Fuel smell when your 1G Sporty is cold? Try this...

ncarter124 · 05-04-2010, 11:41 AM

Mods, feel free to sticky this if you want, I hope I can save some people a costy repair that should cost less than a dollar and take no more than a couple hours if you have basic mechanical skills.

If you start your Sporty and almost immediately smell raw fuel, this might be your problem.

The next time your Sporty is cold, do this...

Pop the hood, start the engine, then step out and look under the hood. You will most likely see it dripping fuel onto the ground on the right side of the vehicle, about even with the inside edge of your right headlight I think. This issue gets worse as time goes on, so if you just started noticing the smell you might not be leaking enough for it to hit the ground, that's fine. Another test for this is to start the vehicle, turn on the fan (A/C or Heat) and then leave it on fresh air. The smell should be very strong, as in, you will really want to put the windows down. Now turn it to recirculate and see if the smell goes away. If it does, this is most likely your issue.

What is happening is Kia put a pinch style clamp on the return line of the fuel pressure regulator. What you are experiencing is that clamp getting weak over the years, and now isn't pinching the fuel return line quite as tight as it should, so you are smelling a fuel leak that is happening when the motor is started. I personally believe that it smells so strongly because the cooling fan is blowing almost directly on the leak, and really wafting that smell around.

Now, you probably notice that once it gets warmed up it goes away right? That's because as the motor warms up, that fuel line gets all warm and soft and now the clamp is getting a better grip on the line (versus the hard cold hose) and effectly sealing the leak again. All you have to do to fix this is observe exactly where the leak is, and then fix it with a 20 cent screw style hose clamp that you can buy at Home Depot.

The repair itself shouldn't be too difficult, but plan it on a Saturday or something where you have a few hours just in case. And if you want, go ahead and change the plugs while you have the intake off.

I hope this helps somebody out.

ncarter124 · 05-04-2010, 12:02 PM

BTW, I am at work now, but will post a picture of roughly where you should be looking for the leak.

pulsar86 · 05-04-2010, 03:13 PM

I have made a sticky of the thread for you. Thanks for posting your fix, it might help some fellow forum members out.

ncarter124 · 05-04-2010, 10:49 PM

I'm hoping so. This is the area you will want to observe related to the leak, down in the area next to the oil cap.

hlunger · 06-24-2010, 07:17 AM

When I bought my '02 Sportage about 3 years ago this was an issue. I had it to the dealership 3 times and I had to come down (45 mins from my home) on a cold morning to show them where it was leaking. I was told this was an issue they knew about. It can be hard to find but the picture shows exactly the area where it is prone to happen. I was told they should be replaced every 5 - 7 years. Thanks to the picture poster

ncarter124 · 07-05-2010, 01:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hlunger

When I bought my '02 Sportage about 3 years ago this was an issue. I had it to the dealership 3 times and I had to come down (45 mins from my home) on a cold morning to show them where it was leaking. I was told this was an issue they knew about. It can be hard to find but the picture shows exactly the area where it is prone to happen. I was told they should be replaced every 5 - 7 years. Thanks to the picture poster

Just glad to pass along the info. Mine was purchased at 64k miles and was leaking the day I bought it. I returned it to the Kia dealer knowing nothing about this issue. They fought it for hours and told me that they certainly smell it, but had no clue where it was coming from. They finally sent it to the neighboring FORD dealer and they figured it out. Mine lasted from 64k to about 100k (time period of 3 years) before it started again. If you use a screw type clamp it should never leak again - in theory.

sportage_666 · 09-07-2010, 03:12 PM

to solve fuel smell problem you can also replace fuel injector o-rings,
get a complete set of 12 o-rings for 20bucks, not so bad, 1 hour labour.

Mazmutt · 09-30-2010, 11:07 AM

I had a strange strong gasoline odor in cold weather as well, so I decided to try the clamp fix. when I started poking around to get the clamp out, I saw that my fuel pressure regulator return hose was badly dry rotted, on the underside the black rubber casing was gone and nothing but the woven white fibers could be seen and it looked like it was about to burst. My sportage spent most of its life in South Carolina summer heat and Ive found a lot of dry rotted rubber parts all over this vehicle, from the tires to the coil spring insulators to the brake hoses. I got a short section of hi pressure hose from the auto parts store and a few clamps, installed them and I havent gotten a gas smell since.

Mazmutt · 10-02-2010, 10:26 PM

heres pics of my old hose. seems like a fire waiting to happen, much thanks to the original poster for the heads up!

rlingdas · 01-10-2011, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sportage_666

to solve fuel smell problem you can also replace fuel injector o-rings,
get a complete set of 12 o-rings for 20bucks, not so bad, 1 hour labour.

Can you provide me the sizes of the o-rings, the dealer doesn't sell it separate with the injectors and I have to have them available before I open-up the intake manifold. I inspected thoroughly the line's and fix the damage one's but there is still fuel smell.