Why do old cars make your clothes smell like exhaust?

[HAFROD]

I've always had 80s and older vehicles with carbs. They always make me smell like exhaust. My wife don't like riding cause the smell of exhaust gets in her hair. Do I need to buy a catalytic convertor for my Salon??? Probably not an issue in winter when windows are up but when the windows are down and sitting at a stoplight it gets in. I've had this issue with just about every one I've owned.

 

[pontiacgp]

You have a leak in your exhaust

 

[jeremyandthemonte]

when i run my car its only open headers and after about 5 minutes i smell just like well engine

 

[oranGekrate]

I have a wagon with rear exit exhaust...Trust me, It's a bad thing.

 

[pontiacgp]

maybe you're running too rich

 

[Kwik_Cutty88]

My car doesn't have any exhaust leaks. If you stand outside the car while it's running for more than a new seconds you get an instant muscle car fume shower lol.

 

[Clone TIE Pilot]

Car isn't tuned right, either too rich or lean. Lean burns smell worse than rich burns and I have smelled quite a few old cars running lean on the road. Most common cause is vacuum leak, and there are many ways a engine can leak vacuum including intake gasket leaks. Improper spec egr valves and pcv valves can also cause issues.

 

[jeremyandthemonte]

its not just old cars in my mk3 golf vr6 no cat it smells like fumes. and yes the car is tuned properly. i think it is mostly due to old cars there is not as much emissions in the exhaust as new cars

 

[CWPottenger]

It is definitely not tuned correctly if it has a bad/ large exhaust smell. If it never had emission parts then it is typically just just running rich/lean if it did have emission parts that have been altered or removed then typically the engine was not correctly reconfigured to run correctly without the emission pieces

 

[Kwik_Cutty88]

my car was tuned with an A/F gauge that showed it was spot on in the A/F department. I think it is largely due to it having no emissions equipment and only single chamber mufflers. Going down the road you can't smell it at all.