fuel leak in cold weather
01-14-2004, 06:01 PM
#1
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fuel leak in cold weather
during the recent icy cold here in MA, started smelling gas. Two mechanics have looked at it, first tightened clamps on fuel lines, 2nd, my favored mechanic, tells me that suby injectors are prone to leak, he has seen many, and that he will attend to it on a dry day. I notice the smell is much worse when the car is cold, and when temps are well below 0 degr., and they fade when engine warms. I suspect that some part is shrinking due to the cold, and when warm swells to stop leak. Has anybody had similar trouble?
01-14-2004, 06:30 PM
#2
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Location: Lawrence, Kansas
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Car Info: 19' Impreza Sport Manual / 99 Miata / 13' OB
There is a TSB on this, there is another thread here where I uploaded a scan of it:
https://www.i-club.com/forums/showth...528#post388528
BTW welcome to the i-Club
Peaty
https://www.i-club.com/forums/showth...528#post388528
BTW welcome to the i-Club
Peaty
01-15-2004, 04:35 AM
#3
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Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: King of Prussia PA
Posts: 265
Car Info: Blaze yellow WRX 2002
HJappened to me too. Thois winter has had some cold days and I had the smell too.
The dealer took my car in for service and I told him about it. He called me back and told me about the problem and how it is a known issue. Said they are goign to fix it but that Subaru does not have the part avaliable right now. Said it is goign to be 1-2 weeks. THey are goign to pay for a rental which will be crappy no doubt. But I am still concearned- how could it take 2 weeks to fix this? How can they not have that part in stock??
I hope nothing fishy is going on.
Yet they still insist nothing is wrong with my front wheels which make a definate thumping sound.
The dealer took my car in for service and I told him about it. He called me back and told me about the problem and how it is a known issue. Said they are goign to fix it but that Subaru does not have the part avaliable right now. Said it is goign to be 1-2 weeks. THey are goign to pay for a rental which will be crappy no doubt. But I am still concearned- how could it take 2 weeks to fix this? How can they not have that part in stock??
I hope nothing fishy is going on.
Yet they still insist nothing is wrong with my front wheels which make a definate thumping sound.
01-17-2004, 04:22 AM
#5
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this is a common problem for this car at cold tempretures. There is a recall for that problem out there also. They just have to replace a section of fuel line that shrinks during the cold weather. The fix is not something that the dealers have in stock, so they do have to order it, and depending on where your at it might take a few days to get. But the fix its self dosnt take that long to do.
01-17-2004, 04:13 PM
#6
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fuel smell in cold
thanks for the help, guys and gals. mechanic tells me, after looking at the diagram in the tsb, that what is needed is simply about six inches of fuel hose, and that all neoprene hose is better than the factory type; he suggests just changing out for aftermarket hose. what do you think? does anybody know more about the actual repair involved in the tsb?
01-19-2004, 05:30 AM
#8
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Location: King of Prussia PA
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Worth a try.
Get it done the right way and let them use the proper stuff from Subaru so if your car catches fire a month from now you can say hey not my fault it is Subaru's fault for faulty parts.
Get it done the right way and let them use the proper stuff from Subaru so if your car catches fire a month from now you can say hey not my fault it is Subaru's fault for faulty parts.
01-19-2004, 07:48 AM
#9
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Originally posted by jasno999
Worth a try.
Get it done the right way and let them use the proper stuff from Subaru so if your car catches fire a month from now you can say hey not my fault it is Subaru's fault for faulty parts.
Worth a try.
Get it done the right way and let them use the proper stuff from Subaru so if your car catches fire a month from now you can say hey not my fault it is Subaru's fault for faulty parts.
01-27-2004, 06:52 PM
#10
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Join Date: Nov 2002
Posts: 870
I had the same problem with mine a few weeks ago up in the Sierras. The dealer said that they would tighten everything in the hopes of fixing it, but the weather hasn't been cold enough recently to test the fix. They claimed not to have heard of this problem which I guess is possible in the SF Bay area.
Incidentally, my car is outside of its basic warranty, but emissions equipment has a 50,000 mile warranty. Would this retrofit come under the emissions warranty? I already had to pay them $60 to do the initial tightening.
Incidentally, my car is outside of its basic warranty, but emissions equipment has a 50,000 mile warranty. Would this retrofit come under the emissions warranty? I already had to pay them $60 to do the initial tightening.
01-27-2004, 06:57 PM
#11
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Location: NYC
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Car Info: 02 WRX WRB
From what I've seen if you're out of the 3/36 warranty you'll be charged for this repair. The fuel lines aren't specifically covered under the 5/60 powertrain or 8/80 emission warranties. Sad but true. Of course if this becomes an actual recall things will be different.
I tightened all the clamps on mine and the problem has not come back after a few weeks of the continuing extreme cold here in the Northeast.
I tightened all the clamps on mine and the problem has not come back after a few weeks of the continuing extreme cold here in the Northeast.
02-02-2004, 04:42 PM
#12
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I have my car at the dealer right now for this problem and I am at 40k+. My extended warranty is going to pay for it and they will also pay for a rental for 5 days (the dealer will pay for any of the days over the five). To fix this they will need to replace and shorten the fuel pipe (part # 17544AA134) and replace and lengthen the hose ( part # 807707140) by 30mm. I got this info from a thread on the WRX powerplant section. There is a service bulliten somewhere in that thread that you can print and show to the dealer. There is also a phone # for subaru that you should call if your local dealer is going to make you pay for it. Some of the guys were told that they would have to pay for the repair and after they called this # they got it fixed for free. From what Ive read these parts are located under the intake manifold. Hope this helps. Good luck.
Last edited by MO REX; 02-02-2004 at 04:59 PM.
02-04-2004, 03:23 PM
#13
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Originally posted by MO REX
I have my car at the dealer right now for this problem and I am at 40k+. My extended warranty is going to pay for it and they will also pay for a rental for 5 days (the dealer will pay for any of the days over the five). To fix this they will need to replace and shorten the fuel pipe (part # 17544AA134) and replace and lengthen the hose ( part # 807707140) by 30mm. I got this info from a thread on the WRX powerplant section. There is a service bulliten somewhere in that thread that you can print and show to the dealer. There is also a phone # for subaru that you should call if your local dealer is going to make you pay for it. Some of the guys were told that they would have to pay for the repair and after they called this # they got it fixed for free. From what Ive read these parts are located under the intake manifold. Hope this helps. Good luck.
I have my car at the dealer right now for this problem and I am at 40k+. My extended warranty is going to pay for it and they will also pay for a rental for 5 days (the dealer will pay for any of the days over the five). To fix this they will need to replace and shorten the fuel pipe (part # 17544AA134) and replace and lengthen the hose ( part # 807707140) by 30mm. I got this info from a thread on the WRX powerplant section. There is a service bulliten somewhere in that thread that you can print and show to the dealer. There is also a phone # for subaru that you should call if your local dealer is going to make you pay for it. Some of the guys were told that they would have to pay for the repair and after they called this # they got it fixed for free. From what Ive read these parts are located under the intake manifold. Hope this helps. Good luck.
02-04-2004, 06:24 PM
#14
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I'm still waiting here in MA, no one can get the parts for the fuel fix, but hopefully i"ll get it done for the 100 deductible on the extended warranty. I also hope to be able to get the shuddering clutch done at the same time. thiese posting have helped a lot!
02-05-2004, 04:28 PM
#15
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Im going to call SOA @ 1800subaru3 and see if they will refund the $100 deductable since this is a common problem. Ill just tell them if they want to sell me a subaru every 3 years they need to refund my money or I will start looking at Toyotas, Nissans and Hondas. It cant hurt to try.