Hey guys - I have a 99 XK8 Conv and each morning when I start it up, there is a very strong gas smell. Anything special to look for? There are no visible exterior leaks or anything, but it is very pronounced. Calms down after a minute or two, and then is ok in stop and start daily routine, but very bad in the morning. Thanks for your input.

 

Walk around the car tomorrow right after you start it, amd see if the smell is coming from near any particular wheel. This might help us diagnose the problem..

 

Is it parked outside or in a very well ventilated area for safety?

 

There is a charcoal filter in right hand front road wheel well, very possible a pipe has become dislodged. The filter sits between the door and the wheel behind the inner wheel arch panel.

Remove the wheel, I beleive there are about 9 fastenings of various types , then you can remove the wheel liner and have a good look, shouldn't take you no longer than half an hour.

 

Thanks - I will check that. I will say that at least some of the gas smell is coming from the exhaust on a cold startup. It smells up the entire area around the car, so I don't think I'll be able to locate it near a specific wheel.

I do have two "rich" CEL codes from time to time...they are not on now, but have been in the past. Not sure it the two relate, but worth mentioning.

 

You have a Recall – Corroded Filter Vent Pipe on this car. I made a copy of the TSB 303-S841 and you should see if it was complied with prior to you digging into it.

 

for you at right hand drive yes, for the other side of the pond its left side(I guess always on the drivers side no matter which side) and we dont have charcoal cannisters there. There are 2 behind the diff and the cannister close valve is vented to the right rear wheel well. The TSB Gus reffers to is a corroded crossover pipe between the 2 cannister that rusts inside and the particles keep the close valve open. The Purge valve is in the drivers side wheel well behind the arch liner. And for a rich engine what other codes do you have besides the rich codes. You may have a faulty MAFS or a vacuum leaklike in the bellows of the air intake tube, very common) This can be masked by the ecu fuel trim. BUt when cold can be too rich, or could be a bad vacuum(leakin) to the fuel pressure reg on the back of the rail passenger side giving too high pressure

 

Thank you for the info - I will check on the recall item first, and my mechanic friend will help me in following the instructions that you all provided. As for CE codes, here is what I've had in the recent past (on/off):

PO172 and P1637 and the car goes into "performance restricted" mode for a short period, then will be normal again later in the day. I did replace the MAF and bought new plugs to install as well, yet to install the plugs though.

 

You may have another problem but for now I would look into the fuel smell (TSB) first.