Fumes in cabin

[mlaw7]

Season's Greetings to everyone!

I know this issue has already been discussed ad naseum in other threads. However, I don't think I've ever seen this particular angle, so I'm posting it in the hopes that it might help those of us who are still experiencing fumes in their cabin.

Prior to the restoration of my burgundy '78 coupe, I was experiencing bad exhaust fumes in the cabin. I replaced all the seals, weatherstripping, gaskets, grommets, etc. I could find (well, almost all). Redid some body seams as well.

That almost 100% fixed the problem. However, I still noticed an occasional slight whiff of fumes with the window down when I would pull to a stop. Nothing major but still pretty annoying. I could not figure out where it could be coming from - until this afternoon.

Today while I was doing some engine compartment detailing, I noticed a small hole in the firewall near the hood latch mechanism. After looking around the compartment, I realized that I was missing one of the plastic holders for that part of the wire harness. This was one of the white ones that are used throughout the engine compartment and attach to the body by means of a rivet. When installed they effectively plug the hole.

I quickly grabbed one of my spares and installed it. Then took a drive to see if that made any difference and YES!

Fumes 100% gone!!

Moral of the story: check your engine compartment and look for any small round holes near wires, especially on your firewall. Replace any missing holders and you've just eliminated another point of entry for those nasty fumes in your cabin.

[FastWoman]

Cool! But if you were getting fumes from the engine compartment, does that mean you have an exhaust leak? FAIW, I had a big, gaping hole in my firewall, as the rubber boot around the accelerator linkage had completely crumbled. I also had a small exhaust leak at the manifold/head junction -- small enough to evade detection when the car was inspected, but definitely there. Even that wasn't enough to put noticeable fumes into the cabin, even through that hole that was about the size of a quarter. Just sayin'

Season's Greetings back at ya! (We're snowed in! Wow!)

[Mikes Z car]

The 71 240Z I used to have had terrible fumes in the cabin (loved it anyway) but the 70 240Z I have now has just noticeable fumes once in a while. The one I have now has two pipes side by side coming out of the muffler but I have suspected the difference might be the 71 I had had much smellier exhaust for some reason although the 71 did have rust damage and there might have been holes in the back in locations I did not know to look for.