My '94 Maxima has been great to me, but one thing drives me crazy. For the past few years, when it is cold outside there is a strong gas smell when I first start the car. It's worse if I turn the heater on. The colder it is outside, the stronger the smell. After 5 minutes or so, the smell goes away.

I've taken it to my mechanic who can't find anything wrong. He tightened some filter that's supposed to keep the smell out of the cabin, but that didn't solve the problem. He said that once in a while there might be a bad fuel injector that fixes itself when the engine warms up, but he didn't find a bad injector on my car.

Does anyone know what this might be? Should I have all the injectors changed? How much would that cost?

Thanks!

over200000miles

 

check all of your rubber fuel lines. they're old and cracked and when cold they expand and fuel seeps out. once the car is warmed up they contract closing the cracks up which is why you don't smell it when warmer out

 

Thanks, Chris! Did you have this problem yourself?

 

I had the same problem and it was a the rubber fuel line under the car. Mechanic had to lower the gas tank to do it. Check under your car to see where it is leaking.