If you smell gasoline --- guess what?

[Wade Nelson]

You've got a leak!

I know, this falls in the "Doh! obvious department but...

I recently filled up, all the way, and got strong gasoline smells in the cockpit. I was sure the carbon cannister / vent system was misbehaving in some manner.

(I always stop at the first click on the pump as not to INTENTIONALLY flood the vent lines / cannister...)

But it all checked out. And I continued to have a smell of gas, most noticeable when I started the car up and for a minute or so afterward. Even as the level of gas in the tank went down.

Smell of fuel on startup? Startup injector???

I decided I'd tighten up the clamps on ALL my fuel lines, including those to the startup injector.

Guess what. The screw on the hose clamp on that one was stripped. Just touched the line and fuel wetted the injector body.

I realize the startup injector is pressurized ALL the time, and the leak had nothign to do with the act of starting up, probably just that the fuel wasn't evaporating and blowing away as fast as when I'm driving.

I'm glad the car didn't catch fire at some stop further down the road!

I'm having to use 3/8" fuel injection line because the 5/16" won't fit over the "bulbouts" in the fuel lines. The parts store doesn't have the correct metric size line, whatever that is. At least I'm using correct fuel injection clamps, and not everyday screw clamps.

A common cause of hard starting on fuel injection cars is when you have a leaky injector, or a bad check valve. So after shutdown, you lose all the fuel pressure in the lines. You have to crank and crank until youv'e rebuilt pressure to restart. I suspect I may have an intermittently leaking injector, because most of the time mine starts right up. But sometimes.... I had been blaming vapor lock, but now I'm wondering if it's a leaky injector.

When I pulled a line off the bottom of the BCCD recently it was full of fuel. That's another pretty good indication of an injector draining the rail down after shutdown.

Time to start shopping injectors, I guess.

[Wade Nelson]

FWIW, 5/16" fuel injection line is approximately 8mm. It won't fit over the "bulbouts" in the Z's metal lines (without an Act of God or hands like Chuck Norris)

That means the Z car originally used some bastard sized 8.5mm line, like Jaguar apparently does.

Some Jag owner suggested using a hair dryer to heat /soften the line before trying to get it onto the barb. Personally I lube the barbs with Silglide -- pure silicone, knowing it will pass through the injectors without any problems Good article here for anyone replacing the short lines on the injectors themselves:

http://bernardembden.com/xjs/fihoses/index.htm

The closest I can find that EXISTS is an 11/32" line, widely available. That is 8.7mm Napa, Autozone, etc.

What I"m using, since it's all the local store has is 3/8" line, which is 9.5mm

Note the difference between FUEL LINE, and FUEL INJECTION LINE.

[cygnusx1]

Silicone may not be good for the O2 sensor (S130 cars and up). Thoughts? I am not a chemist, I just recall the "sensor safe" RTV, non silicone stuff...or is it something different.

[Wade Nelson]

Hey good reminder. I'd forgotten about silicone sealant contaminating 02 sensors.

Several other threads here suggest 8mm is the "correct" fuel hose.

The problem (I'm guessing) is that the new "green" fuel injection hose is so much stiffer than the old stuff you can't get it over the bulbouts, necessitating a larger size. Maybe the hair dryer trick would soften it up enough.

I forgot to take my gas cap off while I was doing this work and just the pressure/expansion of the tank kept fuel dripping out of the lines while I was trying to work on them, washing away the lube, and making gripping stuff difficult. What can I say, I'm an idiot.

[Darrel]

I get the EFI fuel line Napa sells and never had a problem Rated for high pressure 5/16". I dip the hose ends in gas for lube.

For the residual fuel pressure, the factory manual shows to disconnect the fuel pump connector under the carpet and pad in the hatch floor. Run car until it stalls, then try to start it a couple time to clear the pressure. Then use a rag to catch any drips.

If you were to replace the injector hoses, follow the manual and use a soldering iron to cut the old hoses off without cutting the retaining ring, no clamp necessary at the base of the injector. Twist on the new hose while pushing till it bottoms out. Make sure the hose is cut square going into the injector. Cut the hose to length after installing on the injector.