[omarawatch]

It started faint - seemingly near the front wheel right wheel well a month ago. Now it's grown to be strong enough i can smell it in the car, 20 ft behind the car when parked, and even as my wife drives into the driveway I can smell her coming if the wind is right......

obviously i can't find it and we've entered safety-hazard zone here now .

I see other posts with similar complaints BUT NO RESOLUTION. Does anyone have KNOWN places I can check that are common for this symptom? No recent work, no explanation that is obvious exists - it's something split, something leaking but I sure can't find it. Fuel rail holds pressure from 50psi at shutdown drops to 0 in 30 minutes.

One other symptom: there WAS some hard start issues that crop up when the car is warm - where it would misfire a bit on start, but it throws NO codes that are any help (have Faultmate system).

Your help is appreciated!
-Brendan
Oregon USA

 

[ghur]

This is interesting. I have recently experienced a similar issue on my 2004. The first thing I did was change the fuel filter and found the old one very blocked. This improved the starting problem but did not cure it completely. I still had the fuel smell though. My next step was to check and possibly replace the fuel pump in spite of the fuel pressure being ok.

So I lifted the rear seats and carpet followed by opening the inspection hatch in the floor to find the plastic securing ring for the pump assembly totally loose and the top portion of the pump assembly sticking up out of the hole. ie the securing ring had undone completely. Whether it had worked itself loose or been incorrectly fitted is the question. The car is a new purchase of mine so who knows what clowns had been working on it. I also had an incorrectly indicating fuel gauge which is also explained by the fuel pump not being secured correctly.

I removed the assembly anyway and replaced the pump and repaired the mess that the previous mechanic had made - various clips and things were broken or misplaced and refitted everything and problem has gone.