first place to look if exhasut leak suspected ?

[paul b]

I have felt that in spite of after having had my car stripped , restored , painted and all new sills etc there still seems to be an exhaust like smell when I pull up the lever for the heater. So I put a carbon monoxide patch on / near the heater vent to windscreen, and it went toward a little darker so I have assumed there may be a leakage somewhere.

Where should I look first - its a 70 car , just had the engine out too and back in. The console controls for the fan are not currently working so there is no way to mix fresh air or direct - merely the red knobbed heater valve lever between the seats. New heater valves fitted when car stripped and SSI's show no sign of rust either.

The 3 lever dash controls are meanwhile fixed all the way to left - I think a cable problem that occurred when removed and then re installed. I can't imagine that could have any effect though.

Next step for me is to try and see if there is a battery operated CM detector that I could run whilst driving and put near windscreen vents with heater on and see what happens - any advice on what to check in the engine bay greatly appreciated anyway

Thanks

Paul

[sailchef]

New sills and paint would not prevent what you are describing.

What work was actually done to the engine?

Is there oil leaking down the backside of the engine. Are there oil spots on the floor under the car. Are the oil pressure, thermostat, oil cooler seals fairly new? All located on top at the rear of the engine.

Sounds like oil leeking onto the exchangers. Drive it for a good hour to burn off any residual oil that may have spilled during the R/R process. It may help.

Then search for leaks.

[E Sully]

Did you make sure your engine sheet metal seals are installed properly? Also, at idle I think it would be hard not to have some exhaust sucked in by the engine fan and blown into the interior. It was not the greatest design in the world.

[James Brown]

I don't think you can totally get rid of that smell, even if all the leaks are fixed the fan still sucks in a little exhaust and passes that to the cabin. Leaks in the heat exchangers are not uncommon. The only way to check is to remove the heat shrouds and look for cracks and corroded tubes. That would render the heat exchangers useless. best to keep the windows cracked a bit.

[paul b]

Thanks for your thoughts and I will duly look into all those areas

Paul

[kidrock]

that smell is called, "Eau de la Porsche". (Pour Homme)

And, no Playa, that is not pronounced "poor Homie".