I've attacked this problem before but it's back, and worse. With one of
the Tiger's windows opened, partially or completely, and the other
closed, I immediately smell a very strong exhaust smell (or what I take
to be exhaust) while bopping down the highway. I now have a hardtop on
the car and this condition seems to be worse with it on than it is with
just the soft top up, for whatever weird reason. My exhaust tips are
about 2" beyond the rear bumper.
With both windows up, I usually don't smell anything. As soon as I crack
one of the windows just a bit, the smell is strong and immediate. It's
almost like someone is standing there with a hose from the exhaust at
the window, waiting for me to open it just a bit. With both windows
fully open, the smell is usually not nearly as bad with the hardtop on,
although still noticeable unless I open the side "flipper" windows,
which helps considerably. With both windows open with the soft top up,
you really wouldn't notice anything amiss, until you rolled one window
up, or partially up. When I first addressed the problem, I had thought
it might be from bad fuel tanks but I've since had them both re-done so
that's probably not it. My trunk lid does not fit perfectly, but I have
tried sealing it up with masking tape around the edges and that does not
seem to have any effect either way.
I have had the exhaust (from the header collectors on back to the
tailpipes) checked and the shop that had installed it says they don't
find a leak. They could be wrong, though.
Could the headers themsleves be leaking enough to create this immediate
effect with a window partially opened? The fumes would have to be
flowing from the engine compartment, under the car, and then up into the
window. With the engine running, at idle anyway (or revving it in
place), I do not smell anything unusual from the engine compartment itself.
I've owned two new Sunbeams in my time, and neither of them, even up to
150,000 miles or so each, ever had a problem like this. I did have a
similar problem with my previous Tiger, but not as bad. On that one, the
fumes were less noticable with its hardtop on, the opposite of what's
going on with this one. So, since new Sunbeams didn't have this problem,
something must deteriorate over the years causing the problem, right?
All ideas will, as usual, be appreciated.
Steve Sage
1966 MK1A
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