Hi all, I?ve lurked here from the beginning,
owned an ES since Sept. 6th and I?ve been a victim of
the fuel smell problem most of that time. I was very
skeptical about the smell being a manifold leak, when I
first heard that theory, because with the vacuum in the
manifold I expected any leaking to be in from the outside
air. Anyway, posts on this board convinced me enough
that I got out my tools, and I tightened up my
manifold bolts, some of which were indeed a bit loose.
While this may have helped, it did not solve the
problem, so I eventually went back and re-torqued the
manifold in a more proper way. This time I loosened one
bolt at a time and re-torqued it. I noted a distinct
reduction in fuel vapors afterwards. I was still not
satisfied though, as there was still some smell. Also I
wasn?t satisfied that I had done the best possible
re-torque of the manifold, because there was a lot of
grabbing between the manifold plastic and the bolt/washer
as it tightened. So I did the job again with a spray
of WD-40 for lubricant.<br><br>Well, the thing is
definitely tolerable now, maybe even fixed I?m hoping, and
no thanks to the industry either. Thanks to this
club though, especially rlmcgarry for being a great
founder. Thanks also to all the other tenacious fuel vapor
posters.<br><br>BTW, I don?t recommend this procedure for the average
owner. The manifold bolts are rather tiny and, of
course, they are threaded into a very lovely but soft
aluminum head. Bad things can happen if one uses too heavy
a hand. I?ll just do anything to minimize contact
with the dealer. Bad things can happen there too.
Mar 7 2001, 11:22 PM
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