Very bad gas mileage & strong gas smell
10-21-2005 | 04:24 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 18
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From: Ohio
Very bad gas mileage & strong gas smell A couple weeks ago I ran into this problem. I hadn't driven the car in a couple weeks and it had just gotten back from the shop and fixed(oil problems). The tank was completely full at this point(past the full mark on the gauge). I immediately could smell gasoline somewhere. I looked under the car and in the engine bay and couldn't find any possible problems or leaks. There was no SES code and the car ran and idled fine.
I drove it around a bit...the gasoline smell remained the whole time. It felt like I was at a gas station, I just had that gasoline stench everywhere. This was when I started to notice the gas mileage was pretty bad. After driving about 7 miles, judging by the gauge, I had gone through about 2 gallons of gas. Before this, I had been getting between 15-20 miles per gallon.
A couple months ago I installed a Walbro in-tank fuel pump and have had no problems with it. After this recent gas problem, I took off the "trap door" and inspected the pump and everything was fine and there was no gas leaking at any part of the fuel tank.
After driving it about 40 more miles, it is still getting pretty bad gas mileage. And the gasoline smell just keeps increasing. The car seems to have lost a decent amount of power as well. There is no SES light and no visible signs of gas leaking anywhere. Does anyone have any ideas?
I drove it around a bit...the gasoline smell remained the whole time. It felt like I was at a gas station, I just had that gasoline stench everywhere. This was when I started to notice the gas mileage was pretty bad. After driving about 7 miles, judging by the gauge, I had gone through about 2 gallons of gas. Before this, I had been getting between 15-20 miles per gallon.
A couple months ago I installed a Walbro in-tank fuel pump and have had no problems with it. After this recent gas problem, I took off the "trap door" and inspected the pump and everything was fine and there was no gas leaking at any part of the fuel tank.
After driving it about 40 more miles, it is still getting pretty bad gas mileage. And the gasoline smell just keeps increasing. The car seems to have lost a decent amount of power as well. There is no SES light and no visible signs of gas leaking anywhere. Does anyone have any ideas?
10-22-2005 | 01:14 AM
#2
Have you had the pcm scanned for stored codes? What work did the shop do? Did they remove the injectors from the fuel rails or the intake manifold? Turn the key on to run the fuel pump (but do not start the engine) and check each injector to see if its leaking. Gasoline evaporates very quickly, so it may not leave a noticeable puddle after the car has been driven, and they wouldn't leak with the car off. Also recheck the fuel pump connections while the pump is running (key to on).
Just checking, but it is a gasoline smell and not a rich exhaust smell right? Faulty O2s can cause these symptoms as well (but the smell would be different).
Just checking, but it is a gasoline smell and not a rich exhaust smell right? Faulty O2s can cause these symptoms as well (but the smell would be different).
10-22-2005 | 04:00 AM
#3
If you do not find the problem and you are driving the car anyway:
Fill the tank up completely, reset your trip odometer and drive twenty miles. Go back to the gas station and refill the tank. Divide the miles on the trip odometer by the amount of fuel you added. This will give you an idea of how bad the leak is. It doesn't take a lot of fuel to make the car reak. If you are really dumping a gallon of fuel every 4 miles then there should be some sign of a leak. Personally, I would bring it back to the shop and tell them to take care of it since it only happened after they worked on it.
Fill the tank up completely, reset your trip odometer and drive twenty miles. Go back to the gas station and refill the tank. Divide the miles on the trip odometer by the amount of fuel you added. This will give you an idea of how bad the leak is. It doesn't take a lot of fuel to make the car reak. If you are really dumping a gallon of fuel every 4 miles then there should be some sign of a leak. Personally, I would bring it back to the shop and tell them to take care of it since it only happened after they worked on it.
10-22-2005 | 06:22 AM
#4
I have also seen bad front 02 sensors give the gas smell, and gas mileage can really suffer when the front 02's go bad. 02's don't always throw a code when they get lazy, and they should be replaced every 30k for optimium performance. Bob
10-22-2005 | 12:14 PM
#5
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Teching In
Joined: Jul 2005
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From: Ohio
Thanks Bob.
The car threw a SES code on the ride home today, finally. I'll have to go down to AutoZone to check it out.
The gas mileage seems a little better now, but still not even half of what it used to be. I've now driven about 45 miles, and the gauge reads slightly less than 3/4 tank. Normally, it would be at about 80-90 at that point.
The car threw a SES code on the ride home today, finally. I'll have to go down to AutoZone to check it out.
The gas mileage seems a little better now, but still not even half of what it used to be. I've now driven about 45 miles, and the gauge reads slightly less than 3/4 tank. Normally, it would be at about 80-90 at that point.
