Enjoying the warm winter. Had the t -top out and about. Runs perfect hauls ***. However 20 mins later me and the mrs. Were tripping worse than lindsay lohan. Yea smelt fumes didn't seem that bad got a 3 in stainless exhaust former owner tig welded the pipes perfect. Checked hatch gasket nice soft and ply. Poured water down hatch with garden hose. Leaked a tiny bit but show me a datsun that's water tight. No way its window glass moveing 65 mph. . . Shift boot new. . . No rust in body. Taillights maybe ?

 

maybe under the car, are all the water drain grommets under the rug in place? maybe the exhaust manifold has a bad gasket.

 

I Replaced manifold and collector gaskets when I replaced engine in october. I'm jacking it up later. . . Pain getting it up in the air santa needs a low profile jack. Would that plate over the sending unit cause fumes to get in

 

it could come in anywhere, start the engine and look for any obvious places of exhaust leak

 

Is there a catalytic converter currently installed? I have a feeling there isn't.

 

Well if you happen to belive the car has an illegally modified emission control device.I have no idea, I am not good with cars and can't find where to put the oil in but I heard the kitty is gone so the last owner must have lost his cat. I installed my carpet kit today caulked around all grommets and undercoated the interior floor areas. . Its much quieter and the smell is lil less but still. Whinney the poo dances on the dash after a while with the windows up. Hate to give up the exaust or maybe just give up the wife and crack the windows. . .

 

Yep...

no cat = mucho fumes. So, either deal with it, or install a cat / test pipe like I did (I "dealt" with it... then installed a cat ). My original reason for installing flanges was to swap in the cat for emissions / smog check, then reinstall the test pipe until next year. Two years of doing that and I decided just to keep the cat in. You can spend the rest of your life trying to seal off the cabin, or just install a cat.

 

Ooooooooo? Ok well its up in the air. I have no way in hell of getting a cat on this exhaust its a beautyful shinny exaust guy had to be dam good cause there is no space for error. See the common wealth of pennslyvainia has a classic tittle. Where its emisson test are exempt and they can't do anything about the kitty so whinny the poo ain't bad when his friends show up well ill pull off for a bit. Just weird my hermit said the same thing and with the body style they're prone to the fumes period. Since the air around the back kinda hangs there while its going down the road. Sucks !! Its a bad *** sounding t top though give or take with this.

 

I don't have any problems on any of my catless S130s. I don't see how a cat would cause less exhaust fumes other than a poor seal on the non-cat flanges? I know on the S30 the body actually creates a vacuum that draws exhaust from the rear of the car and up the side/roofline of the car into the driver window. Solution is simply to move the tip of the exhaust out an inch past the bumper or add a spoiler to the rear. Works for the 240/260/280Z - maybe the 280ZX has a similar problem with certain exhaust exits? Maybe you're having the same sort of problem?

 

I drove my Z "catless" for 2 years... inhaled exhaust on every drive, and smelled like it in my clothes when I got to work / home. Installed the cat, no smell at all (same gaskets). The cabin is sealed VERY WELL too. The tailpipe is about 1" out from the bumper:

 

Check all your grommets on the fire wall. Check with your hardware store or a shop that repairs air conditioners. They usually sell a soft asphalt/rubber type of tape that works fantastic for sealing just about anything. I`ve also used it on my rear tail lights.

 

Yea thinking about nismo's comment the cat would reduce the mass of the fumes. The fire wall is a mess got it with the hvac stripped did put the heater core and vents back in. Ill look today. Since I'm getting classic plates to cheat pollution. I can't add spoilers. Thanks for the input ! Going to weld a tip to the pipe bring it out a full 3 inchs past the bumper.

 

A cat won't change the "mass" of the fumes - what goes in must come out - the equation has to be balanced on both sides. I suspect that NismoPick is less sensitive to exhaust that has been catalyized into less harmfull byproducts however any exhaust fumes are bad. There has to be an exhaust leak somewhere because the same ammount of fumes will be getting in regardless of weather the cat is there or not. The only thing that the cat may do is reduce the temperature and thus the flow of the exhaust coming out but the effect would likely be negligible. I bet the same ammount of exhaust is still getting into the car but it's less "stinky" so it seems like the cat is fixing the leak....

 

Yeah man im sure its the lack of cat trust i took mine off and im in Ca/la area a year ago and well lets just say the fumes showed up after the cat was taken out, you can really smell it when you are decelrating idk thinking of getting a cat again just for that reason mind you i got smog test coming up next year so uhm yeahh need to find one, if you like going with out one go for the test pipe like stated. my 2 cents

 

I agree... exhaust must somehow be flowing into the cabin, but I spent countless hours checking, re-checking, and reconfiguring everything I could on the car, and no matter what I did (one window up, down, one ttop on, off, hatch up, down, tight, loose, grommets, seals, vents blowing low, med, high, extra under coating, seam sealer, soapy water on exhaust flanges, etc), I could never prevent the smell without a cat installed. Installed the cat, no smell. Apparently others have had the same experience.

 

I have a gutted cat, (eww!) and every once in a while I get fumes.

 

My point uh hemm. Not being a professor. Cat burns up unburnt fuel during combustion. . . Hence if you take the big chunk of the stink out of the picture you wount get the eye watering fumes you just get a lil dizzy =) Hermit that I talk to but is a hermit and is a lil bat **** crazy claims nissan had a quiet recall on the trunk/tail light gaskets with the z series due to the body design?

 

But is bat **** crazy =) I caulked the fire wall used undercoating over in through every inch of interior even bought new gasket sets for windows trunk yet I see a yellow tweety bird after bout 45 mins so were improveing. . . Here's my thought see how everyone feels. Car was ment to be fast and super quiet they didn't come off the line sounding like a harley. . . The fit, design and balance of this car takes on high end cars of today. So this car was worked to precision by datsun and nissan since it was there only serious chance to make Japanese cars serious to buyers in america. Maybe this has a role to play and shouldn't of F!&ked with that design lol I give up and windows down. Can't put a **** o.e.m in place of the stainless beauty of an exaust lol

 

Lesnocker

I think I recall - er remember that issue about exhaust being sucked in the rear flat area. It would not leak water but a "Smoke test" showed the side door vents and the tail lights were an issue.
Using "silly putty" on the tail lights was a street fix.

Cheers, John

 

Cat's burn (when they are actually hot) during transitions of load increase. There was no recall that I know of, but after time seals do dry up or rip.

 

I'm running new rubber car body and trim is about 95 percent to what it was new. Giving up on this. . . Perfect mandrel bent stainless 3In exaust. Has racing suspension buillt alu parts. New tranny stage 2 centerforce clutch light weight flywheel. The r200 new rebuilt all for 600.00 I should just deal with it lol

 

Did you try extending the tip or angling it? Put a spoiler on the back. Your main exhaust leak issue is probably the rear hatch and tail light gaskets....

 

... does it make a difference if you have the fan on full blast (ala positive pressure?)

 

Haveing the blower on high just throws it in the hatch does help a tiny bit. Got more serious issues that just popped up lol

 

I was just looking in the 1979 280zx FSM and found that datsun made a 280zx without a catalytic converter out of the factory, and I doubt they would have released a car with such an obvious problem as an exhaust leak.
there's a "pre-muffler" where the cat should be, I have a 79 280zx with a factory exhaust, no cat and holes in the muffler, and no exhaust fumes get into my cabin, you must have a leak somewhere, look all around and inside the car, check the power antenna drain, maybe its coming in through where the e-brake cable goes. an easy way to test for major exhaust leaks is to just cover the exhaust pipe with your hand(while it's cold) and feel for the exhaust to push your hand away.