Adventuredude1

So my son and I have a 92 RS with the v6 , that just leaked an entire tank of gas out of it. Please tell us where to look or how to figure out where the gas is comming from .Also we need to get it thru the inspection lane in Delaware , the emissions seem super high , I looked under it on my friends lift and it does still have a cat on it. I hate to start throwing money at a new converter or injectors without some advice .

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

Could be anything. I would recommend cleaning the fuel lines, tank, fittings, fuel hoses, fuel filter, etc,. Put the car on a lift or on jack stands, fill the tank up and just watch for where it starts dripping from and follow it.

drdave88

iTrader: (3)

Did it leak the whole tank out while sitting over a short period or has it been sitting for a long time? Where was the puddle of gas; front/rear of the car? That will give you an indication.

What do you mean by "the emissions seem super high"? Does it smell like it's running rich, are you getting colored smoke coming out of the tailpipe? Does the car seem to run fine, idle smooth, accelerate/decelerate fine, etc? The more detail provided, the better we can try to help you.

Adventuredude1

Yes , it leaked the whole tank , took a couple days , I did not see fuel my son told me about it after it was all gone. Emissions in de if its before 95 they have you rev and hold the rpm at 2500 I think the number is . So it wasn't even close to where I thought put some guaranteed to pass cleaner in and run it hard or something. It was way way higher, prompting me to wonder if it even had a cat under it exc . Since I had never messed with the exhaust and it came from pa . Yes it has a cat , I can't figure out how the emissions could be do high like out of the park.

Adventuredude1

So first it was a matter of reducing emissions to get thru inspection , now it's fix the fuel leak get another ttag then figure out why the exhaust readings are thru the roof.

drdave88

iTrader: (3)

What specifically is way higher? Is it the CO, NOx, etc? Depending on what it is, will help tell what is wrong with it. My initial thought would be that the car is probably running rich; stuck injectors, bad sensors, in need of a tune up, the list goes on. How does the car run, where are the RPMs when it's idling, do they bounce?

Did your son say where the fuel leak was, front or rear of the car? If you don't know, the only way to tell is fill it back up and let it leak out again. Likely if the tank went empty, it's from the tank itself since anything else would require fuel to be pumping. Is it possible someone siphoned it from your car?

Sorry if it's a lot of questions, but without the questions, we can't answer anything for you.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

TylerSteez

iTrader: (3)

sounds like your son took the car for a long joy ride and isn't telling you lol. just put the car up on level jack stands, put gas in the tank, get some popcorn, and lay under the car and watch for drips.

OrangeBird

iTrader: (1)

Funny , my thought was that we have a car running very rich , a mysteriously missing tankful of gas , and a Son involved . My bet was gonna be on the kid took the car for a long hayride with his buddies and the gas went missing through the tailpipe .

OrangeBird

iTrader: (1)

Holy Shiznizle dude , you beat me by like 2 minutes with the same exact thought !

So there's two votes for the kid went for a mad joyride and POOF ! one tankful of gas gone ....

Adventuredude1

I'm going to look at the failed De DMV paper and post the limit, plus the numbers in the areas this car is emitting , will fill a,5 gallon can today and see if we can figure out where it's leaking . Thanks for the suggestions and the humor by the way .

TOM305T/A

any updates

gt4373

Just Curious Where Did It Leak (Garage,Driveway,Yard) And How Did You Clean It Up,That's A Lot Of Gas.

Adventuredude1

Update, De DMV emissions HC (ppm) limit low 220 high 220 passed the high with 89 failed the low with 254 CO % limit low 1.20 limit high 1.20 failed low at 3.76 , failed high at 2.74 passed everything else guess it wasn't so bad. Put the car on my buddies lift with gas in it can't see it leaking anywhere but can smell gas , so not comming out as fast as I thought

Adventuredude1

The car was sitting for a few days since the ttag ran out . I didn't see any gas on the driveway , son swears it leaked out. The has gauge is iffy like sometimes seems to work other times off

Adventuredude1

So for low , it seems they are doing an idle test and for high they have you hold the rpms at 2500. It's an inspection lane , unlike some states where you can take it to a state certified inspection shop. Every 2 years you have to kiss their *** and prey that you will be permitted to operate your vehicle legally.

drdave88

iTrader: (3)

Looks like you are running rich. Where is the car as far as a tune up? What has/has not been done to it.
Poke through this and see what you might have to do yet in regards to fuel and ignition related components (plugs, wires, fuel filter, air filter, etc)
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/v6/1...-do-major.html
This is a starting point, you won't know what is wrong if you have maintenance items that need to be addressed.

Adventuredude1

We bought it as a,non running project , the guy had striped the thermostat bolts and lost interest nice looking car , so we hello coiled and put new thermostat and gaskets , trans seal replaced , brake lines, it seemed to run good , so we never replaced any ignition exc parts

drdave88

iTrader: (3)

The first thing you should do is read through that tune up article, and replace components that need to be; ie, you don't know when they were done last. If you have old plugs, wires, cap/rotor, you can have weak spark. A bad O2 sensor can cause a car to run rich, having injectors that stick can also do it. There are so many things to check, but once it's in proper condition, you can then start diagnosing actual issues rather than chasing things that may be solved by maintenance.

Adventuredude1

Just did plugs yesterday, I guess just purchase the rest of the tune up parts n gitter done.

Adventuredude1

As I mentioned just did plugs, were on a budget , what should we do next or in what order the DMV is nearby and we don't mind making multiple trips if we have to.

drdave88

iTrader: (3)

Ideally, all the ignition components should be done together or you won't really get the benefits from them since electricity has to travel through all of the components. Anywhere it encounters resistance will become an issue. It starts at the rotor, to the cap, then the wire, then the plug.
Some of the cheap/free stuff you can do is remove the throttle body, clean all the carbon build up off the throttle blade, passages, IAC, etc. Use an old toothbrush to clean it up thoroughly. Seafoam may not be a bad idea either, get some of the intake system cleaner, injector cleaner, etc. There are a lot of little things that, alone may not do much if anything, but the sum of it all should at least get you in better shape. They may or may not pass you, but at least you will have a good basis to start diagnosing further if you still have issues.
Replacing the O2 sensor is probably a good idea too.

Adventuredude1

Just replaced the cap and rotor today, inspection tomorrow since they r open late on Wed, plug wires look good but I guess no way of knowing .

Adventuredude1

Epic inspection fail , then tried to reset distributer now it really runs like crap . When set where it's supposed to be it runs awful almost like they set it where it would run?

RBob

iTrader: (1)

Base timing is 10° BTDC with the EST/BYPASS connector open. The #1 cylinder is the passenger front (opposite side of a SBC).

Note that you can also use the #4 cylinder to trigger the timing light. This is the center drivers side plug. It is typically easier to connect the light to it then the #1 cylinder.

Firing order is 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6

RBob.

OrangeBird

iTrader: (1)

Also , just as a point of info of something to check if you can't get it to run well using the factory timing marks , if the harmonic damper has never been replaced it's possible that the timing mark is no longer correct . The damper is a two piece construction with rubber in between the two pieces . The rubber gets old and deteriorates , the outer weighted ring slips in relation to the inner hub , and the timing mark is no longer accurate .

Adventuredude1

Set the distributer with the lost art of the timing light. It seems to run pretty well , guess it's time to try the dreaded DMV lane again except were getting a huge snowstorm so maybe friday.

Adventuredude1

Anybody live near Wilmington De that want a hundred bucks to mess with this thing were on our last ttag.

Adventuredude1

That would be if setting the distributer, wasn't the magic thing for getting it thru , even though it seems to run great although it always did , exhaust is a bit loud ? But their not failing it for that unless that has something to do with the emissions fail