Running a little rich?

[ad_car_08]

Hi,

I've noticed for the past couple of months that my car *stinks* of petrol when I'm sitting stationary with the car idling, (e.g. when I'm firing a quick text to someone before heading off, or saying goodbye to folk after a visit) and I don't mean a hint, I mean really overpowering wafts like I'm sniffing a petrol can  ( which I dont make a habit of doing!  s:lol: :lol: s:lol:  )
I've tried cleaning the MAF, and I regularly give her a big blow through (when engine is up to temp), so I'm confused as to why this is happening? Wasn't this bad when I bought the car 2 years ago?

Could this treated with a bottle of Redex in the tank?

[Peter Wright]

I would check the injectors are seated correctly first as this happened to me
Pete

[roger]

Re: Running a little rich?I

very much doubt its that, unless you are getting neat petrol out of the exhaust - then it would be VERY rich.

It may of course be happening all the time, but the smell is being wafted away. Can you smell it as you pull up to a stop? Does it happen all the time, or only occasionally (like when fuel tank is full?

Can you spot petrol stains or damp, look all along the petrol routing, as well as injectors, including fuel cap, petrol tank etc etc. Put your head in the engine compartment (but extinguish cigarettes!!!).

So I think it needs more investigating and knocking possibilities off the list.

[frogger]

Only time I've ever had VERY strong petrol smells has been due to incorrectly seated injectors / knackered injector o-rings.
At the time I was very thankful the thermostat was stuck open too, as this was stopping the engine getting up to temperature and potentially stopped a fire!

Especially with the summer weather here I would get this sorted ASAP - know of a few mk1 MR2's going up in flames due to knackered injector o rings!

[ChrisGB]

Hi,

I've noticed for the past couple of months that my car *stinks* of petrol when I'm sitting stationary with the car idling, (e.g. when I'm firing a quick text to someone before heading off, or saying goodbye to folk after a visit) and I don't mean a hint, I mean really overpowering wafts like I'm sniffing a petrol can  ( which I dont make a habit of doing!  s:lol: :lol: s:lol:  )
I've tried cleaning the MAF, and I regularly give her a big blow through (when engine is up to temp), so I'm confused as to why this is happening? Wasn't this bad when I bought the car 2 years ago?

Could this treated with a bottle of Redex in the tank?

Key is, does it smell of partially burnt fuel or neat fuel? With a catalytic converter and the plethora of sensors, I would not expect you to be able to run rich enough at idle to get raw fuel smell, the car would stop first.

This points to a leak somewhere for me.

Chris

[frogger]

Also worth a check of the petrol filler cap seal; just in case it fumes from the tank seeping past.
Though if it's still got the original Toyota cap, the seals will still be just fine - they last decades. it's only when you swap in a halfords flexicap or a cap from a mazda that you get crud seals.

Incidentally, if it is this, then I sell petrol caps for every Japanese manufacturer   s:wink: :wink: s:wink:   £6.45 delivered lol

One thing you've got going for you is that the fuel follows a very simple path from filler  - to tank  - to fuel rail - to injectors.
(IIRC tank has some sort of relief pipe as well as filler pipe, and the fuel pump is located under drivers side luggage compartment behind seat - take out plastic bits and it's right there)

So there's very few places to check and should be able to pin it down. (all the above is still assuming it's a 'neat' petrol smell though)

[FGrob]

You might want to check the charcoal canister behind your head in the engine bay, make none of the hoses have come off or have failed.

Rob