smell of gas inside car

[DatsunZGuy]

35 minutes ago, siteunseen said:

That sniffer will help. That'll be a good valentines gift to whatever her name is then.  Thanks @DatsunZGuy.

I'm thinking of getting one of these sniffers for myself. 

Lots of uses around the home to include measuring the potency of farts at my next Superbowl party with the guys 😆

[siteunseen]

That's hilarious!

My sniffer. 

 

 

[Wally]

The gas sniffer isnt registering anything. I have tried it from front to end on everything. It does work though, i tested it out on lots of things. I just took the car on the Hwy. first time. left the windows up and AC on. When i came home terrible smell on me. This is getting a little silly. If there was anyone in area who knew anything about Z's i would take it there. Unfortunately there isnt.

[Zed Head]

On 12/29/2022 at 3:34 PM, siteunseen said:

There's a vinyl rectangle on the inside bottom of the rear hatch above the locking mechanism. Mine needed resealing I thought

You might have missed this because it wasn't the problem in site's case.  But it is a big deal if the panel is not completely sealed around the edges.  There is no way to seal all of the entrances in to the inside of the back hatch lid.  The area around the latch loop cannot be sealed without lots of effort.  The best way to keep the gases from getting sucked in is to completely seal the perimeter of the cardboard panel.  I used stick-on foam weather-stripping from Home Depot.

The funny thing about the problem is that opening the windows makes it worse.  It creates low pressure in the cabin, which causes anything hanging out behind the car to get sucked in through the hatch lid.

[Wally]

That piece is indeed off. This could be the issue but I am not understanding how in the world exhaust is coming in through that area though

i have some 3m weatherstripping tape. I will put it back on with oem screws and tape all around edge. 

Edited January 6, 2023 by Wally

[Zed Head]

It's Bernoullian.  Stick your head in the hole and you'll probably see the holes where the gases get in.  The panel is a big open shell.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernoulli's_principle

[Wally]

Gotya. I took car to muffler shop. They put it on the rack. Exhaust has 5 different big clamps on it. One of them was leaking...the one under driver seat. It got welded up tight so Hopefully

this will help address the issue too

[siteunseen]

4 hours ago, Zed Head said:

You might have missed this because it wasn't the problem in site's case.  But it is a big deal if the panel is not completely sealed around the edges.  There is no way to seal all of the entrances in to the inside of the back hatch lid.  The area around the latch loop cannot be sealed without lots of effort.  The best way to keep the gases from getting sucked in is to completely seal the perimeter of the cardboard panel.  I used stick-on foam weather-stripping from Home Depot.

The funny thing about the problem is that opening the windows makes it worse.  It creates low pressure in the cabin, which causes anything hanging out behind the car to get sucked in through the hatch lid.

Originally mine had some black urethane caulk type stuff. I had to remove mine to get the bolts/screws that held down the rear spoiler. The weather stripping is what will use just like Zed Head.

Here's the best i can get on the OE sealer...

 

[siteunseen]

These are the rubber plugs to the sides of the latch on the bottom of the hatch where it hits the slam panel.

 

[Wally]

i have all the grommets in place. also i put the rectangle piece back in with sealant all around it. SIGH!!!! there is still an exhaust smell. 

I can rider in the car a couple minutes and the smell is all over me, even with the window down. 

I am taking the car back to the exhaust place tomorrow to see if any more welds are needed. I cant find anything with the sniffer either. This is 

really odd.

[Zed Head]

It's a very common problem.  Search the forum for smoke machine references.  I think that Zs-ondabrain had a good thread going about it.  Smoke the inside of the car and look for leakage.  Bad gaskets around the taillight housings is another big one.  They dry up, shrink, and crumble away.  Did a quick search and found a reference confirming his method.  Turns out it was actually watching the smoke come in.  I assume that either way works.  I think the smoke is oily though so their way is probably best.

Also, people turn the lights off and shine a bright light on the inside and see where it comes out, or vice-versa.

Don't overlook holes in the firewall.  Cables, hoses, etc.  

[Wally]

Uggh... So i have replaced all the firewall grommets, made sure they all seal good. All new rubber seals on hatch and it seals really tight. Just drove the car and still smells bad of exhaust fumes. I am thinking may have to try the colored fog machine in the car and see where the gas is escaping to. Not sure what else to do at this point.