints, and then he shows me all the grease that was thrown back on the front end, the calipers, and on a great deal of the pipes!!!!! Look king pins yes, but you really went overboard everywhere else. Both he and one of his men spent about two hours attempting to clean off grease from what seems the entire under body. He thinks in 1-200 miles of driving the stink will disappear, and he says...............HIDE THE F-ING GREASE GUN!! But we may have to clean off more grease if we find any more that we missed.




He is not a prick I can assure you, he charged me $150.00 and I thought that was reasonable for sure. This all makes sense, I have had the car since late 1966 and I never ever remember a situation with interior stink, most likely because the Studebaker dealer was the one doing the lubes!...........in later years I did the greasing so I guess I have to look in the mirror and see what the reality is.




So, what are your thoughts?................ever run into a situation like this before??

[JoeHall]

I've always had greasy / oily Stude undercarriage, and believe it helps prevent rusting underneath. But it sounds like you found a good mechanic, who provided a detailed inspection, and even cleaned up the decades of over greasing. I agree with him, hide the grease gun, for at least a decade. LOL

As for exhaust smell, I once had a Hawk that, with a tailwind, would make my eyes water inside the car unless the windows were rolled down. It seemed dangerous, but took awhile to make the connection with tail wind, which helped to solve the mystery. Problem was, the lower seal for the trunk lid had about 1/4" of air gap from the trunk edge, so it had a station wagon effect, and was at its worst with a tail wind. Once I closed that gap, I never smelled exhaust again.

I have no idea about the seals on Avanti, but it may be something as simple as that.

[Hawklover]

Yes Joe the shop owner is 70 yrs old, and has been working on cars since he was 16, his son is his partner and they have two mechanics that work there as well. Time will tell if the stink goes away. Mom & Pop establishments like this are fast disappearing from the American scene;-( Also new seals are on the trunk lid and hood.

[Jeffry Cassel]

Back before emissions controls, car exhaust didn't stink. (Yeah, it could kill you in various ways, but it didn't stink.) The exception was a gas powered school bus--they absolutely reeked!) In the late 60's the stink of those early emission controlled cars was nasty. Don't know why. If you have a post Studebaker Avanti it will have come with all sorts of mileage wasting and performance limiting garbage on it. Is it possible after all these years, no one has had the sense to rip it out and re-time and re-tune it.?

[Hawklover]

Jeff, my Avanti is a 1964.

[Jeffry Cassel]

One of the most notorious sources of stink are mice taking up winter residence in a muffler. Did you pull the rear seat and look every where for mouses?? If you decide you just can't live with the smell anymore let me know; I might take it off your hands!

[Hawklover]

One of the most notorious sources of stink are mice taking up winter residence in a muffler. Did you pull the rear seat and look every where for mouses?? If you decide you just can't live with the smell anymore let me know; I might take it off your hands!

Yes I looked everywhere, and trust me I know what dead mice stink is, as I worked for years in old NYC theaters which had tons of mice that would die inside of the walls. This stink has been an issue for over 25 years, so I doubt it could have ever been rodents...............

[64V19816]

So….. after the cleaning did the smell leave?

[Hawklover]

I have to drive the car to actually see, she had to go back in the storage garage. So this is a story to be continued:-)

[altair]

On My 54 Champion Sedan, when I bought it, the floor was rotted out and the floor carpets were soaked and there was no physical evidence of any leaks every thing was soaked from back to front. It was assumed it was the rear glass and it was resealed to no avail. There was no evidence of water getting in anywhere. When I removed the rear fenders it became clearly evident where the water was getting in. The inner fender/body was completely rotted out and there was a rotted hole about 18 inches X 1 inch on both sides. This allowed the water to migrate in and run behind the rear seat and under the floor and therefore wasn't visible. My point here is, check the upper portion of both rear fender inner walls above the tire, it may have to be removed, for any openings where exhaust gases may enter. All the sealing won't help if it is open. My glass and doors were sealed perfect and still the floor was soaked.

[Hawklover]

On My 54 Champion Sedan, when I bought it, the floor was rotted out and the floor carpets were soaked and there was no physical evidence of any leaks every thing was soaked from back to front. It was assumed it was the rear glass and it was resealed to no avail. There was no evidence of water getting in anywhere. When I removed the rear fenders it became clearly evident where the water was getting in. The inner fender/body was completely rotted out and there was a rotted hole about 18 inches X 1 inch on both sides. This allowed the water to migrate in and run behind the rear seat and under the floor and therefore wasn't visible. My point here is, check the upper portion of both rear fender inner walls above the tire, it may have to be removed, for any openings where exhaust gases may enter. All the sealing won't help if it is open. My glass and doors were sealed perfect and still the floor was soaked.

LOL not on a fibreglass car:-)

[altair]

You got me there!

[Champ51]

On older cars, another source of odor is the draft tube. A PCV replacement on our car eliminated a huge aggravation for me.

[Felix]

I had this happen with my Lark. I was getting disappointed at the fact of smelling like gas, or exhaust, after each drive. I found the gas tank level sender gasket needed replacing, then the trunk floor access disc needed sealing, and PCV system needed to be installed to stop the fumes from the road draft tube getting in the cab at slow speeds.

If all the above mentioned items are not the source of the smell it could be the exhaust tailpipe is a tad too short. The draft from under and over the car will is not taking it away, but it's getting caught in turbulence and then getting pulled into the lower pressure of the cabin. You can try a temporary extension before a permanent one. I added some tips to mine and that made a difference.

[Jeffry Cassel]

My 57 Buick wagon (I still miss that car!) smelled bad if you filled the gas tank all the way--so I always filled it about 3/4 full and no stink. Could it be a gas tank problem. They are prone. My wife had a Hawk that just reeked of mouse and mildew. Never really got it stink-free. My 49 was in a corn crib for 30 years - mouse heaven! I left it outside with all 4 doors open and a breeze blowing through it all summer long. That and a good cleaning worked. (You need to remember to close the doors if it rains)