Honda Car Forum

08 Fit. We left it sitting in the dirveway for a while, and I pulled
it in in the evening. The engine probably ran for 45 seconds, max.
When I got out, there was the strong smell of unburned gasoline. Was
this just a startup artifact, or maybe a cold run (the funky little
blue thermometer was still on)?
--

- dillon I am not invalid

Hi, I'm Michael Phelps and Olympic Gold isn't the only
Gold I'm thinking of.

Hi, I'm Michael Phelps and when I'm on Maui, Wowwie.

"Dillon Pyron" <invaliddmpyron@austin.rr.com> wrote in message
news:r0maq4d6iqnov3tnsqrg5rfmol5s5icff8@4ax.com...
> 08 Fit. We left it sitting in the dirveway for a while, and I pulled
> it in in the evening. The engine probably ran for 45 seconds, max.
> When I got out, there was the strong smell of unburned gasoline. Was
> this just a startup artifact, or maybe a cold run (the funky little
> blue thermometer was still on)?
> --
>
> - dillon I am not invalid
>

Could be either the rich mixture typical of startup or it could be a fuel
leak under the hood when cold. Those fuel leaks can be devilishly hard to
see, but if you get a repeat of the gasoline smell it is worth sticking your
head under the hood to see if the smell is stronger there or if it may just
be from the tailpipe. I had an engine fire from a leaky injecotr once, so I
take those smells rather seriously now.

Mike

"Michael Pardee" <null@null.org> wrote in message
news:6MKdnaA8ScwsVDjUnZ2dnUVZ_qTinZ2d@sedona.net.. .
>
> "Dillon Pyron" <invaliddmpyron@austin.rr.com> wrote in message
> news:r0maq4d6iqnov3tnsqrg5rfmol5s5icff8@4ax.com...
>> 08 Fit. We left it sitting in the dirveway for a while, and I pulled
>> it in in the evening. The engine probably ran for 45 seconds, max.
>> When I got out, there was the strong smell of unburned gasoline. Was
>> this just a startup artifact, or maybe a cold run (the funky little
>> blue thermometer was still on)?
>> --
>>
>> - dillon I am not invalid
>>
>
> Could be either the rich mixture typical of startup or it could be a fuel
> leak under the hood when cold. Those fuel leaks can be devilishly hard to
> see, but if you get a repeat of the gasoline smell it is worth sticking
> your head under the hood to see if the smell is stronger there or if it
> may just be from the tailpipe. I had an engine fire from a leaky injecotr
> once, so I take those smells rather seriously now.
>
> Mike
Is it a stale egg smile?

possibly the ct/short journey effect nd poor qulity petrol

Still under warranty? Talk to your dealer service shop. They should know it
that is a problem or not.


"Dillon Pyron" <invaliddmpyron@austin.rr.com> wrote in message
news:r0maq4d6iqnov3tnsqrg5rfmol5s5icff8@4ax.com...
> 08 Fit. We left it sitting in the dirveway for a while, and I pulled
> it in in the evening. The engine probably ran for 45 seconds, max.
> When I got out, there was the strong smell of unburned gasoline. Was
> this just a startup artifact, or maybe a cold run (the funky little
> blue thermometer was still on)?
> --
>
> - dillon I am not invalid
>
> Hi, I'm Michael Phelps and Olympic Gold isn't the only
> Gold I'm thinking of.
>
> Hi, I'm Michael Phelps and when I'm on Maui, Wowwie.
>

Woody wrote:
> "Dillon Pyron" <invaliddmpyron@austin.rr.com> wrote in message
> news:r0maq4d6iqnov3tnsqrg5rfmol5s5icff8@4ax.com...
>> 08 Fit. We left it sitting in the dirveway for a while, and I pulled
>> it in in the evening. The engine probably ran for 45 seconds, max.
>> When I got out, there was the strong smell of unburned gasoline. Was
>> this just a startup artifact, or maybe a cold run (the funky little
>> blue thermometer was still on)?
>> --
>>
>> - dillon I am not invalid
>>
>> Hi, I'm Michael Phelps and Olympic Gold isn't the only
>> Gold I'm thinking of.
>>
>> Hi, I'm Michael Phelps and when I'm on Maui, Wowwie.
>>
>
> Still under warranty? Talk to your dealer service shop. They should know it
> that is a problem or not.
>
>


oh puhleeeeeeze - is this a chicken little competition?

when a car starts, you have to dump gas because the motor is not warm,
thus the fuel doesn't fully vaporize, thus you need excess gas to get
sufficient vapor density to burn. if you dump gas, then turn the motor
off? where is the gas now? in the inlet, and /not/ being sucked into
the motor. so where does it go? it evaporates back out of the air
intake. thus you smell gas!!!

so that's all the o.p. is experiencing - a few seconds of excess gas
because he hasn't warmed the motor. utterly trivial.

"jim beam" <retard-trap@bad.example.net> wrote in message
news:d-2dnartW4RyUjvUnZ2dnUVZ_oHinZ2d@speakeasy.net...
>
> when a car starts, you have to dump gas because the motor is not warm,
> thus the fuel doesn't fully vaporize, thus you need excess gas to get
> sufficient vapor density to burn. if you dump gas, then turn the motor
> off? where is the gas now? in the inlet, and /not/ being sucked into the
> motor. so where does it go? it evaporates back out of the air intake.
> thus you smell gas!!!
>
> so that's all the o.p. is experiencing - a few seconds of excess gas
> because he hasn't warmed the motor. utterly trivial.
>

Maybe so, but it still does not rule out a gasoline leak. The risk is too
great to just shrug it off.

Mike

Michael Pardee wrote:
> "jim beam" <retard-trap@bad.example.net> wrote in message
> news:d-2dnartW4RyUjvUnZ2dnUVZ_oHinZ2d@speakeasy.net...
>> when a car starts, you have to dump gas because the motor is not warm,
>> thus the fuel doesn't fully vaporize, thus you need excess gas to get
>> sufficient vapor density to burn. if you dump gas, then turn the motor
>> off? where is the gas now? in the inlet, and /not/ being sucked into the
>> motor. so where does it go? it evaporates back out of the air intake.
>> thus you smell gas!!!
>>
>> so that's all the o.p. is experiencing - a few seconds of excess gas
>> because he hasn't warmed the motor. utterly trivial.
>>
>
> Maybe so, but it still does not rule out a gasoline leak. The risk is too
> great to just shrug it off.
>
> Mike
>
>

well, the neighbor kid could have been stealing gas too and spilled
some. or theoretically, the vehicle /could/ have been drilled by one of
these:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weakly_...ssive_particle

that actually /did/ interact precisely at an injector o-ring, and is
subsequently just a bomb waiting to explode.

but somehow i doubt it. just like i doubt fuel leak on a sub-year old
car made by a manufacturer with an excellent track record on this stuff.
especially when we're told that the car has been run for less than 60
seconds and that we know about excess mixture on start-up, etc...

seriously dude, look at the big picture and assign probabilities.

"jim beam" <retard-trap@bad.example.net> wrote in message
news:apydnTcfEOo_2zrUnZ2dnUVZ_uGdnZ2d@speakeasy.ne t...
> Michael Pardee wrote:
>> "jim beam" <retard-trap@bad.example.net> wrote in message
>> news:d-2dnartW4RyUjvUnZ2dnUVZ_oHinZ2d@speakeasy.net...
>>> when a car starts, you have to dump gas because the motor is not warm,
>>> thus the fuel doesn't fully vaporize, thus you need excess gas to get
>>> sufficient vapor density to burn. if you dump gas, then turn the motor
>>> off? where is the gas now? in the inlet, and /not/ being sucked into
>>> the motor. so where does it go? it evaporates back out of the air
>>> intake. thus you smell gas!!!
>>>
>>> so that's all the o.p. is experiencing - a few seconds of excess gas
>>> because he hasn't warmed the motor. utterly trivial.
>>>
>>
>> Maybe so, but it still does not rule out a gasoline leak. The risk is too
>> great to just shrug it off.
>>
>> Mike
>
> well, the neighbor kid could have been stealing gas too and spilled some.
> or theoretically, the vehicle /could/ have been drilled by one of these:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weakly_...ssive_particle
>
> that actually /did/ interact precisely at an injector o-ring, and is
> subsequently just a bomb waiting to explode.
>
> but somehow i doubt it. just like i doubt fuel leak on a sub-year old car
> made by a manufacturer with an excellent track record on this stuff.
> especially when we're told that the car has been run for less than 60
> seconds and that we know about excess mixture on start-up, etc...
>
> seriously dude, look at the big picture and assign probabilities.

Seriously dude, look at the big picture and assign probabilities, then look
again and assign possibilities to check when the probabilities aren't the
cause.....

DaveD

"jim beam" <retard-trap@bad.example.net> wrote in message
news:apydnTcfEOo_2zrUnZ2dnUVZ_uGdnZ2d@speakeasy.ne t...
> Michael Pardee wrote:
>> "jim beam" <retard-trap@bad.example.net> wrote in message
>> news:d-2dnartW4RyUjvUnZ2dnUVZ_oHinZ2d@speakeasy.net...
>>> when a car starts, you have to dump gas because the motor is not warm,
>>> thus the fuel doesn't fully vaporize, thus you need excess gas to get
>>> sufficient vapor density to burn. if you dump gas, then turn the motor
>>> off? where is the gas now? in the inlet, and /not/ being sucked into
>>> the motor. so where does it go? it evaporates back out of the air
>>> intake. thus you smell gas!!!
>>>
>>> so that's all the o.p. is experiencing - a few seconds of excess gas
>>> because he hasn't warmed the motor. utterly trivial.
>>>
>>
>> Maybe so, but it still does not rule out a gasoline leak. The risk is too
>> great to just shrug it off.
>>
>> Mike
>
> well, the neighbor kid could have been stealing gas too and spilled some.
> or theoretically, the vehicle /could/ have been drilled by one of these:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weakly_...ssive_particle
>
> that actually /did/ interact precisely at an injector o-ring, and is
> subsequently just a bomb waiting to explode.
>
> but somehow i doubt it. just like i doubt fuel leak on a sub-year old car
> made by a manufacturer with an excellent track record on this stuff.
> especially when we're told that the car has been run for less than 60
> seconds and that we know about excess mixture on start-up, etc...
>
> seriously dude, look at the big picture and assign probabilities.
>
>
I'm most suspecting fuel injector failure - separation at the plastic/metal
junction. That can occur at any age and mileage, often shows up when cold
and may stop leaking when warm, and I've seen quite a few in my time...
including the one that set my Nissan on fire before I could put the new
injector in. On a nearly new car the possibility of a construction defect
can't be discounted either; that is why the warranty exists. I am not
advocating a witch hunt, just due diligence for something that can easily
send the car up in flames.

Personally, I would feel less silly looking for a leak than I would looking
at the charred remains and trying to answer the question, "why didn't you
check it out?" To each their own.

Mike

On Feb 25, 9:41*am, Dillon Pyron <invaliddmpy...@austin.rr.com> wrote:
> 08 Fit. *We left it sitting in the dirveway for a while, and I pulled
> it in in the evening. The engine probably ran for 45 seconds, max.
> When I got out, there was the strong smell of unburned gasoline. *

but not so strong that you were tempted to open the hood and check for
a fuel leak?