Trunk Vents... sealing them cured my exhaust smell

[Smrtpunk]

Does anyone have pictures of a working trunk vent?

Let me start by giving a little background on my problem. I had serious exhaust fumes coming into the cabin of the car while cruzing. I tried all sorts of items like trunk gaskets checking the exhaust for leaks with trans oil, other stuff as well.

Tonight I sealed the trunk vents with a combination of duct and tin tape and the smell seems to be gone.

How necessary are they and should they not be sealing up enough to block out the smell. My car is a bit of a fixer upper (read extreme POS) I bought it when it was a day away from heading to the junk yard. I've fixed so many things on this car that I've lost track.

My guess is that the vents aren't working as they should. As I'm sure they are supposed to keep the exhaust out. I would like to obtain some pics so that I can get a better idea of how they should work and see if I can fix them as I imagine sealing them is probably not a great idea.

THank you everyone!

Ian

[MC Hammered]

You are referring to this thing with the flap?

IIRC the vents are used to equalize the cabin pressure when a door is closed, maybe to help vent battery fumes for vehicles with a trunk mounted battery.

If the rubber flap is curved upwards I can see how fumes can enter the cabin as the flap isn't making a decent seal.

[Smrtpunk]

Yes, this is exactly what I meant. Do you have any interior shots of the vent? I don't think my vents had their spring anymore and I think they were just flapping in the wind so to speak.

Ian

[MC Hammered]

Here is a picture of the back of the vent



There is no spring holding the flap down, just the weight of the flap itself holds it down.

Only way it would 'leak' is if the rubber flap edges started to curl backwards due to age and not lay flat anymore.

[jeffnhiscars]

Doesnt the sunroof channel also drain to that vent ?

[MC Hammered]

Sunroof drain connects to the round openings on the side of the vent.

[jeffnhiscars]

so would taping them shut cause the runoff to back in to the trunk ? Better than exhaust gases but still a concern

[MC Hammered]

The sunroof drain empties into the side of the vent which is blocked off by a wall, the water does not flow on top of the vent flap.

So if one seals up the entire front of the vent then it is possible that water will build up and enter in under the flap.

[AndrewBird]

You likely have an exhaust leak under the car somewhere. I'd look for that first before sealing things up.

[Smrtpunk]

You likely have an exhaust leak under the car somewhere. I'd look for that first before sealing things up.

I think you're right. I was checking the floor and I found some holes. Since I'm using the car to do rally cross, I've pulled the carpet out and will be fixing the holes. I'll let everyone know how it goes.

Ian