Interior of my Subaru smells strongly of gasoline

[sidewall]

It's coming through the heating system. Any ideas on the cause?

[butterscotch]

how cold is it? my GF's subie does this when it's very cold. she claims it's pretty common.

[sidewall]

It's my sister's car, she lives in Fort Collins, so I'm thinking it's pretty damn cold. She's had it for 5 years so it's not something that's happened before.

[Hugh Conway]

Light a match

[Gripen]

Is it an Impreza/WRX? Pretty common when cold, one of the fuel lines contracts too much and seeps. My old one was fixed on warranty. Subaru dealers have a kit to fix it.

[wolfy]

never heard of that problem in the Tahoe area and there's a few subies around here.
at least with the 2.5 motor, about the only place for any fuel to make the "great escape" would be at the rubber fuel lines in/out of the fuel filter, under the hood directly in front of the driver. age cracking could affect those--pretty easy to check.

[uglymoney]

There is a leaky line on some of the wrx's I believe that involves the removal of a bunch of stuff on top of the intake to get to and replace the line. If this ends up being your issue go to the Subaru boards where there is several lengthy threads discussing this.

Try this first though - my Outback had this problem every time it was very cold and I simply had to go around the top of the motor and tighten every single one of the fuel line clamps. One of the fuel lines kept leaking and so I simply replaced the short rubber line- easy fix. I you look at your service book this is one of checks that you are supposed to make periodically. When it gets cold the lines shrink and leak where the clamps are loose - the clamps are loose because the lines get old. Chances are good you have never had your fuel line clamps tightened as suggested by te manual.

Edit: You can buy superior aftermarket fuel line clamps. I prefer the ones that have the 10mm heads on them. Much easier to tighten. If you have a finicky one try this before replacing the fuel line.

Also - pop the hood and start the car in the morning when it is cold to find the leaks. It is easy to spot them or smell them at that point.

[sidewall]

Thanks guys- Ugly money I'm going to forward that on to her.

[dk_alaskan]

check for bad/badly seated o-rings

[gregorymaz]

CommonI have heard of. My suggestion is to ask a Subaru specialist. In my opinion a gas smell typically warrants an expert. Nobody wants an unneccesary explosion or gas inhilation sickness

[skibum193]

wrx's seem to have the problem more than other subies... other suggestions already got it covered though

[summer_teeth]

just had mine fixed by my brother-in-law who is a dealership mechanic. Turned out to be a clamp on a fuel line and when it gets really cold the line contracts enough that is loos and seeps a tiny bit of fuel. Tiny bit seeping put enough fumes inside the car to almost make a person pass out. fairly cheap fix, new clamp tightened down good.

[eug]

Had the same problem on 2002 WRX, they basically replace that fuel line with next years version. Full fix by a dealer is several bills.

[yodaottis]

My Legacy does the same thing when it's cold, seems to go away after a couple minutes.
Not over powering, I just smoke w/ my fingers crossed. Funny to see this thread today though after driving in this morning and thinking "it's doing it again"

[DeeAre]

The interior of my Subaru smells strongly of farts and wet dog.

[lll100]

Fuel line rail is loose. $200.00 fix at dealer. Beiieve as stated above, some o-rings need replaced and fittings tightened and torqued. Had the smell for years til got worse. Now no smell still 30,000 miles later.

[sidewall]

Uglymoney- she tried that and it worked, thanks a lot.

[zion zig zag]

Ah, my car (subaru) started doing this the other day, good to know.

[g_man80]

Started as a TSB (service bulletin) for MY '02-'03 and was recently upgraded to a voluntary recall.

TSB: http://www.scoobymods.com/fuel_smell_cold_weather-t2886.html?

Recall: Subaru Voluntary Recall: 2002–2003 Impreza WRX Cold Weather Fuel Line/Hose Seep - NASIOC

[eug]

Bumping this in case anyone missed it. They will take of or reimburse you for the fix. Got a check from Subaru for the work done over a year ago.

Mailed original invoice and a short letter to Subi NA, got the check 3 weeks later.