smoke in cabin

[matey_mate]

i have a problem with my gemmy whenever i drive it hard or up hills i get a fair bit of smoke in the cabin coming through the firewall... im pretty sure its coming from the breather hose which isnt attached to anything, and im losing a fair bit of oil through it as well. whats the best way to fix this problem?

[Chase]

Perhaps re-attach it.

[Dave]

Get yourself a length of hose - I've used another heater hose like the one that goes from the front to the back of the engine, and attach it to the breather outlet, then run it to a Coke bottle (or something more upmarket if you choose).

My car only breathes vapours out there - there's oil residue in my bottle, but no actual oil, so this might not be the best thing for you. I need it, however, because CAMS regulations require it. Small price to pay to fang my car hard around the race track!

[matey_mate]

yeah well i was just wondering how the smoke is getting through the firewall coz im sick of gettin suffocated... i think it could be through the vents

[Dave]

Air for the vent coolers is culled through the two vents at the base of the windscreen, just behind the bonnet.

Your best bet would be through the fire wall, as there are a number of grommets that can shift or perish. The two heater hose grommets are the largest and most obvious culprits.

If you're getting smoke in your engine bay at all, which you obviously are for it to be getting into the cabin, then you really should be looking for the cause of the smoke in the first place and get that fixed.

Good luck and Merry Christmas.

[Mooch]

Dave's got a good point, but the usual culprit i find for shifting grommets would be the clutch cable one.

Also, the cause of the smoke may be from the heater hoses that connect under the inlet manifold on the "t" piece. If their is a hairline split or a pin hole it could be spraying onto the hot motor and causing steam to enter into the cabin from the nearby clutch cable hole in the firewall.

This is only hypothetical but while ur hundreds of k's away it's about the best we can do! Just an idea to check all hoses, especially those ones coz they're a bitch.

Good luck, cheers
Adam

[matey_mate]

yeah well its not steam its oil smoke i think its either the rocker cover gasket or the breather hose... i tried that hose to the bottle thing but it just made it worse and i ended up filling half the thing with oil in a day! (but i was driving solid all day) yeah i think i got a problem with the heater hoses too.. when i turn corners pretty hard left all this water leaks onto my foot from under the center console above the gearstick... i know its from the coolant system coz it has coolant in it... how could i fix that?

[Simmo]

This leaking water is a common problem in gemini's. The water is coming from the heater which runs hot water from your block thru the dash.

Search the old forum for stuff about heaters, there was a fair bit of good stuff said there a while ago.Good luck.

Cheers Simmo.

[Adam]

Buggerit, I'll write up a workshop article on the heater bypass conversion.

[Dave]

Yeah, sounds like your heater core may have a crack. If you've got no cash, try to find a 2nd hand one - about $20-30 or so. Or you can take it to a radiator place and they can restore it to brand new and it shouldn't give you any hassles for years. Or you could bypass the heater, but that really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, sucks in winter - believe me.

If you're spewing that much oil out your overflow, then I reckon something is a miss - mine still only has residue in there and I've had the bottle on constantly for just under 12 months.

Sorry it didn't work out for you.