Gazzer

I am getting exhaust fumes inside the cabin of my S2. I have visually and audibly checked the exhaust and exhaust manifold and both appear OK. I have also checked the rubber on the rear door/window and the rubber on the bonnet where it meets the firewall. Both seem fine. The fumes get worse if I have the sunroof open. The fumes are still there even with the sunroof closed and having travelled some distance at speed. Any ideas?

Kimple

I think it's your rear hatch seal. Opening the sunroof or window creates vacuum inside the car and exhaust gases are sucked inside from rear hatch. Seal may look good even if it's not gas tight anymore.

Kimmo

fletch.

There is no way to visually check the most common cause for this. The exhaust manifolds are usually (from my experience) the cause. The exhaust manifold is common not only because they are know to crack, but they are also in front of the cabin, unlike the rest of the exhaust.

If you can eliminate the rear hatch seal, you will need to cut off the shield to be sure the manifold is not cracked.

944Fest (aka Dan P)

I've seen this happen because the Tailights were missing some of the goop sealant around them. If you've replaced a tailight recently, it could be it.

Skip

All great answers... and, I've had two of them:

The rear hatch seal has a gap (usually in the lower middle) that can let the exhaust through. There is a low pressure area that cause swirling of the exhaust under the rear wing area (though on 968's this may be a bit off). Replacement is ~$55.

Aside from the "gap" in the hatch seal, it could also be that the seal is not seating to the hatch frame properly. An easy test is to get some chalk (stick or powder) and rub it on the seal, then close the hatch, then inspect for unmated areas.

I've also had to silicone the rear tailights to get them back to airtight... this was discovered after I replaced the hatch seal (which was undeniably bad).

There are even more spots that can suck in the exhaust (assuming it comes in from the muffler area, and not the header). There are water drains in the saddlebags (trunk area), and in the spare tire area. All these should have rubber plug, but they do disappear over time.

Good Luck!

[ 05-06-2001: Message edited by: Skip ]

Gazzer

Thanks to your responses I have fixed this problem. It turned out to be the left hand side of the rear door/window was not sealing correctly and/or a missing plug in the space saver spare area. Many thanks.