QuestionHave replaced,o rings and injectors....but still get fule smell in car.Was told rails were replaced,by recall,form dealership.What can it be?
AnswerHi Faith,
You might want to review when it is that the smell is the strongest (while driving, immediately after you shut it off, or in the morning after it sits overnight) and where it is (in the engine compartment, or the cabin near the rear seat, or the trunk, or underneath the car near the rear door) that it is the strongest. You see there is fuel everywhere from the filler door to the front right fender and it is all carried by many hoses with clamps that can leak, and various ways that evaporated fuel can get into the cabin.
I would certainly look underneath to see if you find any puddles or gas residue spots where you park the car overnight, for that would show the area above which there is a leak. And then smell under the hood and compare that to the smell in the cabin. If it is stronger in the cabin then I would be inclined to focus on fuel tank area where the fuel pump and several hoses are located. There is a removable cover, under the rear seat, that is an accessway to the top of the tank, and so if there is leakage of vapors in that tank area they can enter the cabin thru that cover. You remove the rear seat to get to it for inspection.
Then if you believe it stronger smelling under the hood there is an entire system for collecting fuel vapor in a charcoal canister (located in the right front corner of the engine compartment) and hoses that collect the vapor and a hose and solenoid switch that allows the vapor to be sucked into the engine to be burned after the engine gets up to temperature. All those hoses should be visually checked and the clamps at either end inspected. Of course there is part of the system that was already worked on, and you can certainly sniff around the top of the engine for odors there, but chances are the problem isn't there if the work was done competently. The EPA vacuum diagram sticker that is located on the radiator support shows all the hose routings so you can use that as a road map.
There is also the possibility that a fault in the evaporative emission control system has been detected by the engine control computer because of the various parts that are electrical and can be self-tested. Such a fault is recorded as code number in the memory of the computer. To readout the code you may be able to get it by turning your ignition key: "on-off-on-off-on and leave on" doing this in 5 seconds of elapsed time or less. Then watch either the odometer window in the instrument cluster to change and show you a 4-digit number, or the check engine light to begin to flash, pause, flash, etc. Count the number of flashes before each pause and then repeat the process to verify the counts. Then write back with any results. You also can often get a free readout at an Autozone parts store so if you can't get the codes with the key try them and they will plug in a fault code reader to a socket that is under the dash. One of the codes may give a clue as to the source of the vapors.
Those seem like a lot of things to do, but that is the way to find the leak and seal it. Please feel free to write back with any progress.
