I have had my Prius for a few weeks now and have noticed a very strong smell of petrol when i have the vents open to heat the car (without AC). It seesm to only happen when the fan is on and vents open. Any ideas what could cause this and should I be concerned?
Re: Strong small of petrol (gas) You should be very worried and the car should not be driven in that condition. Park it outside (away from structures and other vehicles, in case the car catches on fire), until you've determined the cause of the problem and have had it fixed. 1) check to see that the engine oil cap is on the valve cover, and secure. 2) check the PCV valve hoses, looking for a loose connection. 3) check the fuel line feeding the fuel injectors, looking for a leak. Good luck.
Re: Strong small of petrol (gas) I totally agree, you should NEVER smell gasoline ( unless you have overfilled it AND it's sitting in the hot sun) Get the dealer involved immediately.
Re: Strong small of petrol (gas) Call the dealer now, and you may have to have it towed there. This is very very dangerous. Do you smell gas when outside the car? Any drops onto the ground under the car?
Re: Strong small of petrol (gas) Was there ever an issue with the fuel tank/fuel pump which is located in the fuel tank,if you pull up the rear seat the top of the fuel tank is visible with an access panel to the pump,that panel has a seal and i'm sure if there's a problem there it will be easy to detect...just a thought.
Re: Strong small of petrol (gas) It could very well be the intake system. Is the intake air filter box lid correctly closed and clamped shut? How about the hoses? The fuel vapour that would escape would then be available to leak out from the rear of the hood and be sucked into the cabin air intake at the base of the windshield. This can be a worse problem with an Atkinson cycle engine, as there is charge pushed back into the intake system during normal operation.
Re: Strong small of petrol (gas) If he's smelling gas thorugh the vents, the source is highly likely under the hood somewhere. Like others have said, I wouldn't drive it anymore and have it towed to the dealer. I once came across a woman who, upon backing out of her driveway, stopped in the middle of the street because a fire had started under the hood. By the time the fire dept arrived, the car had burned all the way back to the rear wheels. She said she had been smelling gas for the past couple weeks and was leaving for the dealer to get it looked at. Sad.
Well, you all sure scared me. I have taken the car back to the dealer and they have said there is a fuel leak somewhere and they are investigating. I only bought it 2 weeks ago and it had its 40000 km service there on May 1st. I'm glad they found the problem as i thought maybe i was imagining it. By the way I am a she, not a he.
We don't differentiate between the sexes, we cater to all types. We even have a female that is a Techie for Prius Chat. Glad to hear the good news.
They needed to replace some O rings (i think in the injectors?). Hope this means more to you than me. All I know is the leak is fixed. No more nasty petrol smell.
We'd be curious to see what they listed on the receipt. My dad's (piece of crap, IMHO) 02 RAV4 smelled of gas and I advised him to have it towed to the dealer. He said the repair was I believe a loose connection around/to the fuel rail. I directed him to file a safety complaint w/NHTSA. He's >500 miles away, so I never saw the receipt. Fortunately, the repair was cheap: <$100.
After buying a brand new VW Dasher, one morning the car would not start, I was angry, and about ready to call the dealer and have him tow the car back. Well, I thought maybe I should at least look under the hood first. Lo and behold I touched a loose injector, checked the rest and they were all loose. So I pushed hard and reseated all of them and never had anymore trouble with the injectors. The O rings were stiff and somewhere along the line, someone did not do thier job.
