89 Toyota truck fuel problem/ possible ignition

[gottadog]

My buddy has a toyota pu with the v6. Recently I put in a starter for him. Since then it ran fine till the other day he called me saying it wont start and the truck smells like gas. I asked him if he ment the exhaust. He said the whole thing. So basically I'm throwing this question out there before I go and look at it. I figure from the vague none knowledgeable person that he is that it probably is ignition related. possibly cap rotor or igniter. something like that.

Anyway thank you for any help. I'm sure to figure it out. but appreciate you guys at least reading this. I help him out for free so I really dont want to invest a lot of time. I work a lot.

[gottadog]

went and saw the truck. it starts right up with the gas cap removed. with it, takes a while and runs rough. the engine reaks of fuel. i cant find a leak. just a general area where it smells worse. on the driver side by the distributor.

[fourwd1]

Maybe a leaky injector, or something else along the fuel rail.

[fourwd1]

Are the charcoal canisters in the vicinity of the smell?
I don't have an FSM handy.

[auto89]

Originally Posted by gottadog

went and saw the truck. it starts right up with the gas cap removed. with it, takes a while and runs rough. the engine reaks of fuel. i cant find a leak. just a general area where it smells worse. on the driver side by the distributor.

My v6 has the "fuel pressure dampner" near the distributor. It's about 8 o'clock from the distributor when standing at the front. Looks like a top-hat.

I had one that was leaking into the vacuum line going to the plastic "space saucer" shaped thing on the front passenger corner of the engine, which seems to have something to do with the EGR valve, a little further to the passenger side of the engine. (I forget the name of that thing, but it has 3-4 vacuum lines connected to it).

I replaced the fuel dampner in 2005. Recently, the new one began leaking gas around the seam of it's top-hat cap. Oddly, I put some Lucas fuel conditioner in the tank and that seemed to swell the rubber (or something) inside the dampner and it stopped leaking. That was about 6 months ago. Still no leak.

Anyway, in both cases it made it hard to start the engine because the pressure would dissipate when the engine was shut off. If I started the engine soon after shutting off, it would start easily. If I waited an hour or two, it would take 10-12 cranks to rebuild the fuel pressure.

The first leak was hard to find because it was going into the vacuum line. But, the second leak was easy to spot. For one thing, the odor was very strong near the distributor. And, I could hear the gas escaping. And, I could see it flowing down the body of the dampner, shimmering, like a curtain.

I had a cold-start injector go bad. The symptoms were similar except the fuel odor was from the tailpipe. And, it smoked badly when it started.

I had the pressure regulator go bad too. It's a round plastic thing screwed onto the end of the fuel rail, passenger side of engine, at rear of the fuel rail, under the air plenum near the firewall. (The opposite corner of the engine as the dampener.)

Based on the location of the odor, I'd say it's the dampener.

[auto89]

Oops. I just realized I reversed the names of those devices.

The one near the distributor is the pressure regulator. (see here: http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,ca...,parttype,6124 and click the "more info" link).

The one on the rear, passenger side of engine, screwed onto the end of the fuel rail, underneath the air plenum is the pulsation dampener. (see here: http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,ca...,parttype,6120 and click the "more info" link).