Club 80-90 Forums

Hello all!

Another day another question....

I was stuck in traffic on the way home today, and when my rad fan kicked in (first time since owning it, so it works after all!!) The most god awful smell appeared.

It came and went, and is still lingering around the van and in the engine bay no I've pulled up at home, so I'm hoping someone can help me fix it (it's bad, eggy, sulphur, dead animal sort of potty smell - bad)

That could well be your battery as the eggy smell could be a sign of it discharging. Have a sniff around that area and see if it feels hot to touch.

Have you upset anyone? A favourite trick to get back at someone was to stick some pieces of old fish or meat in the air vents.

Not upset anyone that I know of

I'll check the battery area and report back.

It was strange, almost immediately after the fan came on (like I say, never heard it work before) we were blessed in the cab with a decaying smell.

Is it possible.... That the fan kicked in as we were stationary and blasted us with the smell of leaky gearbox oil?

The fan blows towards the cab from the grill....

wouldn’t surprise me if it’s the resistor for the low speed getting over hot 

Single speed fan, don't know if that makes a difference? Where would the resistor live so I can check it anyway?

With you saying that though, does this sound plausible; the fan is blowing stinky gearbox oil air forward into the cab? There is a definite leak around the area which has the faint, but distinctly similar smell, and once this has been super heated by the exhaust/manifold bracket thing it gets super rancid?

We just never smelt it before because the fan never came on?

Bit of additional info,

I've been under the van this evening, and I'm almost certain that it's gearbox oil.

I've given it a good clean so I can hopefully see where it's coming from, but there is oil of some description collecting on the rear most exhaust bracket




And there is a drip from under the starter motor




I'm pretty sure that it's gearbox oil, it stinks, and it definitely has a whiff of the same smell that was lingering earlier on.

Any suggestions are very much welcome, and I have a couple of questions; firstly, is this the drain plug



And secondly, is it me or is that it barely screwed in?


Finally, should I be topping the oil up in the meantime whilst this get resolved?

Oldiebut goodie wrote: ↑26 Apr 2021, 18:07 Have you upset anyone? A favourite trick to get back at someone was to stick some pieces of old fish or meat in the air vents.

Our revolting smell stopped when we flushed the wiper tank. No rhym or reason...
 

Yes that’s the Drain plug, and yes it’s all the way in . I can’t see the fan pulling air from the back and blowing it into the cab , but it might be coming in else where I suppose , if you are not moving at all .
the fresh air intake is in the middle  of the top grill , the hot air comes from the heater matrix after ,  none comes from the engine 

Was having a sniff around the engine before setting off this morning and the smell is still lingering, pulled the flywheel inspection plug whilst digging around and the smell is matches that from the plug (but much stronger)

This has to be gearbox oil, right?

Also, the bit circled here



That I wiped completely clean last night now has oil fully collected on it again. It's not actually dripping, but a drip is forming, same around the starter motor connection... Any tips or pointers?

Gearbox oil smells like old pi$$ I have heard it said .
either way you need to drop the box to investigate if it’s the gearbox seal or the engine crank seal leaking , sooner rather than later , or you will be look at changing the clutch at the same time , and to be honest I would have a clutch on the shelf before I took the box off , just in case 

I was afraid that may be the case, "Balls".

If anyone knows of a decent, trustworthy garage not to far from Brighton that would be a great help