ShoelessJoe

Ok, First a disclaimer. I have extensively researched the archives looking for an answer to my problem and I'll share what I have found and what most of the "informed" people already know.

I have the typical fuel smell ONLY UNDER BOOST that it seems half of the FD owners have run into. This problem has been there since I purchased the car in 2000 and I have replaced the Fuel pulsation damper before thinking it was the problem but it was not. The problem is more than the fuel smell though, it seems like the boost falls of when switching to the second turbo or does not boost at all. The second turbo does come online when I hit the gas from higher RPMs.(the power flattens off when the second turbo comes online from a low rpm pull) The turbos were rebuilt about 10k ago and they seem to be spooling up, but I'm not getting the response out of the engine. The car idles reasonably well except when the engine is cold w/ the a/c on it will die the rest of the time its around 900-1000rpm. AND my gas milage is terrible. No smoke but it seems to be running rich. It really seems like the power loss/fuel smell is directly related to each other. Any ideas?

I have found some possible leads:
LIM: I would think this would be the problem, but the car idles well for the most part but occasionaly (like once a month) I have seen the vacuum drop way beyond what my boost gauge says is standard vacuum and stay that way for a few drives.

Missing check valve for brake booster: would explain the fuel smell problem, but would it effect the second turbo from coming online? I have no clue...

Anyone have ANY ideas? Thanks for your time,

Jon

ShoelessJoe

No ideas?

dgeesaman

iTrader: (7)

First, get a boost gauge and test it. Even if you just borrow a mityvac from Autozone and run the line through your window, it's worth doing the test.

Second, fix that fuel smell problem before worrying about the turbo. I doubt they're related, but in either case that's the more critical one.

Dave

mad_7tist

check the injector grommets that seal the primary injectors to the block.

ShoelessJoe

"First, get a boost gauge and test it. Even if you just borrow a mityvac from Autozone and run the line through your window, it's worth doing the test."

I have a boost gauge. I said "I have seen the vacuum drop way beyond what my boost gauge says is standard vacuum(at idle) and stay that way for a few drives."

Do you mean watch the boost gauge as I get on the power? If so yes, I have done the test many times. The second turbo is not coming online from a low rpm(3000) pull, a 9-7-6 pattern. It falls to 6psi around 4500 .

It occasionaly pulls the full 9 or so psi if I accelerate starting from higher rpms (4,000-4500) to redline.

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I'll check the injector gromets, mad_7tist, thanks. Do you think that would have any affect on the power though? Is there boost pressure on the gromets? If not, then why would the smell only be during boost/high fuel pressure situation?

Force13B

iTrader: (19)

Have you done a fule pressure test make sure that your fule pump is working properly, maybe under load it has a leak? As for bost falling off, are you still runing stock exhaust, could have a cloged cat?

ShoelessJoe

I guess the clogged cat is possible for the power issues. I'm going to have the muffler off in a few days. Is a visual check good enough to see if there is clogs? It is a stock cat, but I have an m2 downpipe so the pre-cat is definately not a problem.

I've never smelled gasoline going to redline in neutral. Does the fuel pump only go to full pressure under boost/load? I've heard there is a two stage system but I don't know the specifics.