1992 730 - Smell of petrol

Hi all, I'm kinda scratching my head a bit here ...

Yesterday whilst driving I noticed a strong smell of petrol in the car.
I immediately stopped and switched off the engine. When I opened the
bonnet there was a pool of petrol in one of the exhaust manifold valleys
(between cylinders 5 & 6).

Starting the engine I could see a steady drip of petrol coming from the
fuel line that runs just above this point. There is a short length of
flexible tubing held on with two jubilee clips and although they didn't
appear to be loose I did manage to get one to tighten 1/6th of a turn.
The leaking stopped and I soaked up the residue from the manifold.

After a short while the smell went away from the cabin and I thought
that was it ... until this morning when the smell came back. This time
though I can't see any evidence of a leak, but there is a definite smell
of petrol under the bonnet.

Has anyone else come across this, or have any suggestions as to where to
start looking?

--
Regards

Steve G

"SteveG <"s.goodfellow"@blueyonder" <"dot> wrote in message
. uk...
> Hi all, I'm kinda scratching my head a bit here ...
>
> Yesterday whilst driving I noticed a strong smell of petrol in the car.
> I immediately stopped and switched off the engine. When I opened the
> bonnet there was a pool of petrol in one of the exhaust manifold valleys
> (between cylinders 5 & 6).
>
> Starting the engine I could see a steady drip of petrol coming from the
> fuel line that runs just above this point. There is a short length of
> flexible tubing held on with two jubilee clips and although they didn't
> appear to be loose I did manage to get one to tighten 1/6th of a turn.
> The leaking stopped and I soaked up the residue from the manifold.
>
> After a short while the smell went away from the cabin and I thought
> that was it ... until this morning when the smell came back. This time
> though I can't see any evidence of a leak, but there is a definite smell
> of petrol under the bonnet.
>
> Has anyone else come across this, or have any suggestions as to where to
> start looking?
>
No,. but you should fix it soon else we will use the past tense when we
refer to you.
Jim
> --
> Regards
>
> Steve G

The problem is with old fuel lines. They start to "sweat" petrol, but they
look good as new because they the moisture makes them look black. I had
exactly the same problem. If you feel them with your fingers you will see
that they are moist.
Replacing all the fuel lines solved the problem.

Cheers.


"SteveG <"s.goodfellow"@blueyonder" <"dot> wrote in message
. uk...
> Hi all, I'm kinda scratching my head a bit here ...
>
> Yesterday whilst driving I noticed a strong smell of petrol in the car. I
> immediately stopped and switched off the engine. When I opened the bonnet
> there was a pool of petrol in one of the exhaust manifold valleys (between
> cylinders 5 & 6).
>
> Starting the engine I could see a steady drip of petrol coming from the
> fuel line that runs just above this point. There is a short length of
> flexible tubing held on with two jubilee clips and although they didn't
> appear to be loose I did manage to get one to tighten 1/6th of a turn. The
> leaking stopped and I soaked up the residue from the manifold.
>
> After a short while the smell went away from the cabin and I thought that
> was it ... until this morning when the smell came back. This time though I
> can't see any evidence of a leak, but there is a definite smell of petrol
> under the bonnet.
>
> Has anyone else come across this, or have any suggestions as to where to
> start looking?
>
> --
> Regards
>
> Steve G

Jim wrote:
<snip original post>
>>
>
> No,. but you should fix it soon else we will use the past tense when we
> refer to you.
> Jim
>

Thank you for your concern, Jim. Likewise I appreciate a quick fix might
be beneficial ... except for the wife who has just upped my life
insurance :-))


--
Regards

Steve G

tech27 wrote:
> The problem is with old fuel lines. They start to "sweat" petrol, but they
> look good as new because they the moisture makes them look black. I had
> exactly the same problem. If you feel them with your fingers you will see
> that they are moist.
> Replacing all the fuel lines solved the problem.
>
> Cheers.
>
>

Thanks for the tip. I'll take a look tomorrow :-))


--
Regards

Steve G

"SteveG <"s.goodfellow"@blueyonder" <"dot> wrote in message
. uk...
> Jim wrote:
> <snip original post>
>>>
>>
>> No,. but you should fix it soon else we will use the past tense when we
>> refer to you.
>> Jim
>>
>
> Thank you for your concern, Jim. Likewise I appreciate a quick fix might
> be beneficial ... except for the wife who has just upped my life insurance
> :-))


That's no reason to be suspicious.

However, if she hands you a box of matches to help you find the leak, then
you should be worried.

Pete wrote:
> "SteveG <"s.goodfellow"@blueyonder" <"dot> wrote in message
> . uk...
>
>>Jim wrote:
>><snip original post>
>>
>>>No,. but you should fix it soon else we will use the past tense when we
>>>refer to you.
>>>Jim
>>>
>>
>>Thank you for your concern, Jim. Likewise I appreciate a quick fix might
>>be beneficial ... except for the wife who has just upped my life insurance
>>:-))
>
>
>
> That's no reason to be suspicious.
>
> However, if she hands you a box of matches to help you find the leak, then
> you should be worried.
>
>
>
Yeah, I'd better watch out for her smoking near the car when I'm heads
down in the engine bay sniffing for fumes too :-))

--
Regards

Steve G

I had a similar situation develop when the fuel pressure regulator failed on
my E30.
The fuel pressure more than doubled so any places with marginal sealing
started leaking.
First it leaked from the hose connecting to the injector manifold. After I
tightened that clamp it started leaking from the hose connecting to the
filter. After the third leak appeared in two days, I got the message and
checked the pressure. Another symtom was that the idle got pretty rough.


"SteveG <"s.goodfellow"@blueyonder" <"dot> wrote in message
. uk...
> Hi all, I'm kinda scratching my head a bit here ...
>
> Yesterday whilst driving I noticed a strong smell of petrol in the car. I
> immediately stopped and switched off the engine. When I opened the bonnet
> there was a pool of petrol in one of the exhaust manifold valleys (between
> cylinders 5 & 6).
>
> Starting the engine I could see a steady drip of petrol coming from the
> fuel line that runs just above this point. There is a short length of
> flexible tubing held on with two jubilee clips and although they didn't
> appear to be loose I did manage to get one to tighten 1/6th of a turn. The
> leaking stopped and I soaked up the residue from the manifold.
>
> After a short while the smell went away from the cabin and I thought that
> was it ... until this morning when the smell came back. This time though I
> can't see any evidence of a leak, but there is a definite smell of petrol
> under the bonnet.
>
> Has anyone else come across this, or have any suggestions as to where to
> start looking?
>
> --
> Regards
>
> Steve G

Jack wrote:
> I had a similar situation develop when the fuel pressure regulator failed on
> my E30.
> The fuel pressure more than doubled so any places with marginal sealing
> started leaking.
> First it leaked from the hose connecting to the injector manifold. After I
> tightened that clamp it started leaking from the hose connecting to the
> filter. After the third leak appeared in two days, I got the message and
> checked the pressure. Another symtom was that the idle got pretty rough.
>
>

Jack,

Funny you should mention the regulator I've been wondering about that. I
was trying to decide why it would happen just the once and some sort of
temporary blockage (e.g. the regulator stuck shut) seamed a possibility.
Also I remember that the idle was a bit rough when I had the leak.

There's an air hose connected to the top of the regulator which
disappears down a hole in the inlet manifold casting. I haven't tracked
it yet but I guess it connects to the manifold somewhere so that fuel is
only circulated when the engine is running.

There is a short flexible fuel hose between the regulator and the solid
return pipe which sometimes shows evidence of the fuel inside pulsing
and at other times looks like the fuel must be flowing smoothly. Any
idea which is correct?

Looks like another job for Saturday afternoon ;-)

Thanks for your help.

--
Regards

Steve G

"" wrote:
> Hi all, I'm kinda scratching my head a bit here ...
>
> Yesterday whilst driving I noticed a strong smell of petrol in
> the car.
> I immediately stopped and switched off the engine. When I
> opened the
> bonnet there was a pool of petrol in one of the exhaust
> manifold valleys
> (between cylinders 5 & 6).
>
> Starting the engine I could see a steady drip of petrol coming
> from the
> fuel line that runs just above this point. There is a short
> length of
> flexible tubing held on with two jubilee clips and although
> they didn't
> appear to be loose I did manage to get one to tighten 1/6th of
> a turn.
> The leaking stopped and I soaked up the residue from the
> manifold.
>
> After a short while the smell went away from the cabin and I
> thought
> that was it ... until this morning when the smell came back.
> This time
> though I can't see any evidence of a leak, but there is a
> definite smell
> of petrol under the bonnet.
>
> Has anyone else come across this, or have any suggestions as
> to where to
> start looking?
>
> --
> Regards
>
> Steve G

Hi, total newbie here, not only to the site but to BMW’s in general (I
just googled "smell of petrol on starting" and this is where I ended
up, to be honest). The thing is I am currently test-driving a J-reg
316i for a month - the seller’s a neighbour of mine, asking £1500 -
and have noticed just the same problem. Do you any of you have any
advice to someone who has precious little idea what goes on under the
bonnet (the shame of it!) as to whether this is pricey to have sorted
at a garage? I defer to your greater wisdom...

--
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