Hey, Ive got an 89 civic with dohc zc.

The last owner did the conversion and its always ran fine, but there is a really potent fuel smell.

The smell is most obvious with window down and when accelerating.

Its quite hard to find a leak because fuel evaporates. My guess is that the leak/smell is coming from somewhere in the engine bay because the fuel cap is on the other side of the car (and is tight, no leaks), and it cant be smelt when the window is closed. My guess is if the smell was coming from behind the drivers seat, with the window open the fumes would be blown behind me, and I wouldnt be able to smell it. Obviously the fumes are being blown in through the window into the cabin so you would think the leak would be in front of the drivers seat.

My other thought was the car is just running rich. There arent to many signs of this in the way the car drives, and the car doesnt use any excess fuel at all, so its not burning more than it should, or isnt leaking a hell of a lot.

Its something I want to get to the bottom of incase someone flicks a cigarette out and my car starts blazing.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

check ur injector O-rings. i had the same problem. turned out my O-rings were so bad, fuel was leaking from 2 injectors. also check all ur lines make sure u look under ur hood while havein the car idle to be sure u cant see any leaks. the O-rings r cheap from the dealer like 2 bucks a piece. replaced mine and ever since ive had no gas smell.

 

Do your eyes burn while driving the car. Exhaust leak could be it. If not try you fuel lines under your car. Drivers side. Could be cracked from dry rot.

 

check the exhaust manifold for cracks,,and also make sure its not leaking at the gasket..check the fuel filter area and the line that goes to the fuel rail..also on my old 88 hatch the rear fuel lines were actually rusted completly out,,but thats probably not your problem since you say its not wasting any gas..

and do you have a cat converter?

 

Thanks for the replys.

I'l check all of the above and let you know how I get on.

Eyes dont burn, and I just remembered the car is still running the old pee-shooter exhaust from when the car was carbs. I think its running a cat, will double check tomorow though.

 

What ECU are you running? When I had an 88-89 teg ECU it ran super rich and would always smell fuel.