Questions and Answers
Bronco Gas Smell
Q. Hello Vincent, my name is Ernest. I recently purchased a 1989 Ford Bronco (full size) XLT. It has EFI, it's the 5.0 302 engine, P/S, P/B, A/T, A/C and it has about 113,000 miles. The car drives fine, except I am having a couple of problems.
The first problem is my car makes a very potent smell of gas in and around the car. I do not see any gasoline anywhere in or around the car and I can't find the source of the smell. The smell becomes stronger when the vehicle is in motion. I was told it could be a bad fuel injector but I had a mechanic check out the engine and he said that I have dirty / clogged fuel injectors and a bad O2 sensor.
I had some exhaust work done shortly after and the mechanics there said that the O2 sensor works just fine. I was told that the charcoal canister could be having problems but I don't smell gas where the canister is. Can a clogged fuel injector make this horrid gas smell?? It also seems to use a lot of gas (about 10 mpg). What could be the possible problems??
Also, the heater doesn't work correctly. It doesn't heat at all. I checked the heater hoses and both hoses are warm. The heater core doesn't seem to be leaking. I'm not sure what else it could be?? A couple of days ago the heater came on just fine for about a minute then it turned cold again. What could be the possible problems? Do you think these fixes are expensive?
Thanks a lot for your help,
ErnestA. There was a recall number 89S76 for fuel filter and fuel line replacement. The problem was that pinhole leaks would develop in the lines going to and from the fuel filter. That is where your gas smell is coming from.
As for the heat problem, there could be a couple of different things causing it. Assuming the coolant level is correct that leaves us with a bad thermostat (most likely), partially clogged heater core, a bad heater control valve or a loose or misadjusted heater control cable.
Outside of the heater core, none of these are an expensive problem to fix and could be done by you.
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