What to Do If Your Car Smells Like Gas

The strong smell of gas is very unpleasant, and it’s even worse if you smell it coming from your car. When your Kia works as smoothly and efficiently as it was designed, you should never smell gas. A gas smell is automatically a sign that something has gone wrong. Fortunately, your Kia dealer in Temple Hills, MD, can repair the problem. These are some of the reasons your car smells like gas.

Advice From Your Kia Dealer: Why Your Car Smells Like Gas

Damaged Converter

Efficient combustion in our engine requires a precise 14:1 mixture of air to fuel. This might seem strange, but the huge amount of air is essential for the spark plugs to ignite correctly. Combustion generates toxic gases and also contains fuel residue. Once combustion has been completed in a cylinder, the gases and other residue are dumped into the catalytic converter.

The catalytic converter converts the fuel residue and gases into harmless chemicals. The converter chemicals then pass out of the exhaust pipe. Your converter can wear out through age or can be damaged by engine problems like a high fuel-air ratio. A damaged converter won’t convert the residue, and you’ll smell gas from the engine and tailpipe. We’ll examine your converter, and we can install a replacement if necessary.

Worn Fuel Pressure Regulator

As we saw above, your engine requires a precise mixture of air and fuel for combustion. Air enters through the radiator grille and passes into the air filter, where any debris is removed. The clean air then passes into the intake manifold. Fuel is pumped into the intake manifold through the fuel injectors. The fuel pressure regulator is responsible for the amount of fuel that enters the manifold. 

Your Kia’s computer determines the correct balance of air to fuel and instructs the regulator to supply the required quantity of fuel. A worn or damaged regulator could supply too much fuel. If the fuel level in the manifold is too high, some of its fumes will escape and can waft into your cabin. We can test your regulator and replace it with a new one if required.

Loose or Damaged Gas Cap

The gas cap has two main functions. It’s responsible for maintaining the correct pressure in the fuel system, and it prevents fuel fumes from escaping the tank. The fuel system must operate at a set pressure to ensure that fuel is always delivered to the cylinders at the correct rate.

Your gas cap is designed to provide an air-tight seal, but wear and tear can damage the cap or its seals. If this happens, you’ll likely smell fuel in your cabin, the check engine light will illuminate, and your fuel efficiency will drop. Our technicians can easily replace a damaged cap or its seals to help fix this problem.

 If you smell gas from your Kia, call our service department immediately at DARCARS Kia of Temple Hills.

Tags: Damaged Converter, Loose or Damaged Gas Cap, Worn Fuel Pressure Regulator
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