eugopnosaj 0 Posted July 4, 2010 OK i think my valver is running a bit rich as i can ALWAYS smell petrol whilst driving and before/after i start the car, if the front door (of my house) is left open after i start the car/come home then the whole house just smells of petrol.... What can i do to solve this/check to see if she's definitely running rich as its probably not wise for my wallet or the car! Thanks Jason Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
psiburr 0 Posted July 4, 2010 have you run the engine with the hood up to check for leaks ? mine stank and i found a tiny leak where the pipe is clamped to the fuel rail. just had to cut some off and tighten it up. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davidwort 0 Posted July 5, 2010 yep, I'd check under the back where the pump and accumulator are, the pipes there can get very badly corroded. My early valver has no little flap insode the filler neck and you do get a whiff of petrol from there often, late cars have a sprung loaded flap and charcoal cannisters to mop up fuel vapour. The other fuel lines are pretty visible on a 16v so you should see leaks from any of the unions. If it's running rich then your tailpipe and plugs will be very sooty too. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eugopnosaj 0 Posted July 5, 2010 Well as far as i can tell there isn't a fuel leak (at least not at the pump end or under the car) there isnt any fuel on the floor or anything, i have had a few issues but they have been quickly resolved. I will look under the bonnet to see if everything is secure and that the lines arent cracked etc. The smell isnt coming from around the filler but from what i can tell its from the exhaust and it doesn't really smell in the engine bay either....The exhaust is a little bit sooty (but nowhere near as bad as my friends mini which is completely black!) so that it was also leads me to believe its rich If there aren't any fuel line issues what could it be and how could i resolve it? Thanks Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davidwort 0 Posted July 5, 2010 presumably your's has a cat, I'd get the emissions checked and see if there might be a lambda/cat problem some cars with cats smell really bad on warmup, but VW's are usually OK if running right. 2L 16v's don't seem to like generic aftermarket lambda sensors either. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
muppetlab 0 Posted July 5, 2010 Any leaks in the exhaust before the lambda sensor, can mess up sensor values and hence fuelling. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wullie 1 Posted July 5, 2010 Take it into your local independant friendly garage and drop a mechanic a couple of quid to stick an exhaust analyser on it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eugopnosaj 0 Posted July 5, 2010 Take it into your local independant friendly garage and drop a mechanic a couple of quid to stick an exhaust analyser on it. Yeah might just do that, there was nothing picked up on the mot and im pretty sure that the smell was there before then but i will get it checked and report back Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
