Fuel Smell and idle speed

[ethanfitz]

Hi guys and gals,

i have a couple of little niggles at the moment that i want to sort out (before i tackle the ABS :roll: )

Firstly when i turn the engine on the car revs to 1200 and sits there... this is high right? shouldn't it be 900? but when i have driven a bit (like down the road) and stop at traffic or a junction the revs are 900 when idle (with the clutch pressed)...

is this ok or is there something i can tinker with to get the revs right to start off with.... if it wont cause any problems i will leave it...

secondly there is a slight fuel smell inside the car when i get in in the morning... i can see and leaks on the floor and it only slight. it goes away pretty quickly and is only there in the morning.... any ideas what this could be??

thanks in advance for any help... if its not raining im going to have a poke around on the weekend so anything to focus on (im a noob with engines etc good with interiors though ) will help loads...

oooo its a 1.7 just in case that makes any difference...

 

[ethanfitz]

anyone got any ideas where to focus my attention?

 

[Ian G]

High idle can be caused by deterioration in the loom to the PAS hose pressure sensor, ECU revs the car up to spin the pump faster and get more pressure in the system. Its behind the front bumper on the off side.

That wouldn't fix itself as yours does though.

High idle when cold might just indicate that the ECU is dealing with the cold and getting the car up to temp.

Re the fuel leaks, can you identify where approximately the leak is? ie. if you move the car was the leak at the rear of the car or by the engine bay? The tanks are steel and will corrode. Pipes are less prone to failure but it could happen. Inspect the red and white plugs on the right side of the engine and follow down the bulkhead under the car. Although I would suspect the tank more often.

 

[ethanfitz]

Hi Ian Thanks for the reply... i still need to check under the bonnet (went away for the weekend) so i will check the PAS Hose while im there... like i said it defiantly ends up at about 900 revs on idle once warm so maybe it is just the ECU getting the car up to temp... is it normal for it to do that?

RE the fuel smell, it seems to have gone recently?! but i will keep an eye (nose) on it... i will check those fuel connections when i get the bonnet open soon, is it better to check it when its cold?

as far as i can see there are no leaks under the car (no patches under the car) there was just a slight smell on the inside when i first got in the car in the morning. wasn't there this morning though? if it stays dry i will have an investigate in the bonnet tonight...

 

[JPTipper]

like i said it defiantly ends up at about 900 revs on idle once warm so maybe it is just the ECU getting the car up to temp... is it normal for it to do that?

Mine does from dead cold, hangs at 1200 til the temp guage starts to move then gradually goes down to 900ish.

The '79 Capri i had had a manual choke (before all this complicated electronic stuff) and you had to pull it out to richen the mixture so the engine would stay running til it was warm. Soon as the engine was warm you pushed the choke back in and the revs dropped to idle

sounds the same, just electromagical

I would say its normal.