Drove home this freezing cold evening and halfway there was a strong smell of spent fuel, as though following someone up front who'd just started their journey. But there's only me on the road

On getting to the junction nearest my home, there's a sudden whiff of neat fuel. After getting home (somewhat gingerly, I might add) and lifting the bonnet, there's a strong sense of fuel - but it doesn't smell neat and I can't see anything obvious. It just smells exceedingly "enginey", if you know what I mean.

Are there any known problems I should look for in this area?

Not having a lot of luck at the moment, am I

I should have a look for a fuel hose gone porous - there'll be no drips or anything dramatic, but the hose will be wet to the touch. Quite common with injected cars due to the pressures.

Ah, not more problems!

So it seems to be running fine? Id look for the obvious first, any leaks or drips of fuel appearing on the drive overnight. Check for any breather pipes which may have came off and check around the fuel filter, has that ever been changed?

Ive heard a few people complain of a similar problem on other cars, it turned out to be spark plugs. Have they ever been changed?

I had this on another car, i swore it was another car infront of me, as mine had just been serviced at the dealers. It was actually the breather pipe which had been knocked off (i hate dealers!). So it may just be something simple, or i hope it is!

Mine has also just come back from a service, but that was a good 100 miles back.

Thanks for the suggestions guys, I'll check in the morning. Can't see my hand in front of my face outside just now, and you already know what's in the garage

CHECK YOUR FUEL LINES ON THE BULKHEAD ONTO THE OFFSIDE CYLINDER HEAD AS A MATTER
OF SOME URGENCY!!!!!!!

I really mean it; whilst I'm not saying the car is a deathtrap, bear in mind the rubber fuel
line hoses are as old as the rest of the car, lowish mileage or not and may just start to
fail before Mr MOTman picks up the problem. I'd say the car is trying to tell you something.

I could show you new folks scary pictures of my burnt out pride and joy 2.0i that was one of the
best friends I've ever had!! Hindsight is not only very cruel, but all too easy as well...

By all means check the hose clips first but concentrate on the bends of the pipes by twisting them
back on themselves - there shouldn't be any line visible in the rubber.

Andrew

Out of curiosity I took a torch outside, started the engine and watched. I could actually see the fuel rushing out and hitting the manifold before draining down the engine.

Here's a photo



What's likely to be the cause there? Incidentally the plugs were replaced as part of the service.

Seems odd that its happened so near to your service, i wonder if they have disturbed something.

Its most likely its a small split in a pipe.

Good job you have found it so you can avoid using it until its fixed, it could be nasty as Andrew explained - the pictures are not nice!

Chris

The pump creates extremely high pressure so even a pinhole in the fuel line will allow a jet
to escape so a close examination in good light (probably daylight) is the first step to make.
There's a chance that accessing the plugs has caused some inadvertent pressure to be applied
to the fuel hoses and put strain on them where there may very well have been an aging
weakness.

I'm honestly not trying to scaremonger - just want others to avoid the heartache that befell me:
http://club-xm.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=3146

Andrew

Two things I must do tomorrow. Check my fuel lines and take the fire extinguisher out of the caravan and put it in the car.

Derek

I carry some chunky extinguishers in my treasured petrols - I'm damned if I'm going to lose my
CX GTi Turbo2 or the 24v V6 Xm the same way as I lost the red Xm. For me it's about the ONLY
irrefutable argument for running a diesel as far as I'm concerned.

Andrew

Thats quite a warning if ever there was one, one plus point for a diesel car i guess!

I did like those wheels you had on the red one, they seemed to suit the Xm well.

Phil,

I honestly believe these 'challenges' you're being beset with are certainly the growing pains that
unfortunately find their way into any machinery which the usual pile the miles on and get rid in
two years mob never even see.

That said, there is a pure honesty and likable quality which generates a massive sense of pride
which when combined with the camaraderie of like minded owners makes owning older distinctive
cars so rewarding. There's probably a lot to answer for where jobs put off and corners cut are
actually made by the second owners who are largely trading on the reliability retained in the car
from the past full expenses dealer servicing.

As an enthusiast, picking up the pieces can be very rewarding but initially very frustrating as
hidden foibles manifest themselves.

Just tell yourself that the rewards are possible and genuine!

Andrew

On the fuel pipe point, I too got very scared after seeing Andrew's thread last time, and checked my own fuel hoses, which weren't great.

Citroen unfortunately took quite a while to get the new hoses (big shock there), so I had to bandage them up and chance it for a while.
I checked the pipes daily for the few weeks I was waiting on the pipes, the wrap on them seemed to be holding, (there was no leak in the first place, just cracked looking). The new pipes arrived, and sat in the back of the car for a day or two. One rainy Saturday morning / afternoon I was driving round Belfast city centre, trying to find a customer's resteraunt, to drop a computer back to them.
I was behind a BMW X5 in traffic, and kept getting this really strong smell of petrol. I was thinking 'damn that thing smells like its running rich, I wouldn't like the fuel bill'.
Then, as I parked along a quiet sidestreet, with no other cars around, it dawned on me that there were no other cars around, yet the smell of petrol remained, and in fact was getting stronger

Hmmm I thought, popped the bonnet, and jumped out, engine still running.
My attention was immediately drawn to the nice mist of fuel spraying out from under the bandage on the fuel hose, and (very luckily), condensing and running down the bulkhead, rather than the engine. Had it been the other way, it could have been a complete disaster, and it would have been my own fault for leaving it when I knew it needed attention.

Moral of the story, investigate and rectify ANY suspicion of a fuel system anomoly IMMEDIATELY, don't leave it to chance.

Ciarán

Ive never checked my fuel hoses, i think i better had!

Phil good to hear your not selling yet, once you have a good Xm its best to stick with it! Hence why mine wont be going anywhere, even though its probably not the spec Xm i really want (a manual diesel!) its good to know i have a good one and i know everything about it. Its ultra reliable too and for that reason alone its staying.

Ill have to investigate the hoses next time i have the Xm out, sounds like its more common than i thought.