Exhaust smell when top down

[PJ60]

As the title says - with the top down there is a strong smell of exhaust and it clings to my clothes - any solutions? With the roof up the smell increases when I open a quarter light so I'm going to replace the boot seal first but surely with the top down there should be no suction through the boot?
jon

[KOY 23]

Check the boot seal and for any unplugged holes in boot floor.

[jakesmig]

Check the grommets on the front bulkhead are all properly fitted.

[PJ60]

Thanks guys, I'll look at both those areas.
Jon

[Markvh]

I get exactly the ame thing. I thought maybe it was to be expected for a car from the 70's.
I couldn't remember if I had that smell when I had a Stag in the early 80's. And if I did, never noticed beacause perhaps most cars gave off that smell back then.
It's even worse when stationary for a while when the roof is down. No smoke from the exhaust and it doesn't use any oil to speak about.
I remember once, the boot lid popped open, the roof was up and the smell was really bad.

[Ritchie6]

As the title says - with the top down there is a strong smell of exhaust and it clings to my clothes - any solutions? With the roof up the smell increases when I open a quarter light so I'm going to replace the boot seal first but surely with the top down there should be no suction through the boot?
jon

Always the possibility of a leaking joint somewhere. You could try covering the tail pipes with your hand and see if the car stalls or it continues to run roughly allowing gases to escape through a gap somewhere. Given that the V8 is a somewhat noisy(in a good way) it might not be obvious that there's a leak. Just a thought.

Richard

[Andy S]

Always the possibility of a leaking joint somewhere. You could try covering the tail pipes with your hand and see if the car stalls or it continues to run roughly allowing gases to escape through a gap somewhere. Given that the V8 is a somewhat noisy(in a good way) it might not be obvious that there's a leak. Just a thought.

Richard

I would check the exhaust first.

In the meantime I wouldn’t get stuck too long in traffic.

Andy S

[Mopo]

Also check by and around gear lever. I had a car once with same problem turned out to be a leak around the rubber gaiter.

[thebadleys]

Also check by and around gear lever. I had a car once with same problem turned out to be a leak around the rubber gaiter.

Also there is a gaiter on the underside of the handbrake lever, mine had disintegrated

Handbrake gaiter.png

[Stagdad]

Drive faster

[Jeff]

Pop into an exhaust place and put it up on the ramp. they'll soon tell you if there's a leak

[Andy S]

Pop into an exhaust place and put it up on the ramp. they'll soon tell you if there's a leak

... even if you don’’t