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Re: [T3] Fumes


On 29 Jun 2001, at 8:28, Diana Howlett wrote:

> The lady that lives in a small apt physically connected to my garage is
> obviously NOT a VW fanatic like me.  Apparently my 66 Square (12v) set off
> her carbon monoxide detector in her apartment.

Assuming that you just pulled your car in the garage and shut off 
the engine, then I agree that this reaction seems extreme. Of 
course if you left the engine running while in the garage that would 
be a bad thing with any car, but our old cars DO put out a lot more 
CO than modern cars.

> Back to the point, I guess I have noticed it being a little fumey (carbon
> monoxide???) in the car when I'm driving, even with all the windows down.
> And since we sold our other truck, I've been driving the Square everyday and
> it smells a little of gasoline after sitting overnite.

CO is odorless, so what you're smelling is something else, but 
there's probably CO mixed in with it, so this is worth fixing. You 
should check all the gas lines to make sure that you don't have 
one that's just leaking a bit all the time. This is a simple fix and 
worthwhile from any viewpoint you can think of.

The most common cause of fumes in the car while driving are from 
rear door seals that are shot, and muffler connections to the lower 
heat exchangers that are leaking. The latter are easy to find if you 
feel around there with the engine running (not in the garage, right?
;-) 

The rear door seals are expensive, if you can find them. You can 
try different combinations of windows open/closed: Usually driving 
with any windows open will produce a slight vacuum in the car 
(Bernoulli's principle) which will tend to draw fumes in from the 
back. You could try driving with only the windshield vents open, but 
that may only be practical at high speeds on moderate days. 
Opening the vent windows more than 90 degs will often pump in 
enough air to pressurize the inside and keep the fumes out.

-
Jim Adney
jadney@vwtype3.org
Madison, WI 53711-3054
USA

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