[AAron209999]

Today, I just found my 2020 XT has very heavy gasoline smell after cold (about 39F) engine start. It did went away after about half minute or less. I just wondering anyone, who has XT model, having same thing.
I’m new to subaru (356miles), I know subaru vehicle cold start have higher engine rpm, but not really sure about gasoline smell.

 

[SilverOnyx]

I also have a 2020 XT and haven't noticed a strong/very heavy gas smell on startup in my 1300 miles or so of driving it over 6 weeks.

You should contact the dealer to document the issue. In numerous car forums for various brands people notice gas smell on startup. Sometimes it's an actual problem - a leak of some kind, and other times there's no apparent problem aside from the smell itself. Unless you let Subaru take a look at it, there's not much use speculating.

Document each time it happens, so that when you do take it in to the dealer, you have a record of the circumstances, e.g. cold start in the morning.

The dealer will inspect the fuel system, check codes, and if they don't find anything, they'll try to replicate the problem. The more detail you give them, the better chance they will have of discovering the same issue. If the issue is intermittent, like only once a week, then it will be hard for the dealer to replicate, unless there's some condition that's different that time - for example, filled up the tank the day before, or the tank was almost empty, or the temperature was below freezing, or you used a block heater, or the car was parked on an incline that time, or the car hadn't been driven for 36 hours. Any potential set of circumstances that will let the dealer duplicate the problem will help them diagnose it.

Hoping that it doesn't happen to you again, but if it does, you should take it in. It's not a normal startup smell in the Subaru XT, nor is it a known problem that they can easily diagnose, but Subaru is aware that some customers have had this issue in the Subaru Ascent, that has the same engine. I don't believe they've isolated a single cause yet, so again any documentation you provide might help them uncover what is happening in yours.

 

[huntinforfish]

My 2020 Onyx XT is in the shop right now for this issue. We bought the car new in July of 2020. Had the gas smell from day 2. Had some accessories installed a week after purchase and brought it us to service. They couldn't find anything or replicate issue. Brought it up again at 6k mile service, again nothing they could find/replicate. Now, in shop for 12k mile service, and brought it up more forcefully as we are still having persistent but random occurrences. They have the service manager involved now and they are keeping the car overnight to try and replicate and diagnose. There is a decent amount of chatter on the Ascent forum about this issue as well. Anyone else having this issue? We live in Minnesota so the dealer is looking at cold start occurrences now, but we purchased in July and the car is parked in a heated garage and temperature never seemed to matter.

Side note: Service did reach out to Subaru for information and fixes, but doesn't sound like they are getting anywhere.

 

[SilverOnyx]

You're one of the very few to seem to have this problem. @chvvkumar is having it as well.

Smell of gas in cabin

Any one notice this? It only happened three times so far but right after filling up, I smell gas in the cabin. My passenger also smelt it. I also never top up. Seems to go away after driving a bit (i.e. after fuel level drops a bit in the tank). I have an appointment at the dealer on Monday to...

www.subaruoutback.org

If your oil level is rising and smells of gas it could be a leaky fuel injector (at least one Ascent owner had that issue).

If you're starting your car in an enclosed garage fuel vapor can be coming out of the tailpipe until the catalytic converter heats up.

 

[Pickeledpete]

Same car same issue what dealer in MN?

My 2020 Onyx XT is in the shop right now for this issue. We bought the car new in July of 2020. Had the gas smell from day 2. Had some accessories installed a week after purchase and brought it us to service. They couldn't find anything or replicate issue. Brought it up again at 6k mile service, again nothing they could find/replicate. Now, in shop for 12k mile service, and brought it up more forcefully as we are still having persistent but random occurrences. They have the service manager involved now and they are keeping the car overnight to try and replicate and diagnose. There is a decent amount of chatter on the Ascent forum about this issue as well. Anyone else having this issue? We live in Minnesota so the dealer is looking at cold start occurrences now, but we purchased in July and the car is parked in a heated garage and temperature never seemed to matter.

 

[EgregiousBlunder]

You're one of the very few to seem to have this problem. @chvvkumar is having it as well.

Smell of gas in cabin

Any one notice this? It only happened three times so far but right after filling up, I smell gas in the cabin. My passenger also smelt it. I also never top up. Seems to go away after driving a bit (i.e. after fuel level drops a bit in the tank). I have an appointment at the dealer on Monday to...

www.subaruoutback.org

If your oil level is rising and smells of gas it could be a leaky fuel injector (at least one Ascent owner had that issue).

If you're starting your car in an enclosed garage fuel vapor can be coming out of the tailpipe until the catalytic converter heats up.

This is what I was thinking, plus the cold weather may be causing the car to run a tad rich until it's completed it warmup cycle.

 

[Pickeledpete]

This same issue happened on my 2003 WRX , it would puddle on the intake manifold. I solved it by replacing the fuel lines and crappy hose clamps and new fuel rails. But now the same issue on 2020 onyx and dealer looked over everything they say, except thy must of not smelled it when they started it. You can also smell it outside next to the hood all the time.

 

[SilverOnyx]

This same issue happened on my 2003 WRX , it would puddle on the intake manifold. I solved it by replacing the fuel lines and crappy hose clamps and new fuel rails. But now the same issue on 2020 onyx and dealer looked over everything they say, except thy must of not smelled it when they started it. You can also smell it outside next to the hood all the time.

Our cars are direct injection so it can't be pooling in the intake manifold. The Subaru Ascent guys also have this issue. One guy says he works at a shop and discovered leaking exhaust manifold gaskets but that didn't seem to lead anywhere. Please update us on your car as you deal with this issue.

A leaking fuel injector could drip gas? Check your oil to see if the level is rising due to fuel dilution.

 

[AAron209999]

I sold the car 🤣
I lived in apartment, usually I remote start in the morning. And, I can small the gasoline about 100ft away. I'm sure that I'm the only one in the neighborhood who work very early in the morning.
It didn't happen every day, of course dealer do nothing to it.
The car had too much inconvenience and some issues. Finally, I got into transmission grinding noise( torque converter ) . Dealer only do transmission relearn, issue comes back next day.
CVT+ turbo = problem
I'm sick n tired getting in and out of dealership and getting nothing done.

Also, this is what I complained, dots on eyesight, I couldn't clean it off. I took pictures before I handed in.

Here is what they returned to me.

They said because I clean it, so they can't do anything to it.

Goodbye Subaru

 

[SilverOnyx]

Thanks for the update. Sorry about your situation but sometimes divorce is the best outcome. Did you ever contact Subaru of America directly, and if so, what was their response?

For future reference if anyone else is having this gas smell issue please contact Subaru of America at 1 (800) 782-2783 if the dealer can't fix it.

@chvvkumar what's happening with your car?

 

[chvvkumar]

Thanks for the update. Sorry about your situation but sometimes divorce is the best outcome. Did you ever contact Subaru of America directly, and if so, what was their response?

For future reference if anyone else is having this gas smell issue please contact Subaru of America at 1 (800) 782-2783 if the dealer can't fix it.

@chvvkumar what's happening with your car?

Nothing so far. Haven't taken my car in yet. I have also not smelled any gas after the last time she months ago.

 

[AAron209999]

Thanks for the update. Sorry about your situation but sometimes divorce is the best outcome. Did you ever contact Subaru of America directly, and if so, what was their response?

For future reference if anyone else is having this gas smell issue please contact Subaru of America at 1 (800) 782-2783 if the dealer can't fix it.

@chvvkumar what's happening with your car?

I didn't contact Subaru American. Just loose my patients. I've own 2010 legacy 2.5 for 10yr, not a single issue. Just disappointed on this one. Maybe in the future, when I have extra parking space, I'll get a wrx or xv. Now, I need a reliable 7-8 passenger vehicle, definitely not ascent🤣.
I almost buy the ascent, cause I known it have some known issues. And, outback is not too far from it 😭 ( turbo one). Anyway I'm happy with my new car now😁

 

[Pilot1226]

Good luck with your replacement vehicle. I’m curious what you picked up!

 

[AAron209999]

Good luck with your replacement vehicle. I’m curious what you picked up!

The one that looks like subaru😁 Toyota highlander hybrid. My average mpg on outback is around 20 , highlander is around 30 mpg. I drive 10 miles to work ,one way, on 50-55mph highway(route) with 11 traffic light😭. Originally I was comparing forester hybrid, , outback xt, ascent and toyota RAV4 hybrid unfortunately subaru didn’t bring forester hybrid it to the state, so outback wins.

 

[caddy16v]

Not sure if it applies to the 2020+ but on the older GT Turbo models the fuel return lines would start to weep at the hose clamp when the temperature got to a certain degree.

On my 2005 the magic number was around -10 Celsius. Shouldn't happen on a brand new car with still flexible rubber but you never know.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

 

[SilverOnyx]

I read somewhere that the 2.4 DIT engine doesn't have fuel return lines. Can anyone verify that?
Fuel Lines - is where it says FIG420-2 the fuel line and (8) the fuel return line?

Fuel Tank - is 42074B the fuel line and 42074H a fuel return line?