Should I smell like a refinery?

[Bannon]

Hello again folks,

Still working out kinks with the "new" low mileage 2007 Superformance. I am understanding the meaning of ads that state "well sorted car".

My car has the Roush 427IR motor. When I take it for even a short drive, I come out smelling like I am soaked in gasoline. I don't remember this happening with my first SPF that had a Carb. I would expect a fuel injected motor to run much cleaner. Inside of sidepipes is a black color. My old one was a light tan. Is the motor running very rich and if so is there a computer running the fuel injection? So far I don't see a computer port. No dealer close enough for me to take it for a quick look.

Thanks again.

JB

[twobjshelbys]

When was the engine built? Does it have the Accel fuel injection controller? How many miles?

Mine ran like a pig and I found the throttle position sensor was wired backwards. This will result in a totally confused fuel system which will mostly run rich.

Secondly, the altitude compensation table (I'm at 5500') was not correct and resulted in an out of whack air/ful ratio (since at higher altitude the fuel should be turned back). The result was an overly rich mixture most of the time. I doubt you have this very high altitude issue at your location.

You should find someone with a dyno and a good A/F probe and see what it is doing over the power band.

On mine the DFI controller was mounted in the passenger compartment underneath the glove box.

[twobjshelbys]

Another symptom of "running rich" (overfueling) will be backfires when you let off the accelerator at relatively high RPM (4500+), and infrequent backfires under normal operating speeds (not city driving but longer periods of cruising at a sustained RPM/engine load at above 3000RPM).

[Bannon]

Thanks! Engine was built in 2007-2008. Only 1400 miles. Car was originally a New York Car.

I have only driven it about 40 miles. First drive was just a 1/2 mile to get it from the transport dropoff location to my garage. Stunk nearly my whole house after the first drive. Only have driven it on 2 other drives one 8 miles and the other 30 miles.
I have a lift and went under the bottom of the car sniffing with my large proboscis. :-D Could not see any visible gas leaks. So again leads me to a mixture issue. Guessing just old gas from sitting or a bad O2 sensor could not be an easy issue...

[mdross1]

Running rich will also make the engine sluggish.If yours is so rich you smell of fuel you could be doing damage to the engine as in washing the cylinders down, that is not good.Pull your dipstick and take a sniff.

[Mastiff107]

Mine is in perfect tune and I smell like gas/exhaust all the time. The pipes dump right by the doors. Same thing with my harley who's pipes dump by my legs. It amounts to sitting right behind the exhaust on both ofthem for hours at a time. The exhaust on my hotrod comes out the back and that makes a big difference. Way I look at it there's a lot worse things to smell like.

[sspano01]

i put my oxygen sensor too far from the engine and its EFI was forcing it to run rich. I moved the oxygen sensor to within 6 inches and it is only one one tube of the header. That really fixed the performance and the 'gas fume' effect is much much less

Check the location of your O2 sensor and/or maybe replace it

[sspano01]

assuming of course your EFI is close to having any kind of a reasonable fuel map and it is running in closed-loop mode of course

[wideglidejoe]

I smell like a refinery every day when I get home..............Oh yeah, I've worked in one for the last 35 years!

Seriously, I ride Harley's every day possible. I get a very, very small amount of exhaust smell on me from the bike, but I feel that I get more smell on me from the exhaust of all the cars I'm riding behind/in/among. I walked in the house this evening (from riding the Harley), my wife greeted me at the door, and smiled, saying "you smell like the road". But, she's used to me riding, and rides with me a lot.

If I'm tuning on the roadster with it idling in the driveway, I get the same smell on my clothes, but not after driving it. It is carb'ed.

[twobjshelbys]

There is a difference between running rich incorrectly and running a little rich for performance. When all was said and done mine ran perfectly with an AFR of about 12. Ideal is about 14.something. It still ran rich and smelled a little gassy at idle but ran like a rocket at a steady state of between 4500-5000 under load and 3000 or so at highway speeds.

[sspano01]

my wife did tell me the other day - something like - "i love you, just not your smell"

[Bannon]

Thanks again folks. Lifted the hood last night. Had not run it in a week and got a whiff of gas smell. Pulled the dipstick and no real strong smell there so that is good. I am going to try to find a place in town with a chassis dyno. O2 Sensor is about 1/3 way down the sidepipe but guessing that may be the standard location for an efi install in a SPF. Won't be able to get it to a shop for a couple of weeks due to work schedule. I'll report back if I find it.

JB

[mdross1]

Gas smell opening hood with EFI? Never gave the air cleaner a thought but with enough cam overlap the cleaner will take on that smell especially if the mixture is running on the rich side.

[Bannon]

Mdross1. That's a good thought too. I have 8 of them to hold the smell. I did notice when I took them off to polish them that they did smell like gas.

JB

[mdross1]

My 460 with 235@.050 Lunati does the same thing as does our Harleys.Riding the 155" Harley you can hear the valves closing through the S&S Teardrop with standoffs for much taller filter the reversion is almost the same.

[twobjshelbys]

Originally Posted by sspano01

i put my oxygen sensor too far from the engine and its EFI was forcing it to run rich. I moved the oxygen sensor to within 6 inches and it is only one one tube of the header. That really fixed the performance and the 'gas fume' effect is much much less

Check the location of your O2 sensor and/or maybe replace it

Pay attention to this - this was one of the fixes done on mine. You only get a reading from one cylinder instead of the average of 4 on one side but the closer location and better heat, and the fact that the sensor is properly upright instead of horizontal makes a big difference. Not all with this setup but it is one part.

[Bannon]

OK, So some improvements since last post. Put the car up on the lift and again no visible gas leaks. I was able to easily tighten a few hose clamps near the fuel tank. Took the car out on Saturday. Fuel guage read about 1/4, so I did not want to push it. Drove to the BP and poured a bottle of Seafoam in the tank. (best stuff on the planet for cleaning engines and fighting the wrath of evil ethanol in my experience ...)
Put 10 gallons of 93 octane in her and took every opportunity (in Bill Cosby's words) to blow the gunk out... While there is still some hesitation across the RPM range, there is a remarkable difference in the gas odor on my clothes and in the garage. Maybe old gas is part of the culprit. Still want to get the car evaluated on a chassis dyno. Will let you know my finds but at least better news for now...