I have a stragne problem that I wanted to bounce off you guys... Every time I fill up my car, there is a VERY strong smell of fuel for at least a day. I am posting a CEL light that tells me I have a (sometimes small) Evap System leak. The other day, I needed to get under the car, and jacked it up on the drivers side quite a bit. At the time, the tank was full, and I looked toward the rear passenger side wheel, and fuel was dripping off of the car fairly rapidly - creating a puddle on the ground. Has anyone ever experienced this before? Any suggestoins on where to look first- and do you think I'll have to drop the tank? Thanks in advance... ted
You had a full tank and jacked up the driver side? I would think that a little leakage would be likely since the fuel door is on the passenger side and the gas may have been in the tubing going to the fuel door. What year is your car? I have an 02 Wrx and had to have the dealership replace a fuel line in the engine bay that failed. The smell was so bad in the cabin of the car that I was affraid of blowing up(static/cigarette). They said it was actually a recalled part b/c the bend in the rail was too sharp and created problems. Haven't had any problems since they fixed it though.
Yup. For some reason, they even gave me a rental car while they took care of it.:eek3: This was at the Subaru dealership in Olathe Kansas that I was a few blocks from while working down there. My car was also under an extended warranty program at the time.
Thanks for the replies. The car is an 02 WRX, Sorry. The smell is definately coming from near the passenger's side rear wheel, not the engine bay, but it can be smelled in the cabin quite strongly. I wan to get this fixed soon.
Is it dripping/pooling under the car on the passenger side when the car is not jacked up? The smell on mine was definitely coming through the ventilation system. I don't know what the issue could be back there, but hopefully someone will chime in soon.
Have you ever done anything with the service cap on the top of the fuel tank? I replaced my fuel pump a while back and I had the same symptoms as you. It would only leak when it was full because that is the only time that the cap would see fluid. It was tought to find too because it would evaporate so fast. I would drive it around and then stop and check and everything would be dry. What I didn't know is that it was evaporating so fast that I was never going to see where the leak came from. If you think there is a chance that this is what it could be, go in your trunk and take the service cover off, or whatever you want to call that thing. Then, have someone drive around and slosh the tank around while you watch the cap on the top of the tank that has all the lines coming into and out of it. It was easy to see when I did this. It was also easy to see the fuel evaporate in about 10 seconds. So, I don't know if that's your problem, but I had the same symptoms and that's how I fixed mine. Good luck.
Guys, Thanks again for all the help and suggestions!!! no, it doesn't drip when I'm filling it, or when the car is on flat ground. The only time it was dripping is when it was SIGNIFICANTLY jacked up. Wagons, Thanks for the suggestion. I'm going to check that ASAP. I'll keep you posted. Thanks again!!!!! -ted
