Botched fuel system "flush"
I went to have my scheduled maintenance at Toyota, and the service guy claimed that I needed an engine flush. (On the receipt it says "complete fuel system service".) He also claimed I needed a LOT more stuff that sounded bogus, but the engine flush he said had to be every 7 years. I now believe he was lying.
When I went out to get my car, I noticed a stench of gasoline around my car. I assumed the car next to mine had a fuel leak. Driving down the road however, I still smelled it just as intensely and I realized it was *my* car that was apparently leaking fuel. I stopped and smelled around the car and realized the entire side of the car smelled intensely of gasoline as well as part of the interior, just as if someone had spilled gasoline on the car and some of it dripped inside.
The service manager claimed that a step had been erroneously skipped during the engine flush involving cleaning the area with alcohol to eliminate the gasoline that normally covers the engine parts during a flush. He insisted there is no way that gasoline was spilled on the side of the car or the interior. So they washed the car. They claimed they spray washed the engine area. And yet after that, from a distance of 5 feet, I could still smell the stench of gasoline. Now they now claim the smell will go away after a week. I've never known gasoline smells to go away so quickly. It can take months in my experience.
Are there any mechanics here who can venture a guess as to what went wrong that caused the entire side of the vehicle to smell intensely of gasoline after an engine flush?
When I was in the waiting area, *twice* an intense stench of gasoline flowed past me coming from the service area. Maybe they had a fuel spill in there? A bit later, the fire alarm went off and a huge fire truck arrived, indicating a disaster in the service area.
When I went out to get my car, I noticed a stench of gasoline around my car. I assumed the car next to mine had a fuel leak. Driving down the road however, I still smelled it just as intensely and I realized it was *my* car that was apparently leaking fuel. I stopped and smelled around the car and realized the entire side of the car smelled intensely of gasoline as well as part of the interior, just as if someone had spilled gasoline on the car and some of it dripped inside.
The service manager claimed that a step had been erroneously skipped during the engine flush involving cleaning the area with alcohol to eliminate the gasoline that normally covers the engine parts during a flush. He insisted there is no way that gasoline was spilled on the side of the car or the interior. So they washed the car. They claimed they spray washed the engine area. And yet after that, from a distance of 5 feet, I could still smell the stench of gasoline. Now they now claim the smell will go away after a week. I've never known gasoline smells to go away so quickly. It can take months in my experience.
Are there any mechanics here who can venture a guess as to what went wrong that caused the entire side of the vehicle to smell intensely of gasoline after an engine flush?
When I was in the waiting area, *twice* an intense stench of gasoline flowed past me coming from the service area. Maybe they had a fuel spill in there? A bit later, the fire alarm went off and a huge fire truck arrived, indicating a disaster in the service area.