New problem that popped up about four months ago, has come and gone, and I don't want to drive her again until it's fixed:

Sometimes -- not all the times, sometimes -- after starting the car up cold in the morning, I can get about 2 blocks from the house and suddenly I smell raw gas strongly in the cabin. Open the hood, gas is pooling all along the top of the intake manifold just under the fuel lines and injectors. I've yet to be able to catch it in the act of spraying the fuel.

We replaced all the fuel lines and all the hose clamps. The problem is still there. We're doing it again just to make sure we didn't damage lines upon install.

This never happens when the car is hot. So what I'd like to hear from you guys is, is this something else? Maybe fuel pressure regulator issues? Instead of a leak, could it be that the system has too much pressure in it when cold?

Jess

 

if only when cold, observe the cold start injector gasket inmediately upon starting engine and each injector.

 

Worked on one years ago where a couple of injectors were leaking. The body of the injectors themselves....not where the fuel line mates to the injector.

Cheers
DD

 

The real kicker here is it only does it about one every 10 cold starts. I hate problems I can't replicate.

That cold-start injector idea has some promise, though. Are those gaskets hard to find?

Jess

 

the gasket comes with the injector, it is just a thin paper gasket, you can trace the base of the cold start injector to make a new one.
they rarely leak but the body of the injector can leak, but not as much as pooling liquid fuel.
if it is an intermittent fuel leak, I would look closely at the injectors.

 

Go to the closet and pull out that box that has all your gift-wrapping junk. Wrap the injectors in tissue paper. Colored tissue paper, preferably. Any fuel leak will leak will leave a stain on the paper.

Cheers
DD

 

I think I've figured out the problem is coming from that cold-start injector. I drove it on a long trip this morning, and had no issues; went out to pick up dinner tonight after letting everything cool down again and got hit with a strong smell of gas. While at the restaurant, I lifted the hood and gas had pooled again on top of the intake manifold, particularly around the middle cylinders, but the cold-start injector was soaked, especially at the base.

Given that this problem only happens when cold, I'm betting that's the culprit.

Jess

 

very possible it is keaking through its plastic body. What doesn't make sense is the pooling of fuel because as Doug says, only a small squirt of liquid fuel is injected through the CSI.

what if you disconnect it and block the hose so no fuel is dispensed at all from the CSI ?
Wouid you still get liquid fuel pooling?

 

The cold start injector has fuel going to it at all times, just like the regular injectors. Of course, it only sprays fuel when the engine is cold....and if the starter is engaged.

Why it (or the regular injectors) would leak only when cold is a mystery to me.

I like Jose's idea. Pull and block off the hose to the injector. If the pooling stops, you've found your culprit.

Cheers
DD

 

I had this symptom in the 1990s, The CSA was leaking. I replaced it and tthe problem was solved. It wasn't a cold starting problem, it was a fuel smell.

Believe it or not, I still have the leaking CSI since I have a box of "parts replaced". The CSI looks normal otherwise but when put in service it leaks as soon as you turn the ignition switch.

 

UPDATE...

I think I've fixed this by replacing the cold start injector and the gasket.

What I wanted everyone to know is that I fixed this with factory-spec parts that are still available.

Cold-start injector (in AUS-to-US exchange rates, this came out about $130 shipped and took about a week to arrive): https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Jaguar-...53.m2749.l2649

Cold-start injector gasket: https://www.partsgeek.com/catalog/19...ve_gasket.html

Jess

 

Bingo! I wonder why they leak.

 

I'm fairly sure mine was gasket failure. The old gasket looked really rough, anyway. If it failed in the actual body of the injector, we couldn't get it to replicate the issue before changing it.

Since the new part was so cheap ($130-ish) I went ahead and did that anyway. I figured if you guys were seeing failures it was just a matter of time.

On that note, everything plastic in a 30-year-old car, regardless of whether it's Jaguar, Toyota, Ford, etc., is prone to failure and 30 years seems to be the really critical point. In my Mitsubishi Starion/Chrysler Conquest owners' group (my Starion is an 88 model), we've been seeing a lot of failures to the wiring connector at the coolant temperature sensor on the intake. A choppy signal from that sensor is responsible for what I'd conservatively estimate is a quarter of all running/drivability problems on that car. Another common failure point are the injector clips -- also plastic. Just a fair warning for all us Jaguar folks out there that once the car hits about the 30-year mark, every time you plug/unplug a plastic clip, it might be the last time you do that.

Jess

 

I have replaced the csi twice , the second ttime it leaked brand new. Fortunately I had bought it from the local Jaguar dealer and they replaced it. Considering it was a Bosch part back then, you would expect better quality.