Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting 87=strong fuel smell

Interesting observation.

A couple weeks ago I was short on cash and needed gas. So I put $5.00 of 87 in (I usually burn 89). I was driving and pulled into traffic and went WOT, then noticed a strong fuel smell. This continued to happen and I thought maybe it was the gas since it was the only thing different than usual. I burned that $5.00 then filled with the usual 89. The smell was gone. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't duplicate the smell, and I tried, believe me.

Last night (short on cash again) I put in $5.00 of 87. I happened to have to go WOT and noticed a strong fuel smell. My immediate thought was, crap I guess it wasn't the 87. Thinking I had the usual 89 in. Then I remembered I just filled up with 87.

For some reason 87 is causing a fuel smell at WOT.

Any thoughts as to why? By the way 99.99% of the time I burn Amaco.

Mike
'95 SE, ATX

Lower octance has a higher combustion point so higher octane burns more completely I think.

I don't know much about 87 fuel smell but I love the sweet smell of 93! Is it just me or does anyone else think that's one of the best smells on the face of this earth?

Sorry, the best smell on Earth is that found at an NHRA track meet.
Buring Rubber and pure Nitro Methane!!!!
Lower Octane fuel is easier to ignite than higher octane and does not burn evenly, the smell is probably due to the refining technique, 87 is a cheap grade fuel and may not be burning completely.
Just my thoughts

I post this question before, and did not receive much feedback.

I never fill up with 89 or higher octane gas, always with 87 for my '95 Merc Mystique 2.5L ATX. I don't think the car requires higher octane, and I am cheap . Perhaps I try 89 gas to see if it fixes the occasional gas smell in mine?

The fuel smell usually happens after a cold start, after some short distance driving, mostly experienced in during colder months, when the window is mostly closed (?). It also happens after some spirited driving, reads: WOT, any other time of the year.

I had a Ford mechanic replaced all the injectors cone-shape O-rings. Although some old O-rings looks deformed, replacing with new O-rings did not fixed the problem.

Today's local paper printed a reply from a Ford engine mechanic about a possible leakage at the contoured fuel filler neck, that may produce the raw fuel smell. This one is new and may not be the cause. However, it is worth mentioning.

Dave

Octane is a spark retardant to prevent preignition in high compression engines.

My guess on the smell is that the enigne is running rich on the 87 octane due to the computer having to alter its settings for proper timing air/fuel ratio, etc.

If an engine says use 87 octane, then it doesn't generally do any good to run 89 or 93 in it; unless it's an old engine with a distributor and someone manually advanced the timing. But on these engines with a computer contolling the system, it doesn't help, just makes you lower on cash.

Try running 5 to 7 full tanks of 87 in the car and see if the computer doesn't compensate. If the fuel smell is still there, then go back to the 89 grade.

Good luck.

i dont know what u guys use but i use 108 ........93 is for babies