help: fuel smell coming from engine bay

[iroibeirt]

hey guys,

i finished doing a basic maintenance to my car, including oil change, replacing pcv valve, replacing fuel filter, cleaning air filter, changing spark plugs, flushing out the clutch and brake fluid, and I also changed the valve cover gasket because i was leaking a little oil.

after finishing, i noticed a strong gas smell coming from the engine bay. what could this be caused by? possibly a leaky fuel filter? maybe not properly tightened or something? i didnt touch the fuel injectors or anything, so i assumed it was coming from the fuel filter.

are there any other things that could possibly effect the fuel smell?

thanks guys

EDIT: I was wondering if the fuel smell was normal... maybe to break in the fuel filter? i don't really know about general maintenance stuff so, yeah... thanks!

 

[TalonD27A]

hey guys,

i finished doing a basic maintenance to my car, including oil change, replacing pcv valve, replacing fuel filter, cleaning air filter, changing spark plugs, flushing out the clutch and brake fluid, and I also changed the valve cover gasket because i was leaking a little oil.

after finishing, i noticed a strong gas smell coming from the engine bay. what could this be caused by? possibly a leaky fuel filter? maybe not properly tightened or something? i didnt touch the fuel injectors or anything, so i assumed it was coming from the fuel filter.

are there any other things that could possibly effect the fuel smell?

thanks guys

EDIT: I was wondering if the fuel smell was normal... maybe to break in the fuel filter? i don't really know about general maintenance stuff so, yeah... thanks!

A light fuel smell is usually normal and thats because most cars have old vacuum lines on the emissions controls. There is a line that runs from the fuel cell to the charcoal canister filtering out fuel vapor. Must DSM owners just snip it off or run a line to the ground and remove the rest of the emission system. I would check that vacuum line and if it all looks good and you have no fuel leaks I would say your just fine. Just watch it from time to time and look under the car when it sits for the first ten minutes or so to look for leaks since the fuel pressure is still in the line.

 

[iroibeirt]

thanks for the help, i checked all the lines and everything seems to be in order. Two things I noticed...

1) my car was turned off for about 6 hours, and the fuel smell was gone from the engine bay, there was a "slight" smell that you talked about, but i figured it was normal

2) however, there was a strong fuel smell coming from INSIDE the car. this was sort of weird because my outside vents were closed. i'm not exactly sure where the smell is coming from.

mind you, the car had been off for already 6+ hours. where in the world could the fuel smell be coming from? any ideas would be very very appreciated!

 

[95DsmTsiauto]

Did you look under the engine on the road/pavement? Maybe you have a hole in the gas line and its dripping on the road. My car usually after driving it has a gas smell or if I'm driving and getting on it the sweet gas smell always seems to work it's way in there.

 

[TalonD27A]

thanks for the help, i checked all the lines and everything seems to be in order. Two things I noticed...

1) my car was turned off for about 6 hours, and the fuel smell was gone from the engine bay, there was a "slight" smell that you talked about, but i figured it was normal

2) however, there was a strong fuel smell coming from INSIDE the car. this was sort of weird because my outside vents were closed. i'm not exactly sure where the smell is coming from.

mind you, the car had been off for already 6+ hours. where in the world could the fuel smell be coming from? any ideas would be very very appreciated!

I had this problem with a customer car where there was a very strong fuel smell inside the cabin. I checked everything and found no fuel leaks, but the breather line from the fuel cell to the front of the car had a crack in it. The like has another rubber section on the fuel cell itself. You'll need to remove the carpet in the hatch and you'll see a silver plate with screws and some wiring going into it. Remove that plate and take a look inside. Check for everything including leaks and cracked lines. If you find nothing there jack up the car (use a chassis stand) and take a flashlight to the lines to check for any leaks. Just because you have a fuel leak doesn't mean it will show on the ground.

 

[Spoolin4Ever]

Could be a leaky injector, or a fouled plug not burning all the fuel.

Sounds more like it's in the line or in the back like he said though.