Exhaust smell

[Nick Triesch]

My 85 Carrera runs great and always passes smog. My question is why do air cooled Porsche cars smell so bad with their exhaust? More so when it is warming up. I have owned several VW bugs over the years and they seem to smell more that regular cars also. Is it because of the much hotter engines?

[kidrock]

smells like Chanel No. 5 to me.

[DRACO A5OG]

There is No Substitute o\__/o

[tazzieman]

Unless you have dead animal remnants up your pipe , that is what old cars smell like. Some even smell of petrol and oil and sweat. It's a manly odour for a manly car!

[ozracer]

I have a similar issue I suspect if you have has any oil leaks at any stage that haven't been completely removed they burn of while the car is idling

[Nick Triesch]

No, it's the great smell that is a mix of oil, gas, leather. This is the smell of the exhaust. Very strong at first, then gets better as the car warms up. Other cars don't seem to have this smell. I guess it's just the old air cooled smell!

[DRACO A5OG]

Well when cold , it is in a rich mixture mode, once warm she leans out and disapates the sweet smell via the cat, wait you do have a cat, right?

[emac]

Enjoy--it will never go away

[Joe Bob]

Better than 32 virgins.....but then I would be dead.....

[McLaren-TAG]

if you're lucky, after a hard drive you'll be able to smell it on your clothes.

[JAR0023]

That gasoline smell...the smell of victory.

[irobertson]

It's because the exhaust is shorter, with a 911 your nose is just closer to the combustion chambers.

[Nick Triesch]

Got it! I just notice that Old VW's have a similar smell. So.....the air-cooled thing.

[kidrock]

Originally Posted by DRACO A5OG

There is No Substitute o\__/o

No, there is no substitute. But I'll take these in a pinch ( * )( * )

[James Brown]

small holes can sometimes form in the header pipes, that leaks into the heat boxes. I had a couple of them CO2 detectors for aircraft that change color when they detect XX amount of CO2, put it in and the first drive it turned black as coal, i tossed it out, rolled the windows down a bit.

[Nico911]

It's true, old 911 can be smelly sometimes.

[wildthing]

Originally Posted by Nick Triesch

Got it! I just notice that Old VW's have a similar smell. So.....the air-cooled thing.

I used to drive a 69 Beetle and when I first got my 88 911 the smell reminded me of the Beetle. It must really be an air-cooled thing.

I did put some Zeolite to remove some of the lingering smell... seemed to help.

[JAR0023]

Originally Posted by James Brown

small holes can sometimes form in the header pipes, that leaks into the heat boxes. I had a couple of them CO2 detectors for aircraft that change color when they detect XX amount of CO2, put it in and the first drive it turned black as coal, i tossed it out, rolled the windows down a bit.

I figured someone else here used those. My FIL the pilot suggested them. When my car was PPI'd one of the manifolds was leaking into the exchanger. PO paid to swap it out. That made me a little paranoid, so I stuck one of those cards over the rear view mirror over the winter. Cheap peace of mind.

I don't get the smells in the car though, just a little whiff backing out of the garage when the car is cold. At least not any more. When I bought the car the shift shaft seal on the trans was seaping and both of the trans to body seals were gone. Whole car smelled very strongly of Swepco. That got old quick. As soon as I replaced all the seals the smell dissipated. -J