Drove the car hard on Saturday then after the car sat I drove from my cousin's place in Orangeville down to Jane/Eglinton, dropped off the kids, then there was this really strong fuel smell in the cockpit.

I thought I was low on fuel so I put in some gas, started the car, and she struggled and put putted, but was good after a little bit.

Johnny L. told me to check the fuel lines under the hood and injector seals. I haven't had a chance just yet, but I have no idea what I'd be looking for either.

Just thought I'd toss this out there and get people's thoughts and insight.

If anyone could drop by on their way home or something that would be greatly appreciated as well.

I live at Yonge/Finch on Finch. If you've seen the black TSI on the north side parked during the day, that's me.

I am with Johnny, I would check seals on the car. For me I smell fuel all the time. But supposedly that has to do with my upgraded lines and doesn't effect my performance.

What are your air fuel ratios looking like and your trims? If something is leaking you should be able to tell from those two. Also check your duty cycle.

sounds like your filter is starting to clog.

10 minute job and cheap too!

Filter is new, well has maybe 3k on it now.

How would I go about checking the seals?

I'll hop onto Google and do some searching.

Does the pump for you guys turn on with the key on? or does the car need to be on?

I think it's when the car is cranking, not with the key in the on position.

You Fuel pump should cycle for 2 sec when the first turned on your cel will also illuminate for 2 sec thes is it bulb check.

You can verify by listening to your MPI relay it will click when you cycle the key to ON and click off in 2 sec at the sametime the CEL goes out.

Ok well I would just turn the car on and then check where all the seals are or you can hotwire the pump and check that way.

I wish there were something like remote desktop for this. LOL

I'll check tonight.

hahaha, yeah that would be amazing! k let us know, hot wiring would probably be the best cause it will keep the pressure in the system and allow you to hear and see what is leaking.

I would definitely do a visual check for leaks. Wipe around with a cloth and see if you find any fuel.

Or maybe just wave a lighter around until you find it

You might also start / stop the car and see if the spark plug tips are wet. I'm wondering if you've got an injector stuck open?

Will do.

Don't joke about things like your second suggestion, I would probably go and do it. LOL

So dumb lately.

Don't give the engineers anymore more silly idea's to put into cars.

Hahaha, very true. They might just think of something like this.

Well they already have the Android apps for the Chevys, I think it was, and OnStar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZwopj9_Y4o

He makes it look so easy.

yep that app is for remote start and monitoring. it's a pretty damn good idea too if you ask me.

check the top of your intake mani for a pool of fuel, maybe a seal for the injector from the rail let go. happened to me earlier this summer.

like tucan sam would say, FOLLOW YOUR NOSE

you'll find that problem

From Jafromobile on Youtube.

"I'd bet on a vacuum leak over injector seals. Unless you've already isolated the problem to the injector seals doing a boost leak test, confirm what's leaking with a boost leak test. There's a lot of different stuff that can cause what you describe, but most all of it will involve some form of an intake leak or an ignition problem."

Maybe you got bad plugs/wires and smell unburt fuel from the lack of fire.

Check to see all your plug wires work. Unplug one at a time while motor runs. If there is no change while you pull one of them, then bingo

Will do.

I should hear a big change if I pull a damn wire while it's running no?

I'd assume so.

And the one that doesn't change is your misfiring cylinder

+1 on a vacuum leak, also check around your evap canister/return line if you have a evap canister.




My 2g does NOT prime the fuel pump until I actually crank the engine, this is normal on MOST cars like my Civic but I think Mitsu did this on purpose as some sort of 'safety' precaution.

Terry could be right. I would have to see the wiring diagram, I only have a 97 spyder diagram and they use a seperate MPI relay and fuel pump relay.

I don't know what kinda safety precaution it is, priming the fuel pump actually helps with cold starts. Maybe because the Spyder is american they wire it different.

But Mike if you jump the relay you can the run pump till you blue in the face or your battery dies.


I don't know about a vacuum leak usually they cause higher idle not misfires.

What kinda tuning logging setup do you have Mike?

UNTIL you snap the bracket trying to get the top banjo bold off because it hasn't moved in 15 years. lol

I'm not sure the 2Gs do this... I know my Cavalier did but I recall doing some serious research a while back for reasons that I can't recall. The pump is activated by something else that is only getting a signal when the engine is spinning I'm pretty sure. Can't recall what though.

Michael, didn't you tell me your wires and plugs were new? Or am I mixing you up with someone else?

I stand corrected. The 1g's don't prime aswell. They do the 2 sec bulb check, but no fuel pump prime. Funny how your learn things sometimes I Ass-umed because it bulb checked it primed. Too many years working on Honda where sh!t makes sense i guess. Sorry to mislead you Michael.

if you have link, you can just turn the bitch on

sorry, i know that isn't contributing.

have you checked the coil, wires, plugs, or the injectors and seals yet?

i'm tempted to call BS on this thread and you're just using this an excuse NOT to get your but kicked at karting tomorrow.

No worries guys.

So I didn't pull the wires while the car was running, I chickened out.

I did check around the injectors and fuel rail, found nothing. Didn't even smell. I pulled each wire though, and the one closest to the timing belt smelled a little like fuel not sure, just a stronger smell than the other before it, but no fuel in the spark plug well.

I put it back and checked the back seat, and it smelled really strong there, so I thought it was leaking there, but why the heck would it be there? Well it wasn't, but the bottom of the seat where the foam is had a dark spot where the fuel pump is.

I dunno what's going on, but now the car's fine.

I started her up and checked around, no leaks that I could see so I thought I'd go for a test drive and put in some more gas.

No smell in the cockpit and car runs "normal".

Weird.

Side note: I decided while I was out there I'd check my last clutch pedal adjustment job. Well I messed up and I probably did a lot of damage to my flywheel and wore out my clutch.

I adjusted it properly, slave cylinder couldn't be pushed in, so I fixed that and now she engages first gear without shaking the whole car.

Lesson learned.

As for the fuel smell the other day...any ideas?

Maybe letting her cool down "fixed" whatever it was?

LOL nope.

Worst thing is you'll just get a little zap. Just a little tickle.

About smelling it around the rear of the car, I might be wrong here, but Isn't the tank/fuel system vented under the car near the fuel pump/that area?

It's not just a smell, remember the car was idling all lumpy as if she was about to die.

Maybe I was just super low on fuel? Aiya, I dunno, I'm just going to keep my fingers crossed and keep the fuel topped up.

ohhh on the subject of fuel or BAD fuel, a couple of weeks ago at work, a customer brought in their new TL and it had half a tank of water, dirt and some gas...they had filled up at a DRUMMONDS on PERTH ST. in RICHMOND. ya, you heard that right. stay the frack away from OLD gas stations..and this was their premium grade fuel.

IT WAS A MESS!!!

Wow... Thats terrible!

what's really terrible is that the gas station wouldn't take responsibility for it. the tech took samples using clear empty water bottles and pictures of the tank and the pump, the filter, injectors, and the gas station still didn't want to admit to it. they got maybe 10 minutes away from the station before having to be towed into our lot.

cost the customers thousands (can't say) to fix the problem.

SO, the fuel smell is still there.

I'll poke around some more, but the car feels fine.

Start up is taking a wee bit longer than it normally does.

This weekend's supposed to be decent in terms of weather so I was thinking I'd take care of a bunch of stuff if I can borrow my buddy's jack and stands.

Fingers crossed. Newbie's gotta get dirty sooner or later right?

First things first. Remove rear seat, take the four screws out of the sending unit cover, get a flash light and your nose around that area with the car running. Check to see your hard lines out of the unit arent sweating from pin holes due to corrosion. Check to see the air lines arent hard and crusty.

Thanks Rob I'll do that.

With my luck there's probably a squirrel stuck in there trying to get out. lol

+1 on what rob mentioned.

You have no visible leaks, i checked under your car and the firewall, filter, rail..so next step is definitely to pop the lid on your sending unit and inspect those lines.

Mind you, it was a night when i looked at it. Loool

+1

Problem found! It's just as you said Rob.

Thing is it's really bad. My back seats foam was soaked in fuel and it was leaking out.

I opened the cover and the top is flooded and fuel is leaking out even with the car off. The solid line is "peeing" fuel out.

So now what?