Gas Smell With 2002 Sportage

[jeffrut]

Hi, I have a 2002 Kia Sportage that has had a gas smell coming in whenever the vents are on. This has been going on for quite a while and the dealer and another mechanic I've taken it to can not find anything wrong with the car. Has anyone else had this type of smell that can let me know how/where to direct a mechanic to look at?

Please post here or e-mail me at spanky1968@hotmail.com.

Thanks.

[Guy Brideau]

I have a 2001 sportage and had a recall for pipe fitting on the gas line its a plastic elbow they are replacing the with a metal on they said it can leak maybe this is were your smell comes from check your dealer for this re call

[electra]

I have the same problem ! Just purchased my 02 sportage. I hope it's nothing serious ! I don't have the smell all the time, just occasionally, but when its there it is bad ! I have to open the windows because the smell is so strong, it seems to go away after the engine warms up. I was thinking if I had a leak that I would smell the smell all of the time...

Hope we get some good advice.

[jeffrut]

I ended up taking my Sportage to another dealer this week and they found that two fuel injectors were leaking. They said that we shouldn't have been driving it as it was dangerous. I have no idea why one dealer and another mechanic couldn't figure this out but the injectors were replaced and so far there is no gas smell.

Good luck everyone!

[lsdunique]

I just bought a Kia 2001 Sportage with 45,000 miles on it for $7,200. I test drove it and was satisfied, but when I drove it home it started to smell like gas. The next 2 days it smelled like gas so bad you DID have to roll the windows down.

Sure enough, when I took it to the dealership on a test drive with the tech you couldn't smell it at all, so the let me go. Two days later I drove it five miles, the gas smell was strong, and when I got out of the car ithe smell was overpowering by the engine bay. I almost choked. A few other people around said the same thing.

Now I have to publicly give kudos to the tech that went on the test drive with me earlier. I called him back after the car was reeking of gas and he told me that he had actually called Kia after I was in there and found out that there is a KNOWN ISSUE with the fuel injectors. He scheduled me an appointment at a Kia dealership down the road to get it taken care of.

My gas smell would be when you started the car, when you stopped, and when you took off. The smell was not there or very minimal when you were driving or when the engine was warmer.

Hope that helps everone out there in cyberland!

[electra]

I took my Kia to the dealer, and they said they couldn't find anything. I insisted they check it again because there was definitely something wrong. I further described the condition as intermittent and seemed to be when the weather was cold. Of course that day the weather was in the 60’s and the dealership is probably 15 miles away from where I lived, so the car was nice and warmed up by then and no signs of the smell ! I told them what I found here on the Kia Forum, the mechanic looked at me funny, like how dare you question my ability. Further inspection showed some gas leakage stains around an o-ring (I assume by the fuel injectors?). They had to rush order the O-rings, which took a week and ½ to arrive, or at least before they notified me they were here (mighty speedy rush order) ! Once the parts arrived, I made an appointment to get the repairs done (had to wait another 10 days before I could get in). The weather here has been frigid this week, and I left my car at the early bird drop off to make sure it was GOOD and cold when they drove it into the shop. When I picked the car up that evening after work I asked the mechanic if he smelled the gas.. He said “oh yeah”. Anyway, replaced the O-rings and some gaskets, the weather was below zero when I picked up the car and no sign of the smell all of the way home ! The entire bill was covered under my warranty to my cost was $0, YEA ! ! I hope this fixed the problem, and the story helps someone else. Keeping my fingers crossed ! As I left they said, if that didn’t fix the problem I should bring it back, but I am not sure if I will give them a second chance may have to try another dealership. Good luck to all, this seems to be a tricky problem, and thanks for all of the input!