Exhaust leak in the cabin ?

[deschodt]

Thanks guys. As I suspected the seal sits on/over the lip. Mine was not... It was behind the lip, and get this, taped down ! Been busting my fingers removing that double sided tape !!! 

 

I will reglue... the only weird thing at this point, is the groove on the seal is not very pronounced. You'd hope the trunk lid could get inside that groove deep and let is sit, but nope, it's very shallow. The seal will sit on the lip but you could not really push it down on the lip and hope it'd stay. It'll take glue for sure...

But I can see how it would sit higher like that...

[Simeon]

It definitely needs glue. The lip is more about locating it I think. Glue it in 6" sections using bulldog clips to hold it in place. It will need to be stretched slightly to get the last corner in place. 

[HBChris]

Is that a pic of your seal?  It looks way too flat if it is.

[Conserv]

17 minutes ago, HBChris said:

Is that a pic of your seal?  It looks way too flat if it is.

 

+1

 

I agree.  I cannot imagine that seal working no matter where you place it.  The original trunk seal is at least as tall as it is wide.  I hope that's not the current OEM seal.  Get yourself a new trunk seal.

 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

[PaulTWinterton]

No, I think that's 2-sided tape, not his seal. 

 

Deschodt, bite the bullet and get a new supple seal and be done with your problem.  I use contact cement on both surfaces, wait til it's tacky and apply.  The seal fits adequately over the metal edge to stay in position.  The contact cement keeps it there. 

 

TIP:  Use a hair dryer to soften the 2-sided tape to remove.  Use Toluene to remove the pesky glue residue.

[deschodt]

Oh I'm biting that bullet from 3 different directions...

 

I reglued the old seal properly...it's still very pliable and intact, feels great, and I just need to clean up one place it got oversprayed (not this paint job, a previous one?). It was just positioned wrong before (on that double side tape outside of the lip instead of ON the lip - yeah that was tape on previous pic, not the seal).

Gluing it down was very easy over 2 days, now the seal rides so much higher I had to readjust the latch or the trunk could not close... Seals better: checked with a set of bright LED's in the trunk pointing at the gaps, in a dark garage, spotted only side leaks about 1/2 way from the back on each sides - so I readjusted the trunk lid at the hinge and latch and decided to ALSO cover its inside with some taped foam/rubber seal I had laying around... Adjusted latch again because now the seal is really there, played with that until ZERO light leaks out... Success !!!

 

And no, my muffler does *not* stick out at bumper level, it's barely clearing the trunk panel. I'm sure that did not help, but I should be sealed better now...

 

I will now plug all the tail panel holes (2x euro plate holes near licence plate lights, and another bigger round hole below the bumper, look factory, very clean) and finally when it stops raining I'll pull the backseat and parcel shelf, and check for intrusions from the trunk... Also I'll touch up the spots marked with tape on the pic, initially I raised the latch too much to tighten the seal (when it was positioned wrong) and the trim nuts chipped some paint (%$%$#%), I got touch up, not super visible - no longer an issue with my seals!  Should be good shortly, will report.

 

 

[Simeon]

Get yourself a nice stainless steel exhaust tip to place over the tail pipe and extend it slightly. 

[deschodt]

Not sure I can extend that much... Might revert to a side exhaust someday though - but this sounds great. 

It's been pouring here so I haven't taken it out to retest - I want paint on the little chips I created before it sees wet weather... Tonight ! 

 

[deschodt]

So, in conclusion... All that effort sealing the trunk but actually, what really did it was..... plugging the passage from the trunk into the car. Passenger side, behind the rear seat, top left corner (when straddling the tunnel and facing towards the rear of the car), was a cavity (hard to see) with presumably a hole for a fuel line + return line, some wires etc.... I stuffed all I could find there, soft kitchen wipes, foam, packed it all in....  Result in the cabin ? See for yourself: 

 

 

That's window up, window down for more suction, window sideways ;-)  

 

Now interestingly, the trunk level of CO is still not perfect.... 50ppm or so in the trunk after all the sealing... As in per OSHA, it could make you sick after a few hours.... Bear in mind I resealed everything reasonable in there... All that's left in theory, is a foam strip that might be missing between the tank edges and the floor frame, or new tail light seals (pricey and not very old), and possibly a stock exhaust line plus tip that protrudes more than mine does. It used to read 160 ppm of CO before I did all the sealing work around the trunk, so between that decrease to 50 plus more importantly no more trunk -> cabin passage, we're good...

 

I also replaced the sender seal on the tank for the slight gas smell, bit of a clusterfuck, that, as I forgot the tank was rather full and once I removed the sender it mysteriously "burped" a quart of gas all over the trunk, totally unprovoked (after I pulled the sender!!) The fact the gas immediately ran onto the floor tells me exhaust can get in that way too, good fun ! I cleaned up that messy job and fanned it all for a couple hours.... All good now.. . Ironically the interior does not smell of gas at all, so job done !! 

 

Drove to work today, caught up with another "quasi-inka" orange classic - rare occurrence to see orange cars ;-)

 

 

 

Thx for the help !! 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 22, 2016 by deschodt

[PaulTWinterton]

On ‎15‎/‎12‎/‎2016 at 1:26 PM, Simeon said:

Get yourself a nice stainless steel exhaust tip to place over the tail pipe and extend it slightly. 

 

I was just going to say that.  It's amazing how exhaust, when expelled anywhere within the bottom of the car, will find it's way inside while the car is sitting or moving at speed.  Adding that few inches makes all the difference.

 

On ‎21‎/‎12‎/‎2016 at 6:01 PM, deschodt said:

Drove to work today, caught up with another "quasi-inka" orange classic - rare occurrence to see orange cars ;-)

 

Nice 'stang.  It wears the orange quite well.  Glad you solved your problem.  It sucks to drive around with fumes in the car.  My wife will tell you that too.

[John76]

Might check the seal around the gas tank.

This prevents any under-car fumes from coming into the trunk.

Most of the original foam sealing material is dust after 40+ years. Replace it with silicon gasket sealant.

 

[deschodt]

On 12/25/2016 at 0:07 PM, PaulTWinterton said:

 

Adding that few inches makes all the difference. [...]

My wife will tell you that too.

 

I see what you did there ;-) with just a tiny bit of editing....  Good idea, but it's a dual tip Ansa, not sure what I can put there that works and is longer, will investigate... It's about 1/2" from clearing the rear bumper but admittedly I tucked the bumper in a little  with euro brackets...

 

On 12/27/2016 at 1:11 PM, John76 said:

 

Most of the original foam sealing material is dust after 40+ years. Replace it with silicon gasket sealant.

 

 

Totally, there is NO sealing material at all right now... I will silicon instead, don't feel like pulling the tank and make another mess...

Edited January 3, 2017 by deschodt

[Tommy]

Bringing up an old topic because it actually has an answer to my question. Just asking to confirm it is a fact what Simeon says below. Is there notable difference in seal profile between OEM and Uro?

I have a seal from W&N that I believe is Uro and it's basicly not sealing the trunk at all. The problem is that the lip lies flat leaving a distinct gap to trunk lid.

 

On 12/14/2016 at 12:27 AM, Simeon said:

The lip goes into a groove in the rubber. I don't have a factory seal, I have Uro which lies flatter. The sealing lip should stand up quite prominently and face outwards. Sorry, no picture to hand. 

 

[Tommy]

No comments on seal profile?

[Simeon]

Sorry Tommy, I would have added to this but my car is on the other side of the country at present . I will be in Sydney with my car in a few days and will post a picture of my ‘flat’ trunk seal.

 

i found this post that seems to cover it as well