fuel lines leak under the intake manifold, its a problem we see here at work alot when the cold weather comes around, and i belive there is recall on it, or at least a tsb
RUN!!! RUN MOTHER ****ER RUN!!! IT'S GOING TO EXPLODE!!! J/k i do think i heard about that tsb thing, i'd have subaru check it out.
It is a TSB and not a recall...I smelled it a couple times last winter but haven't had the work done. It consists of replacing a couple fuel pipes under the intake manifold as AWDimprezaL stated. I filled out a form on this issue for the NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation as did many others, but I don't think it will ever turn into a recall. Search NASIOC for a link to the documents.
I've never done one, but I've seen them done. There are a few clamps that get replaced along with a cross pipe. It takes an hour or so, and I believe parts would need to be ordered.
Weird, I was just gonna post on here my findings about this. Today was the first sub 30 degree day for me in my 02 WRX. Sure enough, today I had a strong gas smell inside and on the passenger side of the engine bay. The TSB 09-36-03 is the applicable service bulletin. It requires the replacement of the following parts: 17544AA134 Pipe 807707140 Hose You will also want: 14035AA421 Intake Manifold Gasket as that needs to come off to gain access to the hoses. I have heard of people getting this done by the dealer for free under the "Dealer Self-Authorization of PAR" a.k.a. goodwill service TSB 01-161-05. I called Bloomington Acura/Subaru today to see if they would do it. I told them I was 99.99999999% positive this was the issue. He said they handle the free service case by case. He also said he would need to see the car and that the mandatory diagnostic to be considered for the free service is $50+. He also said he thought it would be over $1000! Ummmm...sure I hate the dealer! My options: 1. Potentially pay $100 for the dealer to tell me what the problem is (that I already know) and then have them either pay for it under the goodwill service program or have them quote it for around est. $400. Since I didn't buy my car from a dealer and it has 140k miles on it, I am guessing they will tell me to go F myself when it comes to the free good-will service. 2. Not gamble and buy the $100 in parts and do it myself and know its done right. This is what I'm going to do. 3. Die in a fire...FYI, I have heard of people driving several winters with this problem with no fire. But I have a Fire Extinguisher in the car and plan to take care of it Saturday.
Option 4: We buy kits from Brian/The BP Subaru boys and have a install party at someones (heated) garage! I need to do this too.
Coincidentally, my car just got this done about 4 hours ago. Two days ago I climbed in and got a nice strong whiff of gas and decided that I'd get it taken care of. My car sat outside for a couple hours after the work was done, and I didn't smell a thing afterwards. I believe we usually stock at least 2 sets of the parts. It wasn't an easy install, as they had to take apart a good chunk of the motor to get to the replacement parts. As a firefighter, I didn't feel like testing the laws of irony and potentially going up in a ball of flame while on my way to the station. Let me see what I can find out from my service dept on what the policy is on this and I'll post it up.
Meh I have insurance, let her burn, cars can be replaced, I only smell gas a couple times a year, thus far I'm not too worried, heck my ford truck is more apt to burn up according to recalls....
Its true. Dealerships have told me that they have charged up to $1000 for this fix. Apparently it can involve dismantling/reassembling the whole top half of the engine bay, which doesnt make it cheap
Just make sure when it goes you're in my fire district. I haven't had a car fire in a month and I'm gettin bored Alright guys, I talked to Jeff this morning. Here's what we're going to do. If you want to look further into this, I need you to PM me the last 8 digits of your VIN and your current mileage. If you are inside the 3/36 warranty (or have the Subaru extended warranty) it's automatically covered. The reason we would like a list is so we can contact Subaru and say "We have this many people complaining, how would you like us to address this?" We can't automatically goodwill everyone, because then Subaru asks us why we're doing so many more than the other dealers. I'll keep you updated.
Ahhh....umm...I don't think my swapped RS is going to come under warrenty. LOL. I will prolly shoot over there later today/tomorrow and get a kit from you, does it come with the intake mani gaskets?
I just wondered WTF on my Saabaru. I smelled gas strong on startup earlier this week. And my car cranked a bit slower. Heck, it isn't even winter! I guess I can't take this POS up to North Dakota in December. It'll proly never start!
your good in nd, mine has yet to not start and i park mine in a parking lot all winter. even when it was 40 below last year, it took a little cranking but she started.
I'll take your word on it starting in ND. I am a bit puzzled that if there is a TSB on the gas smell, that it hasn't been corrected since 02.
