Fuel smell around injectors area, but no visible fuel leak ...

[Rightboy91]

Please recall 2 months ago I told you that 10 minutes after leaving Kwik fit I got a strong smell of fuel in my car following by it instantly cutting out, it had never cut out or leaked fuel before taking it to Kwik fit and I'd had the car for over 3 years covering more than 70,000 miles without any fuel problems until it went to Kwik fit 10 minutes earlier

This was intermittent and everything would be ok with the car once restarted until about 100 miles later it would happen again .
Each time this would happen it would throw up the code for open injectors on all 4.

This happened about 3 times and it has since been about 3000 miles and it hasn't happened again.

I now notice when I have bonnet open I smell fuel around injector area but it is completely dry when looking at it with no signs of any leaks.
I don't think I'm smelling the fuel leak from 2 months ago as I've already sprayed it down many times.

Any help much appreciated, thanks

 

[whall3y]

I'll get the popcorn ready.... Who is having first go?

 

[Burnerman]

Any tiny fuel leak will vaporise pretty quickly when the engine is hot, so look for leaks when its cold.
I give a blast of compressed air over each injector well and any leaking diesel shows up as a vapour.
Leaks don’t always show at the top of the injector, they can occur at the joint between the injector and the cylinder head, where there is a thick copper washer.
John

 

[HERTS P&D]

It's ****ed, scrap it!

Andy

 

[Rightboy91]

Any tiny fuel leak will vaporise pretty quickly when the engine is hot, so look for leaks when its cold.
I give a blast of compressed air over each injector well and any leaking diesel shows up as a vapour.
Leaks don’t always show at the top of the injector, they can occur at the joint between the injector and the cylinder head, where there is a thick copper washer.
John

Hi John.
The thing is, how am I supposed to look for leaks when it's cold? It'll only leak when the car is running if there is a leaking injector,right ? i.e. hot
Also as you said, if it's leaking it'll quickly vaporise.

Where about do you spray the injector with compressed air and do you spray it cold , do you spray the top bit at the electrical connector (I guess not ) what actually bit of it do you spray ?

I'm looking down at the injector and see no leaks in the vicinity thereof, do you mean that you
can't always see an injector leaking because the body of the injector is inside the engine ?

Thanks

 

[Rightboy91]

It's ****ed, scrap it!

Andy

You are not getting fed today

 

[HERTS P&D]

Hi John.
The thing is, how am I supposed to look for leaks when it's cold?

Put some lube around the hole, that should fix it.



Andy

 

[Burnerman]

Start the car up from cold, it will take a while to warm up so look for leaks straight away.
I jet compressed air towards the base of the injector, not the top part where leaks would be obvious.
It sounds rather curious, but a leak in the injector copper seal - between the injector and the cylinder head- will result in a diesel leakage....seen this a few times.
John

 

[HERTS P&D]

You have to give it to John for sticking with this car, everyone else has given up a long time ago.

Andy

 

[Rightboy91]

Start the car up from cold, it will take a while to warm up so look for leaks straight away.
I jet compressed air towards the base of the injector, not the top part where leaks would be obvious.
It sounds rather curious, but a leak in the injector copper seal - between the injector and the cylinder head- will result in a diesel leakage....seen this a few times.
John

Ok I see, so actually start the engine and before it warms up look for leaks from cold ?
What if I still do not see any leaks ?

The top part of the injector won't leak will it, at the top is only the wiring plug connector.
I'll take a photo tomorrow and edit it with colour coding and ask you where about to spray it with compressed air.
Are you saying if the injector is leaking that it will always be a visible leak present or will it leak at the very bottom of the injector at the tip, if do that but is buried inside the engine ?

What do youthink is the best thing to spray it down with to get rid of fuel smell, I really doubt this smell is still from 2 months ago when it had leaked because I have sprayed it down several times and it seemed to have faded then got stronger a few weeks later.

Thanks for all your help as always I look forward to your response

 

[Munroast]

What engine is it ?

I had a leaking injector seal, first signs were smell of fumes in cab when stationary. Could not hear it but could not work out which one, I poured some water [1] to submerge the injectors and could then easily see which injector it was. I don't know if a leaking seal always blows fumes, may be they sometimes blow a little fuel ?

[1] a friend who has many years experiance as a diesle mechanic told me I should never ever of used water and said he would have used a thin oil, even diesel, this sounded stupidly dangerous fire risk to me, but he seemed adamant that I should not of used water as I could of done some serious damage ? still don't know what damage.

 

[johnny2007]

Never heard of a mechanic going by smell...

 

[Burnerman]

What engine is it ?

I had a leaking injector seal, first signs were smell of fumes in cab when stationary. Could not hear it but could not work out which one, I poured some water [1] to submerge the injectors and could then easily see which injector it was. I don't know if a leaking seal always blows fumes, may be they sometimes blow a little fuel ?

[1] a friend who has many years experiance as a diesle mechanic told me I should never ever of used water and said he would have used a thin oil, even diesel, this sounded stupidly dangerous fire risk to me, but he seemed adamant that I should not of used water as I could of done some serious damage ? still don't know what damage.

Leaking injector seals will pass both fumes and liquid fuel, depending on how bad they are.....I've seen the injector wells filling up to overflowing before (Ford 1.4 tdci)
I can't see any harm in doing what you did, personally!
John

 

[Burnerman]

Ok I see, so actually start the engine and before it warms up look for leaks from cold ?
What if I still do not see any leaks ?

The top part of the injector won't leak will it, at the top is only the wiring plug connector.
I'll take a photo tomorrow and edit it with colour coding and ask you where about to spray it with compressed air.
Are you saying if the injector is leaking that it will always be a visible leak present or will it leak at the very bottom of the injector at the tip, if do that but is buried inside the engine ?

What do youthink is the best thing to spray it down with to get rid of fuel smell, I really doubt this smell is still from 2 months ago when it had leaked because I have sprayed it down several times and it seemed to have faded then got stronger a few weeks later.

Thanks for all your help as always I look forward to your response

A difficult one.....the injector will only leak from it's base - where it is clamped into the cylinder head - or any joins in the injector itself. Try spraying the thing with soapy water - any leaks will show up immediately.
If the leak has stopped, the smell will eventually go.....if the leaks continue, so will the smell.
John