LPG Discussion Forum

juat recently had my VW sharan 1.8T automatic converted to a BRC system.

initially seemed to have a major problem with leak, as soon as the LPG kicked in, i would smell gas. This was sorted immediately by the installer and i was told there were no further leaks.

but now i have noticed whenever i stop at lights or have stopped in traffic, i notice a smell. not as powerful as before, but it lingers until i move the car.

now i have searched the forum previously and there seems to be two main schools of thought.

one that says, no smell of gas should be tolerated at all and return it to installer ASAP and the other that says, its quite normal for a little smell at time due to the physic laws and nature of airflow when stationary that this is normal in some vehicles.

what i would like to know is, how can i tell myself if this is a leak and the car has not been optimized or setup correctly or an issue with a valve etc.

or is it just something i willl have to put up with it because its just the way fumes will flow when the vehicle is at standstill.


i'm more inclined with the first option of returning it to the installer garage for them to look at it.

So am I. As said, you shouldn't be able to smell gas at all. Some people can smell that a car is running on gas from the smell of the exhaust fumes and some cars can draw in exhaust fumes under certain circumstances but that is a different smell to unburnt gas. Get it back to the installer or get yourself a can of leak detector spray and see if you can find it yourself first, then get it back to him to sort it.

mine was like that for a while so I took it to get checked and was told it was running far too rich

did you get it fixed?

what does running rich mean?

Too much gas. The ratio of gas and air that goes into the engine is known as the mixture, too much air and not enough gas is known as a weak mixture, too much gas and not enough air is known as a rich mixture. Not only will you smell it but you'll also be using more than you should.

Gilbertd wrote:Too much gas. The ratio of gas and air that goes into the engine is known as the mixture, too much air and not enough gas is known as a weak mixture, too much gas and not enough air is known as a rich mixture. Not only will you smell it but you'll also be using more than you should.

ok, thanks for that

I exactly had the same problem when slowing or stopping in traffic
I took it back and it was sorted.
the problem as explained to me is there was a faulty valve. when stopping the pressure do increase and the faulty valve leak causing the smell.

Best wishes

shenstar:
have you sorted your problem??
I am interested in knowing what is causing the smell in your car

no, i havnt taken it back yet. strange thing is, sometimes i get no smell and sometimes i do.

when i do get the problem, it is in traffic or at lights.

thanks for the info jafar.

i will take it back when i get a chance and see what they say