Raw Fuel Smell

Giljorak · 03-02-2002, 03:29 PM

Since the weather has been nice and chilly here along the front range has anyone else been smelling a raw fuel smell in the passenger compartment? This occurs for me mostly when I first start the car, sometimes the smell persists for 20-30 minutes. I have found this thread that talks about the problem. I called the dealership I purchased the car from, Burt, and they acted like they didn't have a clue what I was talking about. I hadn't found the other thread until after I called and they close at noon on saturdays so I'll call on monday and enlighten them.

While I was typing this I called Shortline and they are aware of the problem and said it takes half a day to fix the problem. This sounds like the dealership GMan went to in the other thread. To bad they are so far away from me. Maybe I'll have Burt call Shortline so they can learn something about this problem.

Sorry this turned into a rant when all I was asking was a simple question.

Stay warm,
Tim

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WRXAngell · 03-04-2002, 02:50 PM

I had the exact same problem last week. I have made an appointment at Flatirons to have it checked out. Hopefully they can get it fixed fairly quickly, I have heard great things about the guys at Flatirons. I will post after they have looked at it.

brian

Rocky WRX · 03-04-2002, 03:50 PM

I haven't had this problem yet (knocks on wood), but it looks like a pretty simple fix base on a thread mentioned in the thread Giljorak linked to.

Found Fuel Leak!!! (Pics)

IMHO, it looks easier to fix yourself than all the hassles you'll get taking it to the dealer.

avonrex · 03-04-2002, 09:20 PM

I got the smell for the first time Sunday morning. I hadn't read the thread about it until last night. If it happens again I'll probably just try to fix it myself. I live up in Avon and we've had a lot colder days this winter so I'm hopeing it was just a fluke.

I know most of you guys love winter but I'm sick of it this year come on Spring!!

davidm_sh · 03-04-2002, 11:30 PM

I was poking around under my hood this afternoon and I took a look to see if I could locate the "tightening screw" as depicted by the pictures I saw and I did find it. All I have to say is GOOD LORD that is going to hard to get at =).

I could see it but the problem was that the head of the screw was facing down towards the engine!! If it was 180 degrees the other way it would be very simple to get a screw driver on. As it sits now though... ehhh =(.

Hope I don't have any gassy smell to worry about soon =).

yellowrex · 03-05-2002, 10:37 PM

My car has been at the dealership from hell, Screwberger, since last Thursday. It started off with them telling me that there was no fuel leak/smell and that I was crazy

Finally Friday they told me to come pick up my car, and that they couldn't find a thing wrong with it. I showed up to the dealership around 5:45pm, a tech brought my car down, handed me the keys, smiled and walked away. As I started to drive off "the smell" came on strong. I tunred around and got back to the dealership. They were not happy to see me back so soon. I popped the hood and before the service manager could even put his head near the engine he said, "Boy, that's an awful strong fuel smell you have there." No ***** I thought to myself

He said they would put me back into a loaner car for the weekend and let me know on Monday what they found. I finally had to call them because Monday late afternoon to see what they found. They were very nondescript about what they found, but said they would have to order parts; because they had to remove the intake manifold to fix the problem

Then they told me they would call the next morning to let me know the progress. Do you think I got a call.....h*ll no! I had to call them, track down a service adviser and find out what was going on. He finally told me that my car should be ready tomorrow (Wednesday), and that he would "call me when it was ready". Hopefully they didn't screw something up and nueter my car! I would be so pissed. I"ll post again when I get a answer to this saga I've been going through.

Hope you don't have to go through this,

Pissed off Yellowrex

PunksWRX · 03-06-2002, 02:59 AM

Guys,

My car has developed the same thing. The reason they are having to pull the manifold is that first damn clamp is upside down! This sucks major. It's such an easy fix if the clamp was turned the right way. Since it usually only does it when very cold the chance of a dealer duplicating the problem in our warmer weather is about nil. Heuberger should invest a little time and contact Shortline or Flat Irons if they are aware of the problem. I'm gonna talk to Braden about this one. I'm also gonna e-mail Gunnar at Heuberger with a link to this thread. My last experience in their service department absolutely sucked.

Punk

scoobyblu · 03-06-2002, 03:13 AM

I have suffered the same smell a week ago after Denver's little blizzard the smell was very powerful I called Suby Sports and talked to Braden about a course of action and the actual problem he said it is warranty work and bring it to the dealer also he said it might be a seal that obviously doesn't seal when very cold. SOOOOO. . . I take my rex to Burt, where I originally purchased my car and who have always had good customer service. I took my car to them on Wednesday (along with a Suby Sports business card). They find nothing wrong with the car, no leaks, no smells, no nothing. They call Suby Sports for help (since I had so graciously supplied them with the number) and they talk to Braden. Braden tells them of the problems he has experienced, and explained to them how to locate the problem. So now Burt wants to keep the car overnight in order to cold start it in the morning. Because if it is a cold-seal problem it the smell should reappear in the cold morning. Nothing is found on Thursday. But supposedly a big storm is coming on Thursday night, because of this they decide that they would like to keep it yet another day (at which point I am seriously missing my car, I can’t beat pony cars in my sisters VW Turbo Beetle, though could you imagine their faces if I did?) Miraculously Mother Nature decides to agree with the weather broadcaster, and it snowed like crazy all the way through Friday afternoon. AND STILL NOTHING, ZIP, ZILCH, NADA, NO SMELL, NO LEAKS, NO NOTHING. I don’t feel Burt was trying to screw me. And Daniel, my service representative from Burt was more than helpful and understanding (I really like my car, and don’t like inexperienced people working on my car, Daniel understood this and assigned my car to a mechanic with over twenty years of experience). I also appreciate Daniel’s willingness to contact Suby Sports with questions (Suby Sports knows their ****). I haven’t had any problems since I originally noticed the smell of gasoline. If anyone has any opinions, questions, thoughts, answers, solutions, please reply.
I know this problem was never truly addressed and fixed and still exists. This makes me feel uncomfortable.
--Scoobyblu

PunksWRX · 03-07-2002, 10:01 PM

Ok guys. I e-mailed Gunnar at Heuberger Motors about this issue and he did some research and is now aware of this problem. Most of the cars will not exhibit the problem unless it is very cold making it almost impossible for the dealer to duplicate. From my response from Gunnar it sounds like Heuberger will tighten the affected hoses even if they can't duplicate the odor. He also is making sure Subaru is aware of this issue. I'm planning on getting my car in ASAP to have this fixed. If you take your car to Heuberger and the service advisor/manager acts as if he doesn't know what you are talking about have him call Gunnar so you can get the car fixed.

Punk

davidm_sh · 03-08-2002, 02:43 AM

Hey Paul,

have you looked at your radiator lately? Just wondering. I checked the top seam of mine today and there was some coolant residue along it. So I washed it off and will be watching it closely. I don't know if it's some old spillage from doing various work on my car or not. Just curious? Becuase I might have to goto Gunner to bypass Rosenpill to get it fixed... since it is really in no way related to any of my... errr... semi-extensive mods

.

PunksWRX · 03-08-2002, 08:03 AM

Dave,

I have kept a close watch on it since I discovered I was losing some coolant. Fortunately my problem was cured by tightening the lower radiator hose clamp. I've read several posts though about failed radiator seams on the WRX though so I'd sure keep an eye on it too.

I would not hesitate to go straight to Gunnar. It seems Rosenthal's attitude about mods is completely screwy, uninformed and illegal. I actually sent a link to this thread to Gunnar, Rosenthal and SOA - I wonder what he (Rosenthal) thought!!!

Paul

03-02-2002, 03:29 PM	#1
Giljorak Scooby Newbie Member#: 13128 Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Englewood, CO Vehicle: '02 WRX chmod 111 /bin/laden	Raw Fuel Smell Since the weather has been nice and chilly here along the front range has anyone else been smelling a raw fuel smell in the passenger compartment? This occurs for me mostly when I first start the car, sometimes the smell persists for 20-30 minutes. I have found this thread that talks about the problem. I called the dealership I purchased the car from, Burt, and they acted like they didn't have a clue what I was talking about. I hadn't found the other thread until after I called and they close at noon on saturdays so I'll call on monday and enlighten them. While I was typing this I called Shortline and they are aware of the problem and said it takes half a day to fix the problem. This sounds like the dealership GMan went to in the other thread. To bad they are so far away from me. Maybe I'll have Burt call Shortline so they can learn something about this problem. Sorry this turned into a rant when all I was asking was a simple question. Stay warm, Tim * Registered users of the site do not see these ads.

03-04-2002, 09:20 PM	#4
avonrex Scooby Newbie Member#: 10014 Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Colorado Vehicle: 2002 WRX	Oooooo that smell I got the smell for the first time Sunday morning. I hadn't read the thread about it until last night. If it happens again I'll probably just try to fix it myself. I live up in Avon and we've had a lot colder days this winter so I'm hopeing it was just a fluke. I know most of you guys love winter but I'm sick of it this year come on Spring!!

03-07-2002, 10:01 PM	#9
PunksWRX Scooby Specialist Member#: 5504 Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Colorado Springs, CO. USA Vehicle: 2004 Impreza WRX STi Aspen White	Heuberger aware of problem Ok guys. I e-mailed Gunnar at Heuberger Motors about this issue and he did some research and is now aware of this problem. Most of the cars will not exhibit the problem unless it is very cold making it almost impossible for the dealer to duplicate. From my response from Gunnar it sounds like Heuberger will tighten the affected hoses even if they can't duplicate the odor. He also is making sure Subaru is aware of this issue. I'm planning on getting my car in ASAP to have this fixed. If you take your car to Heuberger and the service advisor/manager acts as if he doesn't know what you are talking about have him call Gunnar so you can get the car fixed. Punk

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03-04-2002, 02:50 PM	#2
WRXAngell Scooby Newbie Member#: 6004 Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Lakewood, CO USA Vehicle: 2002 WRX WRB	I had the exact same problem last week. I have made an appointment at Flatirons to have it checked out. Hopefully they can get it fixed fairly quickly, I have heard great things about the guys at Flatirons. I will post after they have looked at it. brian

03-04-2002, 03:50 PM	#3
Rocky WRX Scooby Specialist Member#: 9837 Join Date: Sep 2001 Chapter/Region: RMIC Location: Evergreen CO Vehicle: 2015 Forester XT Blue	I haven't had this problem yet (knocks on wood), but it looks like a pretty simple fix base on a thread mentioned in the thread Giljorak linked to. Found Fuel Leak!!! (Pics) IMHO, it looks easier to fix yourself than all the hassles you'll get taking it to the dealer.

03-04-2002, 11:30 PM	#5
davidm_sh Scooby Specialist Member#: 5994 Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Fort Collins, CO Vehicle: 2004 Impreza WRX STi Java Black	I was poking around under my hood this afternoon and I took a look to see if I could locate the "tightening screw" as depicted by the pictures I saw and I did find it. All I have to say is GOOD LORD that is going to hard to get at =). I could see it but the problem was that the head of the screw was facing down towards the engine!! If it was 180 degrees the other way it would be very simple to get a screw driver on. As it sits now though... ehhh =(. Hope I don't have any gassy smell to worry about soon =).

03-05-2002, 10:37 PM	#6
yellowrex Scooby Newbie Member#: 6603 Join Date: May 2001 Location: Colo Spgs CO Vehicle: 2002 WRX Blaze Yellow	My car has been at the dealership from hell, Screwberger, since last Thursday. It started off with them telling me that there was no fuel leak/smell and that I was crazy Finally Friday they told me to come pick up my car, and that they couldn't find a thing wrong with it. I showed up to the dealership around 5:45pm, a tech brought my car down, handed me the keys, smiled and walked away. As I started to drive off "the smell" came on strong. I tunred around and got back to the dealership. They were not happy to see me back so soon. I popped the hood and before the service manager could even put his head near the engine he said, "Boy, that's an awful strong fuel smell you have there." No ***** I thought to myself He said they would put me back into a loaner car for the weekend and let me know on Monday what they found. I finally had to call them because Monday late afternoon to see what they found. They were very nondescript about what they found, but said they would have to order parts; because they had to remove the intake manifold to fix the problem Then they told me they would call the next morning to let me know the progress. Do you think I got a call.....h*ll no! I had to call them, track down a service adviser and find out what was going on. He finally told me that my car should be ready tomorrow (Wednesday), and that he would "call me when it was ready". Hopefully they didn't screw something up and nueter my car! I would be so pissed. I"ll post again when I get a answer to this saga I've been going through. Hope you don't have to go through this, Pissed off Yellowrex

03-06-2002, 02:59 AM	#7
PunksWRX Scooby Specialist Member#: 5504 Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Colorado Springs, CO. USA Vehicle: 2004 Impreza WRX STi Aspen White	Guys, My car has developed the same thing. The reason they are having to pull the manifold is that first damn clamp is upside down! This sucks major. It's such an easy fix if the clamp was turned the right way. Since it usually only does it when very cold the chance of a dealer duplicating the problem in our warmer weather is about nil. Heuberger should invest a little time and contact Shortline or Flat Irons if they are aware of the problem. I'm gonna talk to Braden about this one. I'm also gonna e-mail Gunnar at Heuberger with a link to this thread. My last experience in their service department absolutely sucked. Punk

03-06-2002, 03:13 AM	#8
scoobyblu Scooby Newbie Member#: 15125 Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: arvada Vehicle: 2002 wrx sedan wr blue pearl	I have suffered the same smell a week ago after Denver's little blizzard the smell was very powerful I called Suby Sports and talked to Braden about a course of action and the actual problem he said it is warranty work and bring it to the dealer also he said it might be a seal that obviously doesn't seal when very cold. SOOOOO. . . I take my rex to Burt, where I originally purchased my car and who have always had good customer service. I took my car to them on Wednesday (along with a Suby Sports business card). They find nothing wrong with the car, no leaks, no smells, no nothing. They call Suby Sports for help (since I had so graciously supplied them with the number) and they talk to Braden. Braden tells them of the problems he has experienced, and explained to them how to locate the problem. So now Burt wants to keep the car overnight in order to cold start it in the morning. Because if it is a cold-seal problem it the smell should reappear in the cold morning. Nothing is found on Thursday. But supposedly a big storm is coming on Thursday night, because of this they decide that they would like to keep it yet another day (at which point I am seriously missing my car, I can’t beat pony cars in my sisters VW Turbo Beetle, though could you imagine their faces if I did?) Miraculously Mother Nature decides to agree with the weather broadcaster, and it snowed like crazy all the way through Friday afternoon. AND STILL NOTHING, ZIP, ZILCH, NADA, NO SMELL, NO LEAKS, NO NOTHING. I don’t feel Burt was trying to screw me. And Daniel, my service representative from Burt was more than helpful and understanding (I really like my car, and don’t like inexperienced people working on my car, Daniel understood this and assigned my car to a mechanic with over twenty years of experience). I also appreciate Daniel’s willingness to contact Suby Sports with questions (Suby Sports knows their ****). I haven’t had any problems since I originally noticed the smell of gasoline. If anyone has any opinions, questions, thoughts, answers, solutions, please reply. I know this problem was never truly addressed and fixed and still exists. This makes me feel uncomfortable. --Scoobyblu

03-08-2002, 02:43 AM	#10
davidm_sh Scooby Specialist Member#: 5994 Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Fort Collins, CO Vehicle: 2004 Impreza WRX STi Java Black	Hey Paul, have you looked at your radiator lately? Just wondering. I checked the top seam of mine today and there was some coolant residue along it. So I washed it off and will be watching it closely. I don't know if it's some old spillage from doing various work on my car or not. Just curious? Becuase I might have to goto Gunner to bypass Rosenpill to get it fixed... since it is really in no way related to any of my... errr... semi-extensive mods .

03-08-2002, 08:03 AM	#11
PunksWRX Scooby Specialist Member#: 5504 Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Colorado Springs, CO. USA Vehicle: 2004 Impreza WRX STi Aspen White	Dave, I have kept a close watch on it since I discovered I was losing some coolant. Fortunately my problem was cured by tightening the lower radiator hose clamp. I've read several posts though about failed radiator seams on the WRX though so I'd sure keep an eye on it too. I would not hesitate to go straight to Gunnar. It seems Rosenthal's attitude about mods is completely screwy, uninformed and illegal. I actually sent a link to this thread to Gunnar, Rosenthal and SOA - I wonder what he (Rosenthal) thought!!! Paul