To buy or not to buy??

Castrol Magnatec is my preferred oil in K-series

Thinking I may ignore the tick then! Cant be anything too serious.

The fuel smell was really quite bad today. Mainly when cold, only really becomes apparent when stationary, but guess that will be all the air rushing around the engine bay.. I'm stumped! It's got to be a leak or something somewhere, but I can't see anything, it's not like it's a complex system either!

There shouldn't be a fuel smell at all - so this is quite a worry. Hopefully you can track the leak down very soon!

I'm at a loss! Really don't want to be defeated though!

It has to be something really simple - you'll fix it!

Is there a return to the fuel tank on a K series?

Alibro said:

Is there a return to the fuel tank on a K series?

Click to expand...

No.

If not then there is a leak which may also explain the poor fuel consumption and is a scary thought.
I think I'd make it a priority to find the leak and sort it.

Genuinely can't see anything....

Just a thought, if I click ignition off and on a few times to prime the fuel system, will it raise the pressure higher than normal and possibly make any leaks more obvious? How long does the pump prime for?

Nodge68 said:

No.

Click to expand...

So that line that looks like a return, just goes to the carbon canister and vents to atmosphere?

Karlos28 said:

Just a thought, if I click ignition off and on a few times to prime the fuel system, will it raise the pressure higher than normal and possibly make any leaks more obvious?

Click to expand...

No. The pressure regulator is in the pump, so anything over the correct pressure simply returns to the tank, via an internal pipe.

Karlos28 said:

So that line that looks like a return, just goes to the carbon canister and vents to atmosphere?

Click to expand...

That pipe is a vent for the tank. It doesn't allow the vented products go to the atmosphere, but feeds them through to the inlet manifold via the EVAP valve. This valve can be heard clicking at regular intervals, while the engine is running.

Yeah seen the evap valve, no leaks around that. Not noticed any clicking from it though.

Interestingly, just drove to work and not a whiff...

Drove home again and nothing!





Except a loud bang and clattering as the VCU balance weight separated... Just pushed it back on roughly and will have a better look later when I wake up!

Karlos28 said:

Drove home again and nothing!





Except a loud bang and clattering as the VCU balance weight separated... Just pushed it back on roughly and will have a better look later when I wake up!

Click to expand...

Cable ties until you've confirmed it's OK balance wise, then strong silicone sealant.
Don't ask how I know.

You could just cut it off but if doing so causes an imbalance you have no way back

I noticed a slight vibration at about 60, then when traveling on the smaller b roads over a load of speed bumps, it came off fully. Yeah I will just hammer it back on and maybe blob some sealant in. Good news was a nice cool VCU after about 20mins over 70mph.

They're stuck on with the rubber mounts and over time come adrift. You should be able to push it back on by hand but it will come off again before long if not re-stuck. They don't take much to hold on though.

Slid it back over and put a couple of cable ties around like you mentioned. See how it goes on the commute later!

Managed to narrow the fuel smell down a bit... It's on hot start mainly. Does it a tiny bit now when hot idling too.