GAS LEAK?

[Bonnie01]

The weather has been getting colder now and have started to use the heater in the mornings. Lately I have had a strong gas smell every time I turn on the heater. I looked over the fuel lines in the engine bay and they all looked good, no leaks. I changed the fuel sensor level indicator last month, so I checked in the trunk to see if that could have been loose or leaking. Nothing there.I figured it would disapate once the car warmed up. I took a long drive and the odor was still strong after the drive. Getting tired of driving around with the window cracked open and smelling of gas every time I go somewhere. I'm lost for options here, any help would be apreciated.

[J Wikoff]

Check for fuel pooling around the injector bosses, and take the vacuum line off the fuel pressure regulator and take a sniff.

[Bonnie01]

where is the fuel pressure regulator?

[J Wikoff]

It's the round thing on the fuel rail with the vacuum line on it. I'm not sure of the exact position on a series 2.

[Jfridge92]

Remove your engine cover if you haven't already. The fuel pressure regulator is the device on the rail that's circled here.



There's a vacuum line with a 90* elbow on it connected to the regulator. Run the car for a few minutes, power it off, then pull that vacuum line off and see if you can smell a strong gas smell coming from it. If you can, the regulator is bad and needs to be replaced.

[Bonnie01]

ok guys, sorry I finally got back to the car today. Last week was mid terms. I ran the car for a while, turned it off, and pulled the line off. I smelled it and it smelled like gas. I filled the tank up and calculated the fuel mileage, it was only 21.4mpg not good. If the lines aren't leaking, where is the gas going? Could there be something else going on here?

to replace the regulator, I take the metal snap ring off and pull the top off.

[J Wikoff]

Yep, remove the snap ring and pull the fpr out.

The gas smell in the fpr's line shows that its diaphragm is leaking and not holding vacuum, which means it's allowing higher pressure than it should which means more fuel will come out the injectors and lower the mileage, on top of some fuel being sucked through the vacuum line and being burnt off.

[Bonnie01]

Tonight I replaced the fuel pressure regulator. Pretty easy fix though the part was $60.00. Playing around with the throttle while the engine was running and found that the fuel line coupling to the rear fuel rail was leaking intermittently. Shut the motor off and investigated it further. It is looser than the coupling on the front side. The yellowish plastic piece that is connected to the fuel rail is not cracked. I think it is the coupling connected to the line is leaking. Is there an o-ring up in there than can be replaced, or does the whole line need to be replaced?

[Jfridge92]

They make a kit that you can splice in with a barb and replace the coupling. I had to do that on my front line, it popped off while I was driving and dumped probably a quarter of a tank on my front manifold lol. The kits are like $20 at autozone, just make sure you get the right size (there's two different sizes, one for the send line, one for the return, I believe the rear is send).

To install the kit, just cut the old line, dip it in some boiling water for a little bit to get it to soften up, slide the barb in, dip the replacement side in the hot water after trimming it to fit, slip it over the other side of the barb, and then clip it back on the rail. It took about 20 minutes for me to do mine after getting it towed lol. Just make sure NOT to use a lighter or any flames to get the lines soft when you're putting the barbs in.

[MattStrike]

For splicing, use push to connect unions - no messing with screwy barbs, push it on and done - no clamping, 30 seconds to do. The nylon lines on these cars are metric, so 8mm and 10mm. You can get them online.

You still need the fitting in the kit though.

[b_matthews]

I have a 2000 pontiac bonneville and I have a very bad gas smell and i know its leaking. Someone told me it was a little plastic piece that came unattached and that thats what i needed to reattach to get the smell to go away. They did it for me once but i was at work. I have no clue where my fuel regular is and what piece he is referencing. Its sleeting here so i couldn't go to him only ask over the phone can someone please tell me so i can go home before this weather gets really bad or is it ok to put gas in it and go home. Because my gas is gone

[MKMike]

I have a 2000 pontiac bonneville and I have a very bad gas smell and i know its leaking. Someone told me it was a little plastic piece that came unattached and that thats what i needed to reattach to get the smell to go away. They did it for me once but i was at work. I have no clue where my fuel regular is and what piece he is referencing. Its sleeting here so i couldn't go to him only ask over the phone can someone please tell me so i can go home before this weather gets really bad or is it ok to put gas in it and go home. Because my gas is gone

It is likely that no one saw your post sooner because you did not make a new post about your problem.

I hope you got this sorted out.

[J Wikoff]

There should not be any fuel coming out of the vacuum line running to the fuel pressure regulator. There is a membrane inside that should seal it off from leaking. If there is gas, or a gas smell coming out of the regulator, you need a new one.