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Leaking Gas and Missing hoses!


SpaceCadet
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Hello All,
Newbie here, I just picked up my 95 Pathy xe-v6 from Florida. Its an awesome vehicle and NO RUST! Little problem though... While looking under the hood to familiarize myself with the engine i noticed the vacuum line on top of my carbon canister is snapped off with no floating hose to be found. Also Where the EGRC solenoid valve to air duct is gone and an old allen wrench is jammed into the hole. Also I'm leaking gas out from the cap when i drive. I know that the gas is leaking because the vapors can't escape but would it be because these lines are disconnected or is it because my canister is also shot? Can i disconnect a line so the vapors can leave successfully and come back to this problem after i take care of some other repairs first?

Here's a link to photos:

https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipPeQ2qzrxzzwLk4Zmj8DnjehxfAIivBFmPPi

 

http://ttps://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipP41YmJNoWG98xmsWMaZhWH91aKFSVliX_b3EcG

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That hose is supposed to go where that allen wrench is.

 

I would try a new gas cap for the back area.

 

Get it rust proofed if you're driving in the salt!

 

I'll look at mine tomorrow to confirm.

Edited by adamzan
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Here's what I found with research. The colored lines are what I'm missing. Can someone tell me what size house I need and maybe snap a shot of there's so I have a clearer idea of where they go?

4e4947ba0819d3874060d525ecf57190.jpg

 

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One thing I also noticed is white smoke coming from tail pipe (smells sweet) and a high idle as well. Could all these issues be associated with each other? I'm guessing so but another opinion would be appreciated.

 

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White sweet smelling smoke is associated with coolant leaking into the combustion chamber. This is usually from a leaky head gasket or cracked head.

Let's hope not! I know the cat started having a rotten egg smell before the white smoke and I figured the failed vapor canister caused the cat to clog and result in the white smoke. I haven't seen any coolant leak. How can I visually check for a leaky head gasket or cracked head?

 

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Let's hope not! I know the cat started having a rotten egg smell before the white smoke and I figured the failed vapor canister caused the cat to clog and result in the white smoke. I haven't seen any coolant leak. How can I visually check for a leaky head gasket or cracked head?

 

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You can't visually, it is an internal leak. Do a leak down test to check.

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There is one visual test. With the engine cold, take the radiator cap off and start the engine. If you see bubbles coming up out of the radiator, you have a breached head gasket. There's also a chemical test you can run on the coolant to see if there's exhaust gas dissolved in it. How does the oil look?

 

That filler tube goes down quite a ways before it meets the tank. Usually streaking means the gas station nozzle was still dribbling when you pulled it out. I would wipe the residue off the fender, put the cap back on, and see if the gas streak comes back. No vacuum to the carbon can probably isn't helping matters but I doubt it's pushing gas out around the cap. I also doubt it killed your catalyst.

 

I don't remember the size of the vac lines, but if you just take one of the other lines in with you, the parts place should be able to match it. You might as well get 5-6' of the stuff do all the vac lines, vac line is cheap and the originals tend to be dried up and cracked. There's supposed to be a little tit sticking out of the intake hose where the allen wrench is (somebody clearly snapped it off) so you'll want to try and track down a fitting for that too--I would be surprised if the same parts place didn't have a little barb or something that fits in the hole so you can hook that vac line back up.

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There is one visual test. With the engine cold, take the radiator cap off and start the engine. If you see bubbles coming up out of the radiator, you have a breached head gasket. There's also a chemical test you can run on the coolant to see if there's exhaust gas dissolved in it. How does the oil look?

 

That filler tube goes down quite a ways before it meets the tank. Usually streaking means the gas station nozzle was still dribbling when you pulled it out. I would wipe the residue off the fender, put the cap back on, and see if the gas streak comes back. No vacuum to the carbon can probably isn't helping matters but I doubt it's pushing gas out around the cap. I also doubt it killed your catalyst.

 

I don't remember the size of the vac lines, but if you just take one of the other lines in with you, the parts place should be able to match it. You might as well get 5-6' of the stuff do all the vac lines, vac line is cheap and the originals tend to be dried up and cracked. There's supposed to be a little tit sticking out of the intake hose where the allen wrench is (somebody clearly snapped it off) so you'll want to try and track down a fitting for that too--I would be surprised if the same parts place didn't have a little barb or something that fits in the hole so you can hook that vac line back up.

Thanks Slartibartfast,

I'm sure I can rig some type of new tit to connect again. I'll have to too for the hose on the canister seeing as that's busted off (any ideas?) as well.

 

I'm guessing my options if it is a blown head gasket is: rebuild, swap or ride it til it dies?

 

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If the head gasket is blown, just replace the gasket. It's a pretty involved job, but not too hard.

Never did it before. It always seemed like one of those really intimidating repairs that people opt out on doing because of the difficulty. Problem is:

Time, no garage to work in, and it's my primary driver.

What's the estimated cost in materials and time it takes for the whole job...for a slow person?

What kind of price am I looking at if I take it to a shop?

 

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Never did it before. It always seemed like one of those really intimidating repairs that people opt out on doing because of the difficulty. Problem is:

Time, no garage to work in, and it's my primary driver.

What's the estimated cost in materials and time it takes for the whole job...for a slow person?

What kind of price am I looking at if I take it to a shop?

 

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Oh yeah and it's February in Buffalo and I live a block from Lake Erie (consistent 30 mph winds). Maybe I should have built a garage instead of a woodshop.

 

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There is one visual test. With the engine cold, take the radiator cap off and start the engine. If you see bubbles coming up out of the radiator, you have a breached head gasket. There's also a chemical test you can run on the coolant to see if there's exhaust gas dissolved in it. How does the oil look?

 

That filler tube goes down quite a ways before it meets the tank. Usually streaking means the gas station nozzle was still dribbling when you pulled it out. I would wipe the residue off the fender, put the cap back on, and see if the gas streak comes back. No vacuum to the carbon can probably isn't helping matters but I doubt it's pushing gas out around the cap. I also doubt it killed your catalyst.

 

I don't remember the size of the vac lines, but if you just take one of the other lines in with you, the parts place should be able to match it. You might as well get 5-6' of the stuff do all the vac lines, vac line is cheap and the originals tend to be dried up and cracked. There's supposed to be a little tit sticking out of the intake hose where the allen wrench is (somebody clearly snapped it off) so you'll want to try and track down a fitting for that too--I would be surprised if the same parts place didn't have a little barb or something that fits in the hole so you can hook that vac line back up.

Ohh yeah, forgot about that. Sometimes with blown head gaskets you will get oil migrating into your coolant, so also look for an oily sheen and discoloration in the coolant.

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One thing I also noticed is white smoke coming from tail pipe (smells sweet) and a high idle as well. Could all these issues be associated with each other? I'm guessing so but another opinion would be appreciated.

 

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I think you west coast guys forget that on the east coast we are in the middle of winter. Mine will pour out white smoke all day long because it is so cold. If it isn't losing antifreeze or overheating I wouldn't worry about it.

 

It is very rare that a VG30E loses a head gasket, they have 5 head bolts per cylinder. My 94 has 270,000 miles on it and still runs great.

 

My apologies I was wrong about those hoses. Been tired as hell lately. You should be able to find some kind of hose barb that would fit that. As long as it has a good seal you will be fine. I think I used 5/32" hose for the vacuum lines.

Edited by adamzan
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I think you west coast guys forget that on the east coast we are in the middle of winter. Mine will pour out white smoke all day long because it is so cold. If it isn't losing antifreeze or overheating I wouldn't worry about it.

 

It is very rare that a VG30E loses a head gasket, they have 5 head bolts per cylinder. My 94 has 270,000 miles on it and still runs great.

 

My apologies I was wrong about those hoses. Been tired as hell lately. You should be able to find some kind of hose barb that would fit that. As long as it has a good seal you will be fine. I think I used 5/32" hose for the vacuum lines.

Well that was comforting. I was losing sleep last night thinking about a blown head gasket. On my way to work today I noticed white exhaust at first but after 10 minutes odd driving it was gone. One thing I noticed was black soot at the trail pipe.

 

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Yeah, if it stops steaming once it's warmed up, it's probably just condensation. Most engines will smell a little until they're warm just because they're not running as efficiently--hopefully that's all you're smelling. Keep an eye on your coolant level.

Not sure about the barb on the carbon canister but I'll bet you can come up with something. Maybe a piece of larger plastic tubing (body of a pen maybe) would fit over what's left, and a barb would fit inside that? Or maybe you could drill out the hole enough to slip in a new fitting and glue it. Worst case scenario, I don't think a lot of people go looking for carbon cans for these, so I'll bet you could find a usable one at the wreckers.

 

My '95 had a lot of soot in the tailpipe too. I figured it was running a little rich but never tracked it down.

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Yeah, if it stops steaming once it's warmed up, it's probably just condensation. Most engines will smell a little until they're warm just because they're not running as efficiently--hopefully that's all you're smelling. Keep an eye on your coolant level.

 

Not sure about the barb on the carbon canister but I'll bet you can come up with something. Maybe a piece of larger plastic tubing (body of a pen maybe) would fit over what's left, and a barb would fit inside that? Or maybe you could drill out the hole enough to slip in a new fitting and glue it. Worst case scenario, I don't think a lot of people go looking for carbon cans for these, so I'll bet you could find a usable one at the wreckers.

 

My '95 had a lot of soot in the tailpipe too. I figured it was running a little rich but never tracked it down.

Running rich sounds about right. Which is probably from the vac leaks.

 

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So we had an unseasonably warm weekend in buffalo (50 degrees). So I managed to fix the hoses, replace the pcv valve & hose, replace the brake master cylinder and fix my son's $300 stroller that broke. Also cleared the check engine light that would come on as soon as I would press on the pedal which didn't come back on after I drove it around. I found a universal hose connecter thar worked pretty well for jamming into the air duct at autozone for $2. Not a bad day!

b8ebdbfb633d42cbbec5305122ac1a32.jpg

 

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