Cheap Honda

Hello all,

My 99 CR-V has had a smell of fuel in the cabin when you are stopped, idling and have the vents set to fresh air intake and not to recirculate. There is no visible fuel leak but the injectors are slightly damp. When I took them out to clean them a year ago the injector seals looked bad but not horrible. I've already ordered the injector seals on a hunch but me and my Friend spent nearly 20 minutes with the motor idling looking around the motor, through the fuel pump access hatch and under the car to check all the lines. Nothing but the damp injectors, and there was a smell on the rear right engine cavity when you look at the car from head on. And when I say damp I don't mean they were visibly wet with fuel, I mean there was some gunk/seepage where the injectors meet the intake and where they meet the fuel rail. The car is a 5 speed manual with 4wd and it has 203k miles on it. It has only been up north in the Midwest for 7 years. It was in Texas all it's life before then. I've put a new fuel filter on it and the entire exhaust system is brand new with new Bosch O2 sensors. There are no exhaust leaks whatsoever. I've sprayed soap on the whole system while it's running. There are no temporary codes and the check engine light is out. Valves were adjusted 3k miles ago along with a new air filter, spark plugs and I put on a new distributor/plug wires and I put on a gates timing belt kit. The car runs like a top, and this smell has gone unnoticed until my friend pointed it out to me at a stop light.
Wow, that was long, thanks for reading all this.

Stelcom66

I almost bought a '98 CR-V EX 5 speed manual 3 years ago. I ended up with a '99 Accord 5MT, now a 2012 CR-V, of course automatic. Gotta say the 5 speed automatic is nice. I had the fuel and brake lines replaced in my Accord in 2018. I know we're talking a different vehicles - but then a couple months ago I started smelling gas. Like your situation I never saw any visible signs of gas (unlike when the lines were bad), and I couldn't pinpoint it. First I wasn't sure if I did smell gas since it was intermittent and slight, but like your situation a passenger noticed it as well. Unlike yours the odor was only noticeable (I think) outside.

Those 1st gen CR-Vs are amazing, I heard once you've had the valve job done and timing belt replaced you're good for many more miles. The interior of the '98 I looked at looked new. Hope you an find the source of the gas smell.