2002 Cavalier Z24 w/ 2.4L
OK here's the deal...
The other night I left my car at my parents house so I could do my brakes the following day. For some reason my dad decides he needs to take my car to the store instead of one of his 3. He calls me and says I have a fuel leak. Tells me its leaking from the fuel regulator (passanger side of the fuel rail right?) and on to the header. He also tells me it looks like its been leaking for a while cuz there's a stain on/around the pipes. He says as soon as he got out of the car he smelled the gas so he checked under the hood and saw it dripping.
SIDE NOTE: i've never smelled the gas before so i don't think its been leaking for that long.
So i drive my wifes car to my parents house. My dad shows me where its leaking from and there's a stain but its not leaking at the moment. I take the car out and drive for about 20 minutes and come back. No smell, no leak, nothing. Dad tells me while he was waiting for me to get there he "jiggled" the fuel regulator along with a few other things.
We checked to make sure everything was tight and it all looks good. Its been 5 days now and still no leak. I'd say he fixed it by moving stuff around but i'm skeptical when it comes to my POS car...that and I don't want it to start leaking on the header again. I drive about 40 miles to work and don't really need a fire under the hood.
Any help, suggestions, comments, opinions?
thanks for reading/helping
brian
GO PATS!!!
There is an o ring around the regulator where
it meets the rail. It can expand or contract sometimes
that could be a possible source. Should be an easy fix.
Exactrly.
Sounds like a shot seal of some sort around the regulator. Should be a really easy fix.
Just don't drive it anywhere near my house
i've checked it every day for a week now and it hasn't leaked. problem now is, since my dad found the leak i've gotten crappy gas milage. i can normally get about 95-110 miles per quarter of a tank....right now i've got 229 miles on 3/4 tank.
i'm ready to sell my car now...
GO PATS!!!
LMAO at Mike!
"Just don't drive it anywhere near my house"
NO...it's NOT a freakin' Honda!!!
Sparks wrote:i've checked it every day for a week now and it hasn't leaked. problem now is, since my dad found the leak i've gotten crappy gas milage. i can normally get about 95-110 miles per quarter of a tank....right now i've got 229 miles on 3/4 tank.
i'm ready to sell my car now...
It sounds like it's still leaking slowly. I don't know how the ECMs in Cavalier's work, but maybe the FPR is still leaking and losing pressure and the ECM is bumping up the fuel supply to compensate for the loss, thus using more gas than usual.
I know that's how it works in some early 90's GM's, but for your car, I don't know. It could still be leaking even though he hit it, it could be a slow, misty like leak that's almost impossible to see.
What I would suggest is get that leak detector kit, put that UV dye in your gas tank, let it run for a couple of minutes, and then get a blacklight out and see if it's still leaking from there.
If you need any help at all or any tools or an extra hand, let me know dude.
Fix it fast or but a fire exting. Its not cool to watch your car burn to the ground.
Semper Fi SAINT. May you rest in peace.
i had that problem and have seen it happen before, the 2.4's sometimes have the problem of a leaking fpr. i dont quite know if it was the oring or the actual regulator itself, so i went ahead and changed the whole thing. ps, the oring itself is about 9-12 bucks.
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- Sold my beloved J in April 2010 -
If it's leaking wouldn't that be leaking on the intake manifold?? The FPR is on the driver side of the fuel rail right?
If its leaking and you mileage sucks, why not just replace it and not worry about it anymore. You should do that to prevent a fire anyway unless you want the car to burn.
69 Camaro 350, ST-10 4speed, Centerforce DF, Full Hotchkis suspension, flowmaster,
MSD ignition, Baer brakes, moser 12 bolt
96 Camaro RS Hotchkis shock tower brace, subframe connectors, trailer arms,panhard bar,
sway bars, power slot rotors, msd igintion, K@N FIPK.
97 Cavalier Z24 KYB GR2 struts, K@N filter
I don't know where its leaking from...but before i go and buy a $90 part that i can't afford i'm gonna run with steve's theory:
Quote:
I don't know how the ECMs in Cavalier's work, but maybe the FPR is still leaking and losing pressure and the ECM is bumping up the fuel supply to compensate for the loss, thus using more gas than usual.
if the computer is compensating for loss, wouldn't disconnecting the battery reset the computer and solve the problem?
i REALLY don't think its leaking anymore. gas is a strong smell, even if it was a small leak i think i'd smell it when i stick my head under the hood every day after i turn the car off...
GO PATS!!!
it goes and comes back. i neglected it and it went away, and then it came back, and then away, and back. depends on the day i guess. stop being stupid and replace it before you catch something on fire in your engine bay and you regret not buying a 50 dollar part and losing at least 5000. it is known as a common problem.
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- Sold my beloved J in April 2010 -
Viper98912 wrote:it goes and comes back. i neglected it and it went away, and then it came back, and then away, and back. depends on the day i guess. stop being stupid and replace it before you catch something on fire in your engine bay and you regret not buying a 50 dollar part and losing at least 5000. it is known as a common problem.
He's not being stupid, if anything he's being smart.
I know what it's like being poor. You have to set your priorities and it may seem like a priority to get this fixed, but nobody is 100% sure what is wrong. It might be what you said, but it might not be. He is just making sure before he goes and spends more money on the car. I've done that before, buying unneccessary parts when I thought I was 100% I was buying the correct part, then you end up replacing parts that didn't need to be replaced.
Yes it could start a fire but I could understand why he doesn't feel like wasting $90 when he's not even confident that that could be the problem.
I hope you understand what i'm trying to say, i'm too tired to look it over
playing with fuel in hot places is not a good thing.
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- Sold my beloved J in April 2010 -
ok guys, it finally leaked while i was around the car. it figures that i had to find it while i'm trying to move. oh well. i'm going to borrow my mom's car to go to work tomorrow so i can work on my pile of crap when i get home. before i go to the auto parts store and look like an idiot, confirm for me that the part circled is the fuel regulator. i can only guess that the part circled is where it was leaking from, i didn't get to physically see it coming out, but that's where it was soaked with fuel. let me know...thanks guys
i know the picture is small...its bigger in my profile
brian
GO PATS!!!
Yes, that is the fuel pressure regulator.
It is a vaccum controlled fuel pressure regulator meaning as the amount of vaccum your car creates increases, so does the fuel supply so you get a constant pressure over every RPM point. Make sure when you get a new one, it has the vaccum advance inlet on the top of it, it should have it no matter what, just double check because it's not a very cheap part.
It's not hard at all to install. I would take the gas cap off, take the fuse for the fuel pump out, and then turn the car on and let the car burn all the gas out of the lines, that way, when you disconnect it, not very much fuel at all will come out, and I would guess since you once had a mildly built SBC, you would be smart enough to figure out how to put it on.
Good luck! need any more help let me know!
