Club 80-90 Forums

Hi folks! I have fumes entering my cab, its noticeable once the engine heats up and especially so when i stop driving. Any ideas? If the heat exchangers are rusty could I simply turn off the heating to prevent these fumes in the short term? (not sure how to do this but was told theres a switch underneath the vehicle?) Or would the cool air coming through the vents still contain fumes?
Thanks for reading! Adam

Oil on heat exchangers causing fumes in the cab is common with oil-cooled ... so I'm told.

Welcome to the forum

Ian

I am assuming you have an Aircooled? there are flaps that can be closed by the sliders in the cab area but they are typically rusted and dont work manually close by rolling underneath them then stuff some socks in the air vents. Invest in a eberspacher heater and bin the heat exchangers at the rear they are a poor design unless in tip top condition and they dont tend to stay like that for long.

well iv got oil everywhere following a service where my local garage put oil filter in wrong! Maybe this is why..

Yeah its a 81' 2 l Aircooled, is there not a switch under vehicle / on heat exchangers that switches off heat? When i first got the van the heaters were switched off then a garage switched them on..

Ahh, welcomer fella, any suggestion of heat in an a/c is to be consedered ablessing from higher places, to speak of 'switching it off' is
You'll soon see
they can give a bit of warmth but as youve found , any oil or other spilt on the engine gets sucked up and thence to you in the cab,
did the garage clean it all off or just wipe the most of it away, as others have said it will imporove when its cleaner
mm

I'll be very happy if the fumes are just from the oil burning off! Might try and clean her up this weekend (oil is everywhere thanks to an incorrectly placed oil filter by previous garage..)
My concern is that the fumes are resuting from rusty heat exchangers cos this will mean more £.. Does the fact that my heater is *pretty good* indicate the exchangers are in fact ok? haha, turning the heat off isnt a great prospect!!

well, you have the oil smell which stinks but will no doubt go over time as agreed, if and I mean if you also have leaky exhausts and this is being dragged in as well then it may be disguised by the oil smell., its worrying as it will make you drowsy and is potentially lethal, I woulkd get the garage to thoroughly clean the engine at their expense to your satisfaction and once the oil stink goes you can decide on the exhaust,
if anyone has any better ideas lets hear it
mm

metalmick8y wrote:Ahh, welcomer fella, any suggestion of heat in an a/c is to be consedered ablessing from higher places, to speak of 'switching it off' is
You'll soon see
they can give a bit of warmth but as youve found , any oil or other spilt on the engine gets sucked up and thence to you in the cab,
did the garage clean it all off or just wipe the most of it away, as others have said it will imporove when its cleaner
mm

ease up mick, i managed to demist a good 5 square inches of windscreen the other day. how about that then

probably the bit round your tax disc or the ashbin
mm

metalmick8y wrote:probably the bit round your tax disc or the ashbin
mm

tax disk? whats that then, i'm a geeza dontcha know.

sorry,forgot your in S'ampton.
mm

Firstly, get underneath in some old clothes and marigold gloves and clean the heat exchangers and underside of the engine with gunk and a stiffish brush - to loosen all grit/oil. You can use paraffin too if you have any handy but you'll need to wash it all off properly.

Jet wash it with a detergent to remove whats left. Once its all clean, give it a run to get engine up to temperature and burn off any residue. Finally check underneath again to make sure rocker covers or other leak-prone areas are not seeping oil. Smell should go after a week.

Make sure there are no major holes or couplings missing between exchangers and interior of van. Make sure flaps open fully. If cables are broken you can rejoin with coat hanger wire and chockbloks or if all else fails, wedge them open.

No reason why Aircooled heating can't be effective and smell free.

totally true, to many Aircooled heating haters on here.

my ol one was properly toasty as good as if not better than my subsequent wasserboxers.

in fact it was so good it caused cans of pop to expolde when i left them adjacent to the vents.

try that in a wasserboxer!!!

CovKid wrote:Firstly, get underneath in some old clothes and marigold gloves and clean the heat exchangers and underside of the engine with gunk and a stiffish brush - to loosen all grit/oil. You can use paraffin too if you have any handy but you'll need to wash it all off properly.

Jet wash it with a detergent to remove whats left. Once its all clean, give it a run to get engine up to temperature and burn off any residue. Finally check underneath again to make sure rocker covers or other leak-prone areas are not seeping oil. Smell should go after a week.

Make sure there are no major holes or couplings missing between exchangers and interior of van. Make sure flaps open fully. If cables are broken you can rejoin with coat hanger wire and chockbloks or if all else fails, wedge them open.

No reason why Aircooled heating can't be effective and smell free.

totally agree but the garage caused the mess= the garage clean it up.and yes my old ac did heat up ok but had new exe's though not as good as my oiler
mm