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Vehicle: the ever-present 2006 Solstice with aftermarket turbo.

When I lift after hard acceleration, I can smell what I think is gas for a few seconds. It dissipates quickly, but is disturbing.

A few days ago, I popped the hood and noticed one of the 10mm bolts holding the fuel rail down had worked it's way loose by about 1cm. I know I tightened that bugger when I put the engine in (about 2000 miles ago).

This morning, I put gas in the car. While the pump was running, I opened the passenger door to clean out some trash from the floorboard, and noticed the gas smell inside the cab. I had not noticed this before I started filling the tank.

During an apocalyptic hail storm a few weeks ago, the driver's quarter panel was hit by a softball sized chunk of ice moving at terminal velocity, just to the left of the gas cap. (Close enough so that the gas cap door doesn't close.)

I've seen a "check gas cap" warning a few times on the DIC.

Also, when coming to a stop, frequently the engine will rev up to 2000-2500 rpm for a few seconds.

I noticed my BOV sticking open. Car off, BOV shut. Car on, BOV slightly open. Rev engine, get out of car, BOV open about an inch.) Thinking of putting a heavier spring in.

Suggestions? I'm not even sure where to start. Despite the damage near the gas cap, I don't see any cracks. The fuel rail and line look fine.

Help.

EDIT

Not really in line with the QA stuff, but since it was requested:

Image Gallery

ouch

autocross fun

Track video (after our Camaro's runs) https://youtu.be/7fupmZstk8E

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    I think is time to randomly post some pictures of your car in the question so we can properly meet it.
    – JPhi1618
    May 18, 2016 at 18:11
  • What @JPhi1618 said, we can't know how much carnage the hail could have caused without seeing a (preferably wide angle) picture.
    – MooseLucifer
    May 18, 2016 at 18:53
  • @JPhi1618 see edit. :)
    – 3Dave
    May 18, 2016 at 21:43
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    The sticking BOV will definitely give you problems. Might just need good cleaning, don't rush the spring.
    – I have no idea what I'm doing
    May 19, 2016 at 7:57
  • Have you looked over your fuel system from tank to rail to make sure there are no leaks? Do you have an A/F gauge where you can see if it is rich when you smell gas?
    – rpmerf
    May 19, 2016 at 11:44

1 Answer 1

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Depending on the design of the turbo kit and installation, it could be due to the turbo blow off valve, if it is vented externally and not back into the intake upstream, you could smell gas briefly when it discharges turbo pressure on a hard deceleration.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blowoff_valve

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  • It vents to atmosphere. It's tucked up in front of the radiator (before intercooler in the pipeline), so I could see that happening. But,wouldn't that require gas to be pushed back from the intake? That sounds bad, like a stuck injector or intake valve. :(
    – 3Dave
    May 18, 2016 at 21:16
  • I absolutely agree with Moab on this one. While I'm not a turbo whiz kid (to say the least), After lifting from a hard acceleration, you'd get something like this. Also, I'm thinking you BOV might need more like replacing rather than a heavier spring.
    – Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 ♦
    May 18, 2016 at 21:31
  • @paulster2 hi again! I could plug the pressure reference line to the BOV and see what happens. That would keep it from opening. Still unclear how I burned fuel would make its way all the way back to the BOV though.
    – 3Dave
    May 18, 2016 at 21:41
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    It is not unusual for a BOV to be open at idle since the port is seeing vacuum. For an externally vented BOV, you should have a filter on the vent if possible, as you can suck air in through the BOV when in high vacuum. If you pull the vacuum line (connected to the intake) off, the BOV should close as the top and the bottom will now be at the same pressure. This is the same reason it is closed when the car is off.
    – rpmerf
    May 19, 2016 at 11:49
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    @DavidLively there are typically 2 ports on a BOV, one is sometimes hidden in the base for boost only. The point of a BOV is to vent boost in the turbo to throttle body hoses when the throttle is closed. It does this by opening when there is a sufficient pressure difference between the intake manifold (after the TB) and intercooler hoses (before the TB). At idle, there is about a 10 PSI difference: -10psi (20") in the intake and 0 psi in the intercooler hoses. You can change or adjust the spring so a larger difference is required, but the valve will open slower.
    – rpmerf
    May 19, 2016 at 14:12

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