Places to check for fuel leak?

[*Ben]

Hi everyone,

My Vitara has got a fuel leak from somewhere but I am having a hard time tracking it down. Are there any common places that they develop fuel leaks from that I could double check?

The car is a 1993, SWB, 1.6 8v, TBI with a 3 speed autobox.

When driving I get strong whiffs of fuel in the cabin and likewise after starting and having a poke around under the bonnet I could smell fuel but I just can't pin point the source.

Any ideas?

Thanks
Ben

[*Ben]

Just seen the fuel smell 1995 tracker thread, I'll follow that through first...

That'll teach me not to search properly before posting

[xxx]

like all cars, there is no common,,,, only fate, luck ,rust and bad service.

2 places.
the fuel pressure side.
or the vent side.
if the the floor of the garage is dry, its the vent side.
after all 32psi fuel , leaks big time, breached.

bad hoses. (evap system)
bad filler hose
bad vapor (cracked) separator on top of tank.
bad evap
evap tank rusted truth.
loose cap
wrong gas cap.

one can use a smoke machine to find, it.

it would fail at ever smog test station in the USA, for the cap pressure tests.
they'd say sorry buddy , the EVAP system is breached.

[*Ben]

Thank you. I assume that the cap, tank and neck are ok because there is always a lot of hissing when opening the filler cap, much more than on any of my other cars. I will check them out when the snow melts though.

Does anyone have a link to the FSM procedure for checking the EVAP side of things?

[Bex]

Aside from visually checking the canister itself, as well as making sure that the 2 hoses are connected to the top of the canister (one going to the vacuum solenoid, and one returns to the gas tank), and the air nipple is faced down and not connected to anything, you can also check the solenoid that governs the vacuum to the canister. The ECU governs this, and turns the solenoid on when the car rpm is over 1500 rpm and the car is going faster than 15mph. (not at idle). Basic FSM EVAP check below:

[xxx]

the first test on all EVAP is ,, key off , pressure test.
just like what is done in all smog stations.
if that fails, you fix that first. the suction side, is a running issue.
the system is sealed. , (holds pressure) and then after start. the engine sucks
the fumes from the charcoal canister.
1, 2, 3.

need the FSM? its all there, how to test it and fix it and diagnose it.