Hi there, does anyone have any thoughts as to why I am getting petrol fumes in the car! Not sure if it's related, but I have also had issues with the car not 'shifting gears' properly when it's cold. It will often 'hang' in neutral while revving high and then clunk into gear instead of shifting at the right time and smoothly. Car is auto, Honda prelude vetch, 1997, 2200cc. I have had a mechanic tell me it could be the distributor!
intrade,
Sep 20, 10:59pm
well fumes get in to the car either from a exhaust leak or a fuel leake depending on what the fumes are fresh petrol smell or exhaust fume smell!
jmma,
Sep 20, 11:02pm
Will get fumes if boot seal not sealing and you drive with your window a little bit down.
dave653,
Sep 20, 11:07pm
Our Commodore would fill with fumes when the tank was 1/2 to full. I found the rubber breather hoses were all perished to buggery. I replaced the lot. tank had to come out, and no problem since.
nosp,
Sep 20, 11:09pm
Cheers for the advice. In response. I do not, or at least of late, have not been driving with the windows down. It's more of a fresh fuel smell as opposed to an exhaust smell. Breather hoses noted. Would not no where to look to see if that's the case!
nosp,
Sep 20, 11:16pm
The fuel smell is evident soon after start up and while idling, sitting still. It dissipates when moving and pretty much doesn't return until start up again. Could there be some kind of clog in the fuel line somewhere that is also causing the surging/poor shifting! And it's gotten worse over time which is why there are petrol fumes!
skin1235,
Sep 20, 11:33pm
perished or leaking fuel lines the smell will be worse when sitting, air movement will dissipate it once moving but warning, it is flamible at either time and often worse when moving cos the air movement fans a bigger flame
is the '97 injected in cylinder or into intake ( or carbed even!)
skin1235,
Sep 20, 11:34pm
shifting could be related - perished fuel lines = all the lines are similar age, and they use vac to sense shift
nosp,
Sep 20, 11:48pm
I'm really not sure where it is injected. Sorry for my ignorance, engines/mechanics not my strong point! Is that something I can answer by looking under the bonnet!
splinter67,
Sep 20, 11:54pm
Good advice but you need to dumb it back a bit don't take offense OP skin is talking mechanic talk not normal people speak
nosp,
Sep 20, 11:59pm
No offense taken! Dumb away!
skin1235,
Sep 21, 12:19am
visual inspection has to be a start, get very visual in around the inlet system ) generally to topmost parts of the engine and the large and small hoses that lead toward the body I'll try and check re induction system and get back to you
skin1235,
Sep 21, 12:27am
from what my source says, it has 4 injectors, so thinking cylinder injected
thats at least 4 places fuel can be leaking from, wish I could get a pic of the engine and ductings
what chance you can pop the bonnet and take a couple of shots then post them, don't need to be super high qual but focused from 3 or 4 ft ( 1 mt) would be fine, aim for the top of the engine to just below the top of the rad area, and in particular the area closest the windscreen ( cos I think they are rear fed air and the injectors are just below the induction)
from what I can see 3rd photo follow the air ducting from lower to middle left to the air flow control, as it enters the inlet manifold, look down towards the bottom of that great plastic cover, down under or behind the oil filler cap, you maybe able to see 4 sets of connectors ( electrical) onto the top of the injectors spaced out to the left along the engine idle the engine and visually check all around that region been a while since I last looked at honda engines - the injectors may even be under the inlet manifold - which makes it even harder to see - you may even have to jack one side as high as possible, put axle stands under it and slide in underneath with a torch to see where it is leaking - look for wet hoses etc - older mechanics tend to have a 6th sense and can find them by instinct they do have common rail, ( fuel supply) and that is bolted onto the engine, I'd suspect one of those bolts has come loose and petrol is leaking from one of the joints
there is really no alternative, you or someone has to visually find where it is leaking from, the fuel arrives in a pipe from the pump and has plenty of pressure, it must travel through a rubber hose to get to the engine, and then back into steel pipes on the engine I know it sounds complicated but there is only maybe 6 places it can leak from - your mission is to find it lol don't panic, but also try not to use the vehicle until it is found, petrol doesn't care too much if it is parked in the drive or on the highway when it decides to light up the vehicle
skin1235,
Sep 21, 7:20am
around the air control box ( again just further back from the oil filler) there is several smaller hoses, and some attach to the air control, some to valve units bolted on the car body, these are the vacuum controls for several things including the gearchanges that require vacuum. check these hoses thoroughly, the slightest perish, split or crack will be leaking away the vacuum and the unit will not work properly
hows the idle on it, is it smooth and constant or does it hunt a little - indicative of air leak = vacuum leak
nosp,
Sep 21, 7:20am
Thanks very much for the advice, really appreciate it. I'll have a look first thing in the morning. Cheers.
skin1235,
Sep 21, 7:25am
back to the first post - mechanic suggested distributor -common assumption lumpy idle, they don't have vac advance but again oler guys always check the dizzy when uneven idle - hangback to days of vac advance issues, also indicates you have a vac leak which maybe the g'shift issue
nosp,
Sep 21, 7:27am
When the engines first turned over, it's idling relatively low. After 3-4 seconds the idle increases considerably for a few minutes until the engines warmed up. Then it backs off. If I attempt to drive the car too soon, the 'die-ing' or clunking/surging is worse. After around 15 min's of driving, the symptoms disappear.
skin1235,
Sep 21, 7:35am
okay, first thing is to find and repair the fuel leak, then check all vacuum hosesfor leaks it may need a tuneup but this cannot be done before those two anyway - they will have a big effect to the detriment of the tune
just the fuel leak will have an effect - the system works on the pressure in the pipes, if it is leaking you don' have optimum pressure, vac leaks will upset the sensors that tell it when to deliver that pressure so they too will have an effect
skin1235,
Sep 21, 7:37am
not uncommon either, the leak is not massive, and as the engine warms up it expands where the laek is and either seal it off until the ngine cools down again or reduces it suffice that the sensors no longer call for an overfeed to make up for the leaked pressure
nosp,
Sep 21, 7:42am
Okay, even for someone with my limited knowledge, that seems to make sense.
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