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I noticed a faint gas smell coming from the engine compartment and a liquid sheen on the top of the #3 injector, so I decided to change the seals and clean the areas where they meet the intake manifold and fuel rail.
Pulled #3, and it was real dirty. A bit of dirt was caked on the fuel rail seal, and something resembling a silver colored paste was present in the gap near the seals. The intake on #3 had a lot of dirt caked in it, which I gently removed with carb cleaner and paper towels. Cleaned off the injector, changed the seals, and reinstalled.
Pulled #4, and noticed that there was NO SEAL on the fuel rail side. I checked to see if I had dropped the seal, but it was nowhere to be found, and I don't know how it would get off on its own, anyway. Guess that is where the smell was coming from. Installed the two new seals, and cleaned the injector, and it was ready to go.
Numbers 1 and 2 looked okay. Changed those seals, anyway, and reinstalled.
Reinstalled everything, and no more smell of fuel.
Since this was the first time I pulled the fuel rail, the scary/lucky part is that I have been driving this car with the seal missing on the fuel rail side of #4 since January 2001. That is approximately 55,000 miles, including three trips from D/FW to California and back. I had noticed a small bit of liquid pooling on the intake manifold, but I always attributed the liquid to a leaky valve cover gasket, since the liquid looked to be the same color as old oil.
Total time for the seal swap was about an hour in light rain with plenty of tools. If anyone else has liquid pooling on their intake manifold, I highly recommend checking the seals if they haven't already done so.
Hope this helps someone, and prevents what could have happened to me from happening to anyone else.
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Mike Walsted - NATO member
1986 5-speed TurboCoupe and 1985 5-speed XR7
Pulled #3, and it was real dirty. A bit of dirt was caked on the fuel rail seal, and something resembling a silver colored paste was present in the gap near the seals. The intake on #3 had a lot of dirt caked in it, which I gently removed with carb cleaner and paper towels. Cleaned off the injector, changed the seals, and reinstalled.
Pulled #4, and noticed that there was NO SEAL on the fuel rail side. I checked to see if I had dropped the seal, but it was nowhere to be found, and I don't know how it would get off on its own, anyway. Guess that is where the smell was coming from. Installed the two new seals, and cleaned the injector, and it was ready to go.
Numbers 1 and 2 looked okay. Changed those seals, anyway, and reinstalled.
Reinstalled everything, and no more smell of fuel.
Since this was the first time I pulled the fuel rail, the scary/lucky part is that I have been driving this car with the seal missing on the fuel rail side of #4 since January 2001. That is approximately 55,000 miles, including three trips from D/FW to California and back. I had noticed a small bit of liquid pooling on the intake manifold, but I always attributed the liquid to a leaky valve cover gasket, since the liquid looked to be the same color as old oil.
Total time for the seal swap was about an hour in light rain with plenty of tools. If anyone else has liquid pooling on their intake manifold, I highly recommend checking the seals if they haven't already done so.
Hope this helps someone, and prevents what could have happened to me from happening to anyone else.
------------------
Mike Walsted - NATO member
1986 5-speed TurboCoupe and 1985 5-speed XR7
Mike Walsted - Sold my 1986 5-speed TurboCoupe