Gasoline smell in passenger cabin?

[davidm]

I have a 2010 Insight EX. I bought it brand new around 6 or 7 weeks ago. It now has 600 miles on it.

Several times I've noticed the odor of gasoline while driving. The timing of the occurrences doesn't seem to be related to filling the tank.

The first time I thought that it must be coming from outside the car. But it's happened several more times. At least a couple of times it happened when I had defrost on and the fan was blowing. I don't recall if defrost was on the other times.

I left it with the dealer this evening and they're going to check it out tomorrow. My concern is that it's intermittent and it may not happen for them.

Has anyone here experienced this? If so, do you have an explanation? I'm concerned that there may be some sort of fuel leak under the hood and the heater/defroster is blowing the fumes into the car.

[Kevin Dougherty]

Most probable is that you have a rusted steel gas line, a known issue in the first generation on the firewall passenger side. The G1 rust will be on/ under/ near a clamp fitting. The fix is pricey by Honda to replace bad parts, but cheap if you splice in an aftermarket fix (usually a small rubber fuel line splice).
This is the first report of a G2 with the issue.

This is not an item to delay fixing.
Reference:
Fuel Line Failure and Modification
Gas Line Leak - Rust

[Jayemtee]

Insist that they also change the cabin air filter.

[davidm]

Oh, I understand that a gasoline odor is not something to delay fixing. That's why it's currently at the dealers.

Would it rust in this new a car?

As far as it being pricey, it's under warranty.

[davidm]

I called the service manager to let him know about what I had read here. I even offered to email him links to the threads. His response was "that's okay, we have all of the service bulletins". I checked here: 2010 Honda Insight Technical Service Bulletins

and it looks like there are no service bulletins or recalls for the 2010 Insight EX.

I did tell him about the possible rusted fuel line below the windshield so hopefully they'll look there.

I wish I had checked here first. I could have looked under the hood myself and pointed them right at the problem area.

[Jayemtee]

Just thinking outside the box, I've come up with a few things.

Perhaps it is not gasoline at all. There are a lot of products with a petroleum base in the car.

Some odors are exaggerated with heat. If it's something in the A/C vents, it might take a certain "mode" to set it off. That might help explain the inconsistant odor.

I looked over my Insight and didn't notice rust or a simple path for the smell to enter the car.

Normally, the car takes in outside air rather than recirculating inside air. The air intake is not in a location that would easily injest a fuel leak without the leak being easily detected.

In conclusion, be open to something that leaked onto the heater core, such as lubricants, freon oil, or anti freeze.

[freezin4]

Many of us have experienced this on our G1 Insights. Someone a while back traced it to fuel seepage into the trunk (sparetire) area from the fuel fill overflow. I stopped "squeezing" in every possible drop of fuel into the tank at fillups, and have had no problems since.

May want to try just filling to the first click if your dealer reveals no other explanation.

Good luck.

[davidm]

Jayemtee,
I'm not saying you're wrong about it being something else. It may very well be. But regarding your remarks about a path for the fuel smell to enter the car: other people claim to have smelled it when it was a fuel leak. See here: Fuel Line Failure and Modification

[davidm]

Originally Posted by freezin4

Many of us have experienced this on our G1 Insights. Someone a while back traced it to fuel seepage into the trunk (sparetire) area from the fuel fill overflow. I stopped "squeezing" in every possible drop of fuel into the tank at fillups, and have had no problems since.

May want to try just filling to the first click if your dealer reveals no other explanation.

Good luck.

No need to try that. It's how I always do it. I wouldn't consider doing it any other way.

[davidm]

The service manager just called. They can't smell anything or find anything wrong.