Exhaust fumes smell IN my w124

[Guest mr w124]

Hi guys. have decided to take the coe plunge next week. just some minor things to sort. Any other w124 owners have experienced this? there;s a slight to quite evident smell of exhaust fumes in the car, especially at high speeds. my wife notices is more than i do. anyway, was just wondering if it could be anything to do with the ac filters or is it a leaky exhaust. all comments would be welcome. Thanks guys.

[keltanky]

change your cabin filters, ok liao :thumbsup: think about it, once mine going for another lap, will also change the cabin filters!

[Guest eokh]

my 2 small cents ... press the re-circulation button to turn the light on

that way ... the air stays inside the car and does not take in fresh air from outside.

this reduces the exhaust fume smell + aircon is colder + lower fuel consumption

aside to all experts .... how can i keep the recirculation mode turned on permanently ??

Everytime i start the car... the aircon resets itself and i need to keep pressing the recirculation mode

any advise is heartfelt appreciated !!

[Guest mr w124]

I mentioned about the exhaust fumes smell in my car earlier. Thought it might be the cabin filters. Any chance that it might be a detiorated fire wall? might have crumbled after all these years. Any thoughts?

[Guest Mike]

check under ur spare tyre well. the plug might be gone

[Guest mr w124]

U r right mike. There is a hole there where i guess some plug was supposed to be. but the prob is that the smell seems to be coming from the ac. its more noticeable up front. can the plug be bought at any spare parts shop?

[Guest Mike]

just use sum windscreen and plug it off. i did that to mine too

[Guest mr w124]

I'll try that. was driving back earlier with my wife seated in the back with the baby. She couldn't smell the fumes n neither could i from the front, then i dropped gear to overtake n rpm went to abt 4k. thats when the smell came from the front ac vents.

[Guest Mike]

thats pretty wierd... exhaust pipe any leaking? or header got any leak?

[Guest mr w124]

not sure man. but engine is sounding noisier. might be the cabin filters for the smell i think.

[Guest Mike]

yup hopefully it is

[Guest RTCS]

Many years ago, I had similar problem with my w124 too. What is worse is that it is so intermittent to trace where the smoke come from.

At times it was fine, some times the smell just penetrate through the ac vent, some times can even see smoke escapes through the bonnet while driving! Sometimes everything is fine!

Many workshops that I went to could find the cause of the problem until a certain one in JB found it!

The problem was traced to a minute crack on the engine cover. This crack is not visible because it is being blocked by the sparkplug cable which is being covered by a plastic piece. As the engine get rammed harder, small amount of engine oil escapes through the crack until the drip onto the exhaust manifold, that causes immediate smoke formation which penetrates into the aircon vent.

Well this was just my two cents worth, you may not be having the same problem.

[Guest Mike]

yeah the 8 Valves valve cover is rather fragile... most of the time u will have small cracklines or the more common 1 is that the valve cover warp...

[Guest mr w124]

Ya mine had the prob a few months back. swapped out the cover n changed the valve cover gasket/seal. that area is dry now where it used to be wet. still cant trace the smell. will be going to change the cabin filters soon n see from there

[Guest Mike]

hope it will be solved by then... is the exhaust manifold leaking?

[Guest mr w124]

not the manifold. its the valve cover. or rocker cover gasket.