Stinky car!'79 Spider

[artmunson]

My car has always "stunk-up" the garage(and trunk) after I have driven it for a while....perhaps this is the same problem;heat soaked carb boiling fuel...It smells like it is running overly rich but I had a "carb guy" sniff it with his egr and he said it is running great,it just has always "stunk"....I have thought I fixed it several times...oil leaks,fuel leaks,rear end oil splattering on pipe etc.etc......could it be a common problem?Could someone enlighten me?I have wondered about the "carbon canister thing"......help!
Art

[Ernie]

Art,

I don't know if I can help, but my '78 was a stinky beast when I first got it.

Eventually, I discovered that the fuel lines had aged and were weeping fuel when the ambient temperature changed. Even changing all the rubber hoses didn't fix the fuel smells. I finally fixed it by drilling a very small hole in the gas cap.

I also had various oil leaks that generated more smells. I thought I would always have a "leaker", but finally getting around to cleaning the oil-vapor trap (cyclonic whatcha-ma-jig) fixed every leak I had.

The other thing I did was just let the hose that goes from the trap to the air cleaner hang down toward the suspension. At first, I had some spots from drips, but eventually -- no spots, no drips, no smells at all. Everything just seemed to clean up.

Ernie

[artmunson]

Ernie,
Thanks for the help!"oil vapor trap"?Could you describe this better?Exactly which hose did you hang down,the one from the bottom of the canister?Drilled a hole in the gas cap?I think I have fixed every oil and fuel leak possible.....thinking about this is starting to bug me again!Someone who supposedly knows these cars "like the back of his hand" said that because of the efficient design of the cumbustion chamber you can be jetted way too rich but it will not show that on an EGA machine.....anyone?

[So Cal Mark]

the only thing that would affect the readings on an exhaust gas analyzer would be a very efficient catalyst. You need to determine if you're smelling raw fuel, exhaust, or oil burning

[majicwrench]

Just what does it smell like??? Sulfer, like rotten eggs???? Does it burn your eyes?? Antifreeze on a hot surface makes kindof a sweet, sickly semll that you can almost taste. Oil on a hot surface tends to smoke, and most people say their car smells "hot" when they have oilo leaks.
I wouldn't worry about the exhaust gas anylis......anilyse........um.......anilier, no.........the EGA thingy. If the car is jetted too rich an EGA thingy will see that. But it is just a tool and is subject to the skill and whims of the operator of said tool.
Keith

[SpiderHead]

My car doesn't leak... it simply is marking its territory.

...and the aroma... hmmm.. yes I love the smells.

-Ryan

[mdrburchette]

The oil trap is located under the intake on the block beside the fuel pump. There will be a little elbow shaped hose coming from it and into the block and a bigger hose that goes to the air cleaner. Can you tell where the smell is coming from or what it smells like? The vapor canister is located on the exhaust side, mounted to the right inner fender with a hose coming from a three way valve mounted in the trunk at the fuel tank and one going to the intake.
We'll need to know more before we can help.

[mbouse]

i agree with Denise. We can't smell a thing from here.

could be LOTS of things, and until you can narrow down the possibilities our idle chatter is meaningless.

[artmunson]

Thanks guys!I cant find any oil leaks,it smell kinda like a bad cat but mine is empty(still going to replace it with a straight piece of pipe soon)and the coolant level is not dropping.Its hard to tell where it is coming from.I'm hoping to have some time this Monday(my day off)to work on it.I will let you all know more then. I am excited that you guys are willing to help!Thank you Michael for telling me about this site.
BTW-I keep looking up at that nice red/orange beauty at the top of the page and am reminded that I have 2 extra wheels like those...any offers?

[majicwrench]

I hear ya about the smelly bad cat. I've got an old one that lives in my shop, eats pack rats and whatever. Never could keep himself clean, that's how he ended up in the shop, wife thru him out of the house. But I don't understand how replacing him with a straight pipe is gonna help.
Keith

[TulsaSpider]

Hey artmunson, on the wheels... where in the country are you?
On the smell... like previously stated it 's very hard to determine this kind of issue. It sounds like maybe an exhaust leak getting into the cabin?? Is it better and worse at times?? Have you replaced all of the fuel lines? What do the plugs look like? Have you inspected the connections at the fuel tank? You realize that the fuel lines run inside the car inside of the driver's side door jamb. Perhaps a close inspection of these lines is in order. You don't want any fires that's for sure!

[artmunson]

I live in Washington state.I have fixed a couple of exhaust leaks over the years and replaced the muffler/tailpipe making sure it extended past the bumper.I asked a muffler shop to check it out for me and he thought it was running too rich because he said it stunk up his shop real bad when it was idling as he was checking for exh leaks....thats when I contacted this "carb tech guy" that said he would re-jet it for 80 bucks....he called me 20 minutes after starting on it and said there was nothing wrong with it and even said he thought it was running great.
Yes,I have replaced the fuel lines from the rear axle foward,mine did spring a leak on the floorboard.NOT GOOD!I have since helped 2 friends fix thiers since nobody thinks its a good place for a fuel leak.I will take a closer look at the fuel lines in the trunk.The plugs looked great the last time I replaced them but I will be checking them again soon.I am starting to think the vapor canister or oil trap.
Thanks for your help.
Art

Keith,
Thanks for the laugh!I cant think of anything funny to say about a pipe without offending someone!Gotta keep it clean...I AM a newbie around here,ya know.

[mbouse]

Maybe you could grab an empty mayo jar and capture some odor. Send the jar to one of us and we can help determine what the source of the smell is.

neither the muffler man or the "carb guy" could pin point the type of odor? raw fuel has a specific odor, oil has a different odor, and coolant has an all together unique odor....just like the difference between burning hair and burning leaves (uniquely different). exhaust smells quite different from any of the above.

SOMEONE should be able to easily tell what kinda odor you are complaining about. Have you been to a regular mechanic lately? Do you live near any Fiat people?

I see you have an empty cat, spending over $100 on a test pipe is gonna do little good for this issue or your pocketbook if the cat is truly empty. I see you posting another issue about poor running when up-to-temp. have you double checked the cat to make sure that it is not plugged?

i'd think you should start with one system and go thru that from start to end; move onto the next system and go thru it from top to bottom. Fuel delivery is one system. EGR and emissions is another system. Exhaust is a different system. Don't forget ignition and timing; unspent fuel results from poor timing and creates its own odor. i bet once you do this, you will solve your odor and your poor running when hot at the same time.

[Tappy]

is it a possum ? might be one behind the firewall

[Zamise]

I think they mean bad catalitic converter? I'm sure you guys knew that, funny tho, unless uh it really does smell like a bad cat... not sure what that would smell like, maybe fishy(?), bad catalitic converter smells like sulfer/rotten eggs. I've smelled that from cars before, always hear that it is a bad catalitic converter, or one not quite working the way it supposed to, but I don't really know for sure, just what I've heard about those, seems like the cars that I've known people whos had that rotten egg smell never do anything about it, like hoping it'll wear off or something eventually, but it seems like it never does, maybe they just get use to the smell.