Yesterday morning while letting the car warm up. I noticed smoke coming out of my hood. I quickly grab the fire extinguisher and popped the hood. Knowing it was a fire because the night before I smelled a strong fuel odor coming from the passenger side of the intake manifold and had a small puddle of fuel underneath the car more on the passenger side. I searched for 4 hours trying to locate the fuel leak. Could not find it for nothing in the world. I had the car running to see if it would leak, but it did not. I drove the car for about 2 hours after I looked for this leak and it drove fine without incident. No smell, no leak. Then this stuff happends to me in the A.M. The fuel line recall was accomplished on it in 1996. Mazda service section says it is going to be exspensive for them to diagnose. Any Idea what would cause this?

 

So ... you smelled fuel ... you had a fire ... you didn't find it ... so you ran the car and drove it around for two hours?! Do you have a life insurance policy? How much is your premium? If you can get insured, then maybe I'll go bungee skydiving afterall.

Did you take all of the **** off of the top of the motor looking for the fuel leak? Because that's where it most likey is.

 

Yeah crazy right? But seriously i thought i would see something without taking off the intake and stuff. Why would a fuel leak come and go? If i had a puddle underneath how would it just stop? These cars are wierd.

 

I'll bet you that it was your pulsation dampener, which was leaking fuel and caused the fire.

 

I been checking the archives on the site and a lot of members suggest the same thing. How much do you think it would cost to have it replaced or should i do it myself?

 

Approx. $150 for the part at the dealer. Labor!!!! It's a pain in the A@s. You have to remove the intake, soleniod rats nest, coil pack and etc....etc....etc....etc...

Good Luck

 

Yeah, you'd want to do it yourself. The labor charges are going to be nuts for it. While you're at it, if you haven't already, do the "hose job" because you're going to have all of that out anyways.

 

Yup, once i'm into i might as well change out hoses. The Mazda service guy said the fire did not cause any damage. It was on fire for about 15 seconds. But I'm sure some hoses did melt alittle.

 

is this dampner like a fuel pump? Is it low pressure or high?

 

that sucks man. but yeah the dampner is just that, a dampner

 

is it towards the front of the intake on the passenger side?

 

What should exhaust temperature be?

 

Its towards the firewall side of the engine, a little bit towards the lower intake. You can buy it from www.mazdaformance.com for I think around $90 or $100. I just replaced mine about a month ago. Mine wasn't leaking, but I was doing the vac hose job and replaced it before it failed.

Paul

 

It could also be your primary injectors leaking. On my car it was the p/d and the injectors. You might want to check those out also.
It would really suck to replace the p/d and all the other stuff under there, only to find out that the injectors are also leaking...

Good luck!
GEB.

 

Alright fellow Rotos. I took off the intake and pressurized the fuel system. No fuel leaks present. What the F*CK. I checked all over, nothing leaking. I'm really getting frustated. Any Ideas? When i pressurize the fuel system are the injectors also pushing fuel?

 

RETED has a new post about this problem. Do a search RETED.

 

Does the fuel pulsating dampner leak every now and then if it's bad? Or would it always leak if it's bad?

 

When ya'll are talking about leaking pulsation damper, where are you referring to it leaking from. I had a fuel leak in my engine bay. Just had strong fuel smell at first, couldn't see the leak. Thought it was because iI had a free-flow exhuast. Drove it that way for like 6-7months until I actually saw the puddle of fuel underneath the car one day as I was warming it up. Pulled off the manifold and the hose that was connected to the pulsation damper had a tear in it. Pried it off went to Autozone and got another hi-pressure fuel/oil line about 6 inches, the guy didn't even charge me for the hose. No more fuel smell from the engine or coming into the interior. Saving my brain cells now. Now just exhuast smell

 

You can easily check to see if it is the pulsation damper by doing the following:
Disconnect ignition so that the car will turn over but will not start.
Have someone crank the engine while looking behind the intake manifold. (Do this while the engine is COLD)
If gas is running or spraying down the transmission bell housing, then more than likely it is the pulsation damper. If it's a gas line in the area and you have to pull the intake manifold, replace it anyway.
Mine looked VISUALLY PERFECT before I installed it. As soon as I started cranking, it started SPRAYING FUEL. This is only after the car sat while replacing the engine.
I would not take any chances anyway.
It is my opinion that if you let your car set for 3 months or longer or you are replacing the motor...REPLACE IT...It's the best FIRE insurance you can buy....

Good Luck...