360 Exhaust Smell

I detect a slight exhaust smell from my recently purchased 2002 Spider. It's most noticeable with the top down and windows up, but it's also noticeable with the windows down. A search doesn't indicate that this is a common 360 problem. Has anyone else encountered this? How was it fixed?

The smell is definitely exhaust, and not fuel. I have stock headers and cats, but a Tubi muffler. I don't hear the ticking of an exhaust leak. The flanges between the pipes and muffler are very rusted.

Since the smell is most noticeable with the top down and windows up, can I assume that low pressure is drawing fumes from the engine inspection plate?

 

Stock headers are know to crack, total garbage infact. I would start looking there.

 

You may be right, but wouldn't a cracked header cause a ticking, exhaust leak sound?

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Mine didn't make any weird sounds but one of the tubes was destroyed.
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That's good to know. How were you or your mechanic able to diagnose the problem without removing the header? Did you note exhaust fumes entering the cockpit?

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You could just see that heat spot and I was replacing them to avoid the pre-cat time bombs anyway before they turn the engine into scrap metal. Good thing too, the opposite header pre-cat was broken and bouncing around inside. I would get rid of the stock headers whether or not they're causing your current problems.

 

Jb - how many miles on those failed pre cats? Good data to know.

 

They came out at 29k miles but I think it had been broken for a long time before.

 

One side of mine went bad at 23000, the other at around 40,000

 

Gentlemen, please get on topic. Yes, it may be possible for a damaged header to cause an exhaust smell, though this doesn't seem to be the case with JB-Slow.

I'm particularly interested if anyone has experienced exhaust fumes with a perfectly operating exhaust. Have compromised body gaskets resulted in fumes entering the cockpit with the top down? How about missing wind deflectors?

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