Petrol smell

[GT6k]

My cerb smells very strongly of petrol during and immediately after running. Its not leaking, there isnt a drop on the floor or on the bottom that i can see. I have checked all the pipework around the filter and pump, and it all looks OK in the engine compartment. The smell seems to come from somewhere under the car ie not obviously in the rear wheel arch or the engine compartment.

Any ideas ?

[itiejim]

If it needs the throttle pots setting and is running too rich then it will stink of fuel.. Best put it on the diagnostics first and see what's going on.

[Gazzab]

Be very careful as the fuel lines WILL age and split. You might not see it until the car is alight.

[Autogasm]

Gazzab said:

Be very careful as the fuel lines WILL age and split. You might not see it until the car is alight.

Very wise words indeed, took mine for a spin and suddenly had a bad smell of petrol. Floored it all the way home (probably not the best thing to do!!) to find one of the under bonnet fuel lines had split. Knowing these were a problem I had checked them thoroughly too, and when I took them off they were all perished so I replaced them all!!

Don't drive it until you've had it all checked out!!

[grahamn]

Could check the little connector between the filler cap and tank, that's where mine was leaking from.

[amazon]

Don't the de-catted Cerberas all smell of fuel during and immediately after driving? I know mine does and me too usually as a result!

[Gazzab]

They can smell fumey rather than fuelly?

[clive f]

amazon said:

I know mine does and me too usually as a result!

Is that not the dodgy perfume you got for Christmas?

[amazon]

Gazzab said:

They can smell fumey rather than fuelly?

Ah yes, good distinction. Fumey it is.

By Jean Paul Gautier

[GT6k]

Thanks for the advice. I had a go at tuning it - starting values were Throttle 1 19% adaptive 1 +8, throttle 2 14% adaptive 2 -15.
After messing with the linkages I got both adaptives to -3 and both throttles to 18% but they wouldnt reset via the software (error message saying unable to reset throttle min) - any suggestions ?

Apart from this I think the smell is a minor leak but I shall have to keep looking, I'll try that tank connector. Is there a diagram of the Cerb fuel system anywhere as I cant get my head around all those pipes. Oh and it does have cats and its a fuel smell not fummey smell.

[ZCoupe]

Gazzab said:

Be very careful as the fuel lines WILL age and split. You might not see it until the car is alight.

yep, i had that, check front, back side of the engine (there was my problem)

but i was lucky i found out because my cerb did not start... turned out that the fuel line was split

Edited by ZCoupe on Monday 24th January 21:51

[GT6k]

Found it !!

Cut o-rings on one of the injectors, its taken three weekends of dismantling to find this but at least I now know the fuel system back to front. The car had a new alternator not long before I bought it so this (and soem damahge to most of the other o-rings) must have happened when the rail was re-fitted.

Any advice on how to get the rail back on without repeating the mistake ?

[ridds]

Small amount of engine oil on the O-rings will assist re-fitment.

[clive f]

is it a 4.2 or 4.5ajp?

the 4.2 is quite easy, but the 4.5 fuel rail is a bit of a pig, as ridds says a smear of engine oil, or vasseline will do the trick, and a bit of care and patience.

[Luckyone]

clive f said:

is it a 4.2 or 4.5ajp?

the 4.2 is quite easy, but the 4.5 fuel rail is a bit of a pig, as ridds says a smear of engine oil, or vasseline will do the trick, and a bit of care and patience.

With the 4.5 I always end up taking one of the throttle body banks off as I can’t bear to tug on the thing hard enough to get it out, is it possible to get the fuel rail on & off with out doing that & just pulling very hard?

[GT6k]

Thanks, its a 4.5 and I did get it back on without too much of a problem. I found I had to use a blunt screwdriver to carefully seat the o-rings on the bottom edge as they tended to squeexze out and get trapped. So it slipped in fairly easily.

[JensenA]

GT6k said:

Thanks, its a 4.5 and I did get it back on without too much of a problem. I found I had to use a blunt screwdriver to carefully seat the o-rings on the bottom edge as they tended to squeexze out and get trapped.... So it slipped in fairly easily .

....................always nice when that happens

[FUBAR]

My car has started stinking of petrol. It is worse after filling up (even before starting the car). Really strong. Now you all know I'm useless at this stuff, but I have had as good a poke round as I can....

Smell is defo coming from the back of the car, especially in the boot, but the cabin too. I checked the fuel lines (that I could see) in the engine bay just to be sure and no sign of a leak/split (had them changed about 2 years ago anyway). Checked under the rear of the car (after BCA's old car's new owner's thread) and no sign of a leak from there. Gave the tank breather hose a wiggle (no idea why, but wasn't sure what else to do ) and it seems free from any kinks and (the top half at least) seems in good condition.

Smell does seem to lessen as the fuel level drops.

TBH, the car has always had a petrol smell, but it seems worse this season.

Any suggestions before I return to form and whip it off to Austec?

[GT6k]

I ended up taking most of the fuel system apart and replacing all the hoses in the engine bay and all the o-rings. The only problem I actually found was the injector oo-rings of which about half were damaged and one was definatety leaking.

There is still some petrol smell but it is now fairly limited and at the same level as all the other oil/hot things/leather smell. Whilst doing other jobs I have run the car without the induction pipes and I can see fuel squiting onto the butterflies and being left there wehn the engine is switched off so its not suprising there is soem smell.