Petrol smell at cold start

[guest7027]

Is it normal for there to be a petrol smell outside the car (I'm almost certain it is coming from the exhaust tail pipe) on a cold start only? If i leave the car sat it will also start to smell on the inside as it comes in through the vents. If I pull off straight away after start up with my windows up you tend not to smell it as it clears pretty quick but if I pull out my drive with windows down I can smell it.

My car is stored on an open drive way so not garaged or kept in a confined space - plenty of ventalation.

Only seem to get this when I start the car first thing in the morning after it has stood overnight. Weather conditions don't seem to make any difference e.g. it does it when it is warm outside and it also does it when it is cold.

By the time I get to work (10 minute drive) the car has fully warmed up and the smell has completely gone away - even if I leave the car sat running the smell doesn't build up.

Fuel consumption seems the same, petrol gauge not showing any obvious loss of fuel, no obvious signs of leaks anywhere - as mentioned above I'm certain the smell is coming from the exhaust tail pipe and as such it would seem it may be running rich at start up as opposed to a leak anywhere but wasn't sure if this was normal for the Jazz? I've only owned mine for 3 months and it has done this from day 1. Car has FSH and was bought from a main dealer with only 1 previous owner and has only done 45k miles.

[JohnAlways]

Engine cold running on choke (equivalent) so a rich mixture

[guest7027]

Thanks for your reply - are you saying that this is normal then?

[JohnAlways]

I park on the drive outside, a car to my right, a low wall to my left and to be honest I've only smelt it once or twice, but the car starts and I'm reversing so don't linger there very often. I think a combination of wind direction and running a rich mixture will always give you the fumes but you may not always smell it.
just make sure there isn't a puddle on the floor underneath when you pull away.

[VicW]

A petrol smell from the exhaust is quite normal on the first start of the day particularly when the temperature is down.
It is simply the first bit of unburnt petrol coming out of the exhaust as the engine starts.

Vic.

[Jocko]

Some people are more aware of the smell of petrol than others. My garage has a "garage smell". Years of exhaust fumes, gear oil and brake fluid permeating the floor, walls and roof. I love it. So when I start my car I never notice any difference to the smell. When I reverse back in though, I often notice the smell from the catalytic converter. Not the rotten eggs some people complain of, just a different "exhaust" smell.

[guest7027]

Thanks for your replies - I still do get a petrol smell in warm-ish tempreatures, like this morning for example it was 16 degrees celsius outside and still got it.

I do notice that Jazz's do run at a higher rpm for the first few minutes of start up too though so maybe this contributes to this smell too? Mine idles at about 1,500 rpm for a few minutes on start up and then drops to around 800 when at normal operating tempreature.

[Jocko]

That is when it is running on "choke", as we old duffers still think of it.

[guest7027]

Yeah - I do have another jazz (my partners) too, which is pretty much same age, mileage and service history as mine, only difference being that one is an EX in blue and mine is an ES in red.

My partners doesn't seem to smell as 'petrolly' from start up as mine does which is why I posted the thread to see if this was normal or not.

It's annoying have 2 of the same car because you always seem to find something different between then all of time haha!

[guest7027]

UPDATE: went to visit my parents yesterday, came back outside to leave, car had been sitting for about 2 hours before last startup.

I started up and drove off as normal, waved the parents off as I drove passed there house. Got home and my dad called to inform me that when I drove off there was quite a big smell of neat petrol coming from my car.

Given that my parents live on an open terraced house street and that my car hand not been standing for that long does this seem normal to have such a strong smell of petrol stinking out the street? Outside temperature was around 18/19 degrees celsius yesterday so not cold neither.

When I got home I did leave the car running but couldn't smell any neat petrol from the exhaust pipe or from anywhere else around the car so it does only seem to be doing it on startup and first pull off as far as I can tell.

My dad just found it strange because he has a 1.4 petrol Hyundai i30 - fuel injected engine with variable valve timing albeit not a Honda still a similar sort of car and he says his never smells like this...

[guest7027]

Finally got round to having a look at this with my Dad this morning. Not a particularly cold day, 17 degrees Celsius and the car had already been driven for about 15-20 minutes and then stood for about 2 hours.

Started it up and opened the bonnet - it would seem the petrol smell is originating from under the bonnet...

I can also smell a neat petrol smell from the exhaust but this isn't as strong as the smell under the bonnet - in fact I'd say the smell the the tailpipe is probably normal if a car running on choke as described in previous posts.

What I don't think is normal is a very strong petrol smell at startup from under the bonnet. Difficult to pinpoint where from exactly but seems stronger on the left side of the bay (looking straight on at the car from the front). Smell clears and disappears after 2/3 minutes and doesn't reoccur until cold start again. No obvious signs of leaks.

Any ideas?

[culzean]

On older cars there used to be an EVAP canister under the bonnet which piped the vapour from fuel tank through a charcoal filter,  If these went faulty they could leak petrol fumes, on more modern cars they are mounted nearer the fuel tank now I think.  Could be a leak from an injector (the fuel pump pressurises the system as soon as ignition turned on,  this would evaporate as soon as air flows under the bonnet and engine warms up.

[Jocko]

Switch on the ignition from cold, but don't try starting the engine. This should pressurise system. Check the fuel connections then. Pay particular attention to the fuel injector connections and also the fuel return pipe connections. Feel around for fuel. Don't just look. Does the smell appear after a couple of minutes switched on but not started? If not, try starting. Is that when the smell starts?
Be aware, that a tiny leak may not show as a drip. It may only weep and evaporate.

[guest7027]

Thanks, I think the EVAP cannister is at the back of the car on the 2010.

I've read another post on a different forum that's suggesting it could be a loose spark plug? Seems a lot of people have had a similar issue and particularly on the 2010 model too...

Are the fuel injectors easy to get at?

[Jocko]

The fuel rail runs along the front of the engine, under the cover you need to remove to get to the spark plugs. Not that easy to get to.