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96 Camry 2.2L: major leak next to front passenger wheel
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wingsrule
New User
Jun 9, 2009, 2:55 PM
Post #1 of 2
(3254 views)
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96 Camry 2.2L: major leak next to front passenger wheel
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Hi all,
I have a 1996 Toyota Camry (2.2L 4-cylinder) with about 175,000 miles on it. Yeah, I know it's old, but I hope to get at least a half a year out of this thing, and with maintenance and repairs here and there, it's done its job so far.
Recently, I noticed stains on the driveway where I park my car under the front passenger side. It didn't look too severe, so I didn't do much about it.
Then today, I needed to replace my spark plug wires because the isolation broke on at least one of them (1st cylinder) and my car was running rough. I replaced the wires, and started up the car to make sure everything was fine.
Immediately, I
(i) smelled a strong smell of gas inside the car
(ii) saw my "low fuel" light light up prematurely (even parked on a hill, it never lights up this early)
I turned off the car, looked around online for this specific problem, and, not finding anything useful, figured (i) may be just an issue of letting the car run a bit longer. I turned on the car again. The smell of fuel was much less severe now, even considering I haven't aired out the car since the last start.
However, problem (ii) persisted, and, as I let the car run for a little while (2-3 min), I noticed that the fuel level was visibly dropping. Not so visibly that I saw the arrow move, but enough for me to notice the difference between visual readings 30-45 seconds apart.
I decided to look under the car for leaks and saw
(iii) fluid dripping from the car about 4" (towards the center of the car) from the front passenger wheel at a rate of 1 drop every 4 seconds or so.
This is way more frequent than any leak I've ever encountered. I ran inside, got a sheet of white paper, and placed it under the leak to collect some of the fluid to look it, let it run for another 20 seconds or so, and then shut off the engine.
The leak stopped. I spent about 45 seconds on the ground and did not see a single drop from the turned-off car.
The fluid on the sheet of paper was originally dark orange bordering on brown, and became more and more brown as it got absorbed by the paper. I took a picture of the sheet of paper that I used to collect the fluid. Two versions are attached, because lighting settings kind of make a difference in terms of what color the liquid appears to be.
So, my questions are as follows:
(1) Are any of these symptoms related? This fluid does not look like gas at all, and yet it was my gas level that dropped precipitously.
(2) What other information do I need to gather for all of you to make sense of this?
(3) Does this require professional repair or can I take care of this?
(4) What's my maximum one-time driving range with these problems? Is it 0 miles? (i.e. I need to get towed to a mechanic)? Is it 1-2 miles, in which case I have to go to a local mechanic that I don't like much? Or is it 30 or so miles in which case I can drive to my favorite mechanic?
Thanks in advance for all your help.
Best,
Vadim
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Loren Champlain Sr
Veteran
/ Moderator
Jun 9, 2009, 3:32 PM
Post #2 of 2
(3249 views)
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Re: 96 Camry 2.2L: major leak next to front passenger wheel
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Vadim; Sorry, but the pics don't help. Did the liquid smell like gasoline? The fuel filter may be mounted on the firewall on this model. Will have to look and see. I would be more concerned with the gasoline smell than anything else, at this point. An engine fire could ruin your whole day. With the engine off and the key turned just to the "on" position, the fuel pump will run for just a few seconds. By cycling the ignition this way, several times, you should be able to pinpoint where the fuel leak is coming from. Check all four injectors as they can leak externally. Check both ends of the fuel filter where the fuel lines connect. It is possible that you disturbed a fuel line while working on it, or the problem was already there. The misfire could easily be coming from an injector. DO NOT DRIVE THE CAR WITH A FUEL LEAK! If you can't find the leak and repair it yourself, have it towed to a shop.
The brown/orange color could be from a rusty cooling system leak somewhere? Check the cooling system to make sure it's full. If low, could be causing a rich condition, but need to address the fuel smell, first.
Loren
SW Washington
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