So my car (06 IS250) has been reeking a gas smell for several months now. No warranty left on the car with about 40K miles.

I had already performed the fuel pressure sensor recall which is discussed HERE a couple of months prior to going to the dealership again to have them address this issue.

Since all they did was tighten the sensor, I firmly believed more was needed to be done like possibly replacing the gasket and delivery pipes as stated in the recall. However, they found no issues on my car relating to a gas smell as described but they did find a oil leak and told me that might be what was causing the smell. They wanted about $500 to reseal the oil pan which I politely refused. I checked it out myself along with a friend who is a mechanic and the oil leak is very minor. Nothing dripping to the floor or anything. So I put the issue aside for now until I do my next oil change or whenever the dealership decides to do my carbon build up recall.

Several months pass by and I noticed the smell was getting more worse and noticeable. One day I turned on my car and backed out of a driveway and behold, a splash of fresh fuel on the ground in front of me

Fast forward to today, my car is currently at the dealership. I brought it in for the recent recalls (trunk latch and wiper bolt) and told my service advisor about the leaking fuel I saw on the floor. I got a call from him several hours ago with some bad news. The tech told my service advisor that the Fuel Pressure Sensor needed to be replaced and that it wasn't related to the recall since it was only for the gasket. Therefore, he quoted me about $800 to replace it

I'm pretty shocked because I believe this issue should be covered under the fuel pressure sensor recall. Not to mention that they didn't find any issues with it the first time I brought it in. I just contacted corporate and explained everything. Now I'm currently waiting to hear back from a case manager which might take several days.

I wanted to get other members thoughts on this situation while I wait to hear back from corporate. Oh and happy 4th of July everyone!

 

What exactly is leaking? If its leaking from the sensor itself, then it isnt related to the recall. The recall was to address improperly torqued sensors from the factory. So the leak would be from the gasket if it was related...

 

No clue. Service advisor told me it was a fuel pressure sensor issue that needed to be replaced and it wouldn't be covered under the recall. Not sure what to believe.

The fact that there is a recall pertaining to this issue makes it quite suspect. The dealership doesn't seem to have favorable reviews on these forums either...

 

To be fair, most dealerships dont have good reviews on forums or yelp. People tend to complain publicly more than praise... true with any business.

You need to find out exactly what is leaking. If they are recommending replacement of the sensor itself, it sounds like an internal failure, which does not relate in any way to the recall. The recall was for under-torqued sensors from the factory... the recall was to re-torque or replace the little aluminum gasket between the fuel rail and the sensor. Now, if it is physically damaged from someone hitting it, or torquing it improperly, then that would fall on the dealer who did the recall, rather than a warranty concern.

Bottom line, need more information on what exactly is going on...

 

Really? I checked Sewell for the price of the fuel pressure sensor but don't see anything that matches that exact term. With that said, I don't see anything on the page remotely related which would require enough labor time for the repair to come to $800. The fuel pump and the injectors are quite expensive, but nothing else that I'm seeing makes this repair quite as expensive as quoted. Perhaps call Sewell and ask for a part quote, then call the dealership and question the labor to install it based on what you can get the part for?

http://is.sewellparts.com/oem-catalo...S250-2006.html

 

The dealership needs to be more specific and point out exactly what they are planning to replace; that way, you can purchase the parts from Sewell and do the fix yourself and save a bundle!

GL!

 

Since my car is at dealership and won't run, will it run if I unplug the fuel sensor?
thanks