Hey guys, after I installed the test pipes I smell a really weird odor. It isnt the exhaust odor coming from the rear tail pipes. I smell it from inside the cabing, and it smells really nasty. Its a strong unburned fuel smell. I'm just wondering if I have a leak or does the ecu take a while to get used to. I took it to my muffler guy and he checked and told me there isnt a leak. I cant even hear a leak yet I smell the horrific odor. Does everyones Z smell like this?

 

that is normal. After you burn a few thousands miles, it will goes away. Don't worry much.

 

A few thousand? Honestly this thing stinks real bad, i cant even drive with the windows up anymore. Does everyones exhaust also rasp because of the test pipes, because I got resonated ones for a reason.

 

what testpipe did you buy?

 

Megan... Yes i know its cheap, but its temporary.

 

I had the Megans on for a while, no problems. I also had a strong smell from the exhaust but not inside the cabin. The majority of the "rich" smell goes away eventually, but it's always gonna smell to some degree. And I'd be real concerned if I was geting it in the cabin...

 

they work the same (brandname or not) but your problem is the first i heard of.

 

Maybe I should go to a different muffler shop then. I also got the megan racing y-pipe, I dont know if that has something to do with it. The only problems I can think of is either 1. I have a leak right by the test pipe underneath my cabin. The next problem might be the y-pipe exit is 3" and the inlet for the b-pipe is smaller so its leaking from there. I'm going to take it into a shop tomorrow to find out whats really wrong.

 

keep us update.

 

The 3" Y-pipe mated to the stock B-pipe shouldn't have anything to do with it as long as you have a new or good gasket and you torqued everything down correctly. There are pleanty of folks running a similar combo, including myself. The flanges will still mate up correctly between the two; however, you might have your shop fabricate a reducer which would help smooth any turbulance there.

Is your ehaust noticably louder? I'm guessing if you can smell it that easily in the cabin, you're gonna hear it as well.

Let us know how it goes tomorrow.

 

We used brand new gaskets, torqued it down correctly. I can hear the increase in noise but its not a exhaust leak noise. It sounds sorta like a m3 with exhaust and the rasp. What I have noticed is when i rev it and let go around 2k rpm it rattles a bit. I'm not sure what is causing that but I really want to check it out tomorrow. If I cant get rid of the smell and the rattling noise i'll put the stock cats back on and sell these.

 

Are these the Intense motorsports tp's and y-pipe?

 

I had a bit of a rattle with my stillen TPs. It's more like a hiss... I just recently changed all the gaskets with some rubber material gasket I bought at Discount Auto, and some High Temp Gasket maker. It sounds much better and that little hiss is alot less noticable, also you should retorque the bolts after uve run the exhaust for a couple hundred miles cause the expansion from heat will loosen em a bit from the install.

 

Okay I went to the muffler shop this morning. They checked it and it had no leak. The smell was definently the exhaust but there is more exhaust coming from the left tail pipe. That is the reason why the smell was much stronger on the drivers side rather than passengers. So the guy suggested I put a high flow cat on the b-pipe for the smell. I did, and it worked perfectly. It doesnt smell at all, but there is a horrible rasp because he installled the high flow cat where the stock resonator was.So he suggested that I install a small resonator after the cat, so I did. It helped reduce the rasp, and the car runs fine. It rasps very little, but it kinda deleted the purpose of the test pipes. So i'm really not sure what to do. I can either live with the smell and have one sick sounding z with lots of power. Or I can have this reduced noise and power but it wont smell.

 

Interesting solution with the B-pipe. FWIW, I opted to put my cats back on (but gutted the secondaries) as I couldn't deal with the smell. I do miss the power of the TPs, though.

 

Do you have a REVUP motor?

 

im kind of worried. ill be purchasing some megan test pipes on monday. should i be worried!?

 

test pipes will always smell. just remember, everytime u upgrade, u'll become less and less stock, and itll become more and more of a hassle. I had test pipes before (my sig isn't updated), and i got rid of them cause of the horrid smell. Since i park in a garage, i had to shut the car off before rolling into the garage or my house would smell like fuel. I miss the power and sound so im going back :-D

 

Sad to say, but its such a tough decision. The power and sound is so sick you dont want it to go away. Yet you go home smelling like you took a shower in unburned fuel. Maybe if I get a different mod it wont feel as bad.

 

I'm almost sure if you get a tune for your AFR the smell would go away