Now with the great smell of petrol

I have a vectra 2.0 16v R reg. Recently I have started noticing a smell of
petrol if I have the fan on when I have been standing at traffic lights for
10-20 seconds. This only happens when the engine is warm. I have had a
look under the bonnet for a wet looking pipe, but cannot find one.

Does anyone have a clue where the leak is?

Thanks

Bob

 

have a look at the rubber pipes that connect to the injectors
try tightning them up as they crack on the inside.

the reason you can see anything when its hot is because the fuel is
evaporated straight away

 

Would it be best to replace them if they were cracked? Or is that a test to
see if they need replacing?

I had a sniff around, and could smell nothing straight after driving it. I
will try it with the engine running. Didn't really want to stick my head in
there with petrol squirting about. (what psi is petrol pumped up to in the
engine to inject it?)

Bob

 

about 40 psi

mrcheerful

 

I had exactly the same thing with a Peugeot 205

Going along fine, but come to a halt and the fumes were over powering!

Turned out to be a split in a rubber hose from the fuel pump to the carb

When going along the carb's demand for fuel matched the pump's output but
when at idle the excess pressure was too much and it was spraying onto a hot
manifold

I changed that pipe very soon afterwards!

Ian

 

OK, had a look with the engine running, but the engine was cold. Did not
see any hot 40psi jets of petrol death, so I stuck my head under, and there
was no smell. I think I found a rubber pipe that feeds the injector rail
(may be something else though) it has a metal part built onto the end of it,
and is connected to the next bit with a nut. No squirts or wetness.

All I could find is that the breather hose at the top of the engine was
split (been cleaned that many times, the plier clip thing looks to have
chewed it up), and a brown liquid has been evaporating off a little shelf
below the front / bottom end of the pipe. I was going to replace this pipe
anyway, cos it is soft and sticky on the inside

So, could the split breather pipe be letting petrol smells out (definitely
petrol, not oily smell), and does the "only when hot" back this up?

Thanks

Bob

 

it won't be the breather pipe
tighten up all the clips on the injector rail. i use to have the sam problem
on my senator where you could not really see anything most of the time.

 

Filling up the other day, I noticed that the smell of petrol is slightly
different from the smell I am getting. I now think the smell is a bit
petroly, but exhausty too.

I put some duct tape on the split pipe as a temporary measure while the new
pipe arrives, and the smell seems to have reduced.

I will have another look at the injector rail too.

Bob.

 

If internally cracked I find that tightening the clamp usually makes the
leak worse. If you can prove the leak best replace the hose or, if there is
sufficient slack, lop off a half inch from the end.

If it's squirting about that much you should be able to spot the leak.

Don't know the exact figure for your engine but enough to get you wet. The
pressure can be held for a good while after the engine is last run. Some
cars have a depressurisation valve but you would need to check your manual
for that. If I need to break into an injection supply I pull the fuel pump
fuse and then run the engine till it cuts.

Vin