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YOUR RESEARCHStrong fuel smell after driving
Leading reported evidence
Run i don't smell it
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Leading evidence: 'Run i don't smell it' (no explicit attributable resolution; this is a reported action or suggestion). Across 1 matching discussions, The most frequently discussed action is 'Run i don't smell it' (1 discussions). For that action, 0 discussions report a resolution and 0 report an unsuccessful attempt. No action has an explicit, attributable resolution report under the current rules. These are forum reports and suggestions, not a confirmed diagnosis.
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Lately I have been noticing a very strong fuel smell present after driving. I first noticed it and thought it must have just been some left over exhaust and I didn't notice it anymore. Now the smell is back. Any ideas? It seems to be present on spirited and not so spirited drives, and is only present after I shut it off. While running I don't smell it. I'm thinking I'll call the tow truck tomorrow and have it taken to the shop. Fuel issues scare me, b/c of that one spark that ruins everything! Anybody experience this before? I searched the forum and didn't find anything.
BTW Car is 2002 Targa with 49k.
Thanks!
Anytime fuel is smelled is the time to be well, scared. So I don't blame you for being scared.
The smell can come from a leaking gas cap; or a leak in the vapor recovery system's many hoses/fittings; the charcol canister can crack; or even a leaking fuel line/fitting.
I'm sure the tech will open the front trunk and remove the battery cover and the panels on either side and at least look at the fuel pump and its lines to see if there's any signs of a fuel leak from that area.
There is a vapor line that runs from the front of the car through the 'tunnel' (which is 'hidden' by underbody plastic paneling) to the rear of the car and the engine compartment. This line can fail -- and at least in one car I came across a few weeks ago be chewed through by a rodent -- and this allows fuel vapor to escape and of course you'll smell this. Whether this leak results in a CEL and an associated error code is not a given.
'course there are many other places a fuel leak can be.
Sincerely,
Macster.
i just had similar thing on my lexus - on a fuel rail there is a 'pressure release' valve. it went bad and produced a _stream_ of gasoline right onto the engine top. when car is on idle open up rear cover and look around, for smell to be strong enough to get inside it has to be plenty of it somewhere.
check if valve #2 leaks on the diagram below.
Diagnosis from the shop is the fuel sending unit. Since the fuel filter for this year is inside the tank, would this be a good time to replace it as well?
Unless there's a separate fuel filter I'd say no.
And I don't believe there is a separate fuel filter.
IIRC in that model year of car, same model year as my (02) Boxster, the fuel filter is part of the fuel pump.
The 'filter' consists of a fine mesh which is a portion of the fuel pump's plastic housing/enclosure.
When my 02 Boxster's fuel pump quit (at around 200K or more miles) the mesh had plenty of filtering capacity left. While the mesh had obviously caught (and held on to -- the tech reported there was little trash in the bottom of the tank and no signs of any water) some particles of who knows what no way was fuel flow into the pump affected in any way.
In 200K miles of service, the mesh had filtered and the pump had pumped approx. 8000 gallons of gasoline. 8000 gallons is approx the full capacity of one of these big rig fuel delivery trucks on sees at stations once in awhile.
Sincerely,
Macster.
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