kevpott

iTrader: (2)

hi all , on my way home from work tonight i started to get a petrol smell from the heaters . first time ive had it , got home and left it to cool down . then went out and turned the ignition on to prime the system and had a quick look and smell round the engine bay and it stinks of fuel round the drivers side head towards the turbo . any one got any ideas as i cant do much tonight due to the weather .

BlueBugEye

iTrader: (12)

If it's a bug it'll most likely be the fuel lines under the manifold. It's a known fault on the Bugeyes

kevpott

iTrader: (2)

any idea how hard they are to do and what size the pipes are

nick172sport

iTrader: (6)

inlet manifold off labour consuming ive left mine for 2 years now goes when temperature rises not minus 1 and dont smell it at all in spring just the cold months your looking at least 2 hours labour 300 quid to fix at subaru plus vat

kevpott

iTrader: (2)

looks like im get my spanners out the wekend then . got two days of i think i can sort it out

pmarch bugeye

Yes, I'll second that. I had my two fuel lines modified under intake manifold recently which has cured the long running cold start petrol smell when the problem suddenly got a whole lot worse and it bacame a much more serious risk. Subar knew all about this and there was a 'Bulletin' issued to dealers Number 09-36-03 dated 04/01/03 relating to 2002MY Impreza WRX (but also applies to MY2001 like mine) - Subject Fuel Smell in Cold Weather. I printed out a copy of this Bulletin which was attached via a post somewhere on SN some years back. Not a cheap job - lots of labour so minimum about 400 squid inc parts and (mostly) labour charges. If your problem developed suddenly and you previously had no smells then it could be something different and hopefully more easily solved.

kevpott

iTrader: (2)

yeah it my02 bug wrx . it was all ok sunday went for a drive with the familly and nothing only noticed it today . looking at other post on here and other sites it sounds like the pipes are going . im not willing to take the chance as i have the kids in there every morning on the school run before work . parts wont cost that much as i work for a parts company and get thm on staff lol . Its a good excuse anyway to start changing things with out the misses going mad

kevpott

iTrader: (2)

only had it just over a week , thought it would be less work than my old classic

BlueBugEye

iTrader: (12)

Taking the manifold is not an easy job be warned! Give us a shout if you want any tips etc.
The best solution is to fit the Blobeye Fuel rails.

scoobyhoobydoo

This happened to mine and I spoke to local Subaru garage and they were pretty helpful, they said that 60-80% that they had seen were the clips that hold the pipes in were not tight enough no need to replace the hoses. If the hoses are good condition and you are doing the work yourself and the pipes feel physically lose try tightening them up and see if the smell occurs. If it is the clips lose then the smell will stop during warm weather or when the engine starts to warm up the metal clips expand as does the inlet and the seal becomes tight.

Clearly stray petrol vapour and engines are bad combination so I would advise getting this fixed as soon as you can, the fix kit that Subaru supply to overcome the issue is £165+VAT, the labour quoted from Subaru was around 4 hours so about £400.00. A local mechanic I use did mine for a lot less.

kevpott

iTrader: (2)

cheers blue bug . i ordered the inlet gaskets today at work . there only costin 3.50 each . got the .8 mm fuel pipe and some fresh anti freeze to top the coolant back up with . i i ve got all tyhe tools needed from when i worked in a garage but never had to do a scooby inlet before . if i have any troubles i will be back on here for some well needed advice . i think im just going to take my time with it as im off work all weekend and give it all a good clean at the same time .

kevpott

iTrader: (2)

finally done all the rubber fuel pipes under the inlet manifold today i agree its not an easy job to take apart put i found putting it all back together alot esair than i thought as every thing lined up and was just a case of connecting every thing . i double and triple checked my self to make sure everything was connected . the only original rubber pipes i got left now are the ones at the fuel filter side . i primmed the pump about 10 times , had a quick look round and smeel all fine . started it up and left ticking over for a while as i topped the coolant back up and still no petrol smell . so all seems good i hope