Exhaust smell

[JimmyC]

As you all may have caught on to I am trying to make my truck girl friendly. One issue I am concerned about is that I seem to get some exhaust smell in the cab. I cannot find a leak. It might come from the heater, or maybe just drifting back from the tail pipe. Any suggestions?

[krick3tt]

Are you moving or sitting still? Makes a difference.

[landy]

Not an uncommon problem with the Pinz. I've had the same issue. If yours has the stock muffler and tailpipe configuration, i.e., pipe exits in front of the rear wheel, that can be a potential source.

First thing is to check for obvious exhaust leaks at heat exchanger, exhaust pipe connections, look for hole in muffler, etc.

Also, if the engine isn't tuned properly, it may result in an overly rich exhaust condition which can smell.

[edzz]

Before I would spend a lot of time on comfort, ease of access, and smell good, I’d be concerning myself with little things like a laminated safety glass windshield and properly mounted seat belts in the rear if those items haven’t already been addressed.
I’d also suggest spending some time learning some of the handling quirks prior to turning the girls loose driving your Pinz.
Remember little things like anti lock brakes were different in the ‘70’s such as with drum brakes they won’t lock up after a water crossing.

BTW adding your location to your profile may be helpful.

[4x4Pinz]

Some time ago, when my truck was soft sided, I played with some ideas to help with the exhaust smell. I found adding a spoiler similar to those used on the old station wagons and suburbans worked very well. The spoiler helped the air movement over the truck and broke up the vacuum that is created at the rear of the truck. What I found is that it worked best as the speed of the vehicle increased. I ended up building a hard top for my pinz and let the spoiler project go. Once the rear door was sealed up the smells went away.

[TechMOGogy]

See this thread re exhaust smell: viewtopic.php?f=13&t=8684&hilit=exhaust
scroll down and check out pinzinator's post as you can also rerun the stock exhaust so it exits towards the back of the truck (may need to move shovel?)
You can also look up pinzinator's new ignition system (Pinz SSI) which may help with many things. http://www.pinzssi.com/index.html and viewtopic.php?t=8523
I know you stated exhaust smell but wanted to mention that a gas smell can come from a cracked rubber gas tank boot behind the passenger seat - just something else to put on your list to check.

[JimmyC]

My whole plan is to give the thing to my GF claiming it is a European convertible minivan of a brand so exclusive they don't even have a dealer. Since she is too short to get in the cab I e pect her to keep to the GTI, but since "I bought it for her" she won't be able to bitch about me buying it.

More seriously, there is not much wrong with the truck other than the shifter linkage. I have the parts on order for that. I am going to pull the drums when the manual comes in and check the fluid levels at the same time. Seat belts are good, glass is the right kind, nothing loose or sloppy in the suspension or steering.

And I am surrounded by these excessive women. 4 daughters, a granddaughter, and a girlfriend plus I suspect my son will end up marrying another one. They are constantly plotting to undermine anything the slightest bit entertains and have no appreciation for the fact that the new convertible minivan can handle 28" of standing water. I have to deal with these women if I am to have any hope of enjoying my truck in relative peace.

Here is a perfect example of the sort of stuff they do: the boy had a father-son cake contest for Boy Scouts. He wanted a volcano cake so we took the propane bottle off the grill, removed the regulator and put a 1" ball valve and some 1" pipe and plumbed it into the cake. We packed the pipe with powdered sugar and stuck some sparklers in the cake for the trial run. I open the valve and there is a bit of a flame and the sugar burns kind of sparkly, nothing like a real volcano, barely touches the ceiling in the garage, maybe a few singed eyebrows, nothing like Pompeii but it looks ok for a Boy Scout cake thingy. The women folfs have nothing nice to say so I am thinking maybe I need to go to 1-1/4" pipe but then they start all this blather about dry ice. They want me to put a cup in the middle of the cake with some water and dry ice in it which somehow they think would be better (but could never come up with an explanation of exactly what would be better about it). It was becoming real obvious to me why this was not set up as a mother -son-sister cake competition which is because you could not muster up enough cattle prods to keep the judges awake. I try to reason with them, offer to go down to 3/4" pipe, express my concerns that the CO2 released from the dry ice could cause global warming, explain how the boys are trained to apply tourniquets and treat ANY kind of burns, first, second, or third degree, that dry ice can cause frostbite which would require amputation of the toes. So how do they respond to my offer to reason? The wife quietly tells me I will be banned from the marital bed, which I kind of thought she had already done without telling me, the daughters all tell me they will spend the afternoon finding surrogates to walk them down the aisle and preparing letters to give to future nursery school administrators telling them to NEVER let grandpa pick up the kids because he might blow them up with propane.

I would hate to see the Pingzauer suffer the same fate as the cake and need to take appropriate measures.

[JimmyC]

The link to the thread was very helpful.

I have the Petronix ignition. As others have found tune up helpful I will do the standard tune up stuff. I will check the plugs to see if it is running rich. I didn't actually check for leaks myself as I had my good clothes on today, but the guys in the back shop usually are pretty good at that sort of thing. The smell is mostly while sitting still or maneuvering slow. I am not sure how to check the heat exchanger. I might try pressure testing it.

[krick3tt]

tried to delete

[JimmyC]

I found the slip joints forward of the heat exchanger leaking. I have them temporarily fixed with high temp silicon, which i understand is good for a week or so. smell is mostly gone.