Hi, I own a 97 Accord SE 2.2L automatic with around 270k miles on it. I was wondering is it possible for this car to get flooded so bad that there would be gas on the ground and if so what could cause this? I parked it Thursday night and all was good and I went to drive it tonight which is Saturday and as soon as I got by the car all I could smell was gas so I looked underneath and there are big areas on the ground under the engine compartment where you could tell gas was but it dried up. At first it wouldn't start because it was so flooded but I finally got it started cause I've had flooded cars before and it sputtered a bunch and then cleared up and then the down pipe started smoking really bad. That was probably from gas burning off it. It seemed to be running good and after smoke cleared I was watching underneath for a leak but didn't see any. So then I was giving it a little gas and letting off and moving forward and reverse just to see if I could drive it and noticed when it would drop back to low rpm it would sputter and want to die so I would have to give it gas but then it died and seemed like it flooded again so I just parked it and didn't go out. I think something might be wrong with it because in my experience when a car gets flooded it's usually because of something I did and then it clears up, but now it just seems like it's flooding again like it's running waaaay rich. It didn't seem to be leaking gas but I don't know for sure. Also when I parked it, it had about a half tank and it still had about a half tank when I tried to start it tonight so I don't think it's leaking gas. I've worked on a few cars and have never seen a car getting flooded so bad that there is gas on the ground. Also, this car is like 100% original and has no performance mods, but stuff has gone wrong with it and it's been fixed. The brake lines and fuel lines have recently been replaced. Feel free to ask any questions. Any help and input would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

Ok so I did some research and figured out that there is allot of things that could cause it to flood. I guess my main question now is I feel like something caused it to flood very badly after I parked it Thursday night, so much so that it seems fuel got on the ground so I'm thinking something is definitely wrong. It does want to start and run but it is flooding. Also, no check engine codes. Any guesses on what it might be?

 

Having a strong smell of gasoline means that there has to be a leak somewhere. A flooded engine shouldn't have a strong gas smell after the car has been sitting a while.

I highly suggest not to run the engine, because you run the risk of a fire. When the engine is cold, turn the key to the II position, but do not try to start the car. When the check engine light turns on for a few seconds, the fuel pump turns on to prime the fuel rail/injectors. Keep repeating turning the key on/off and look for leaking gas. Look around the fuel rails.

Also, has any work been done on your car recently?

 

Well I know it was definitely flooded. There could be a leak. I'm thinking it was just so flooded that some of the gas got on the ground. I tried looking a little bit but it's so cold outside. The brake lines and fuel lines were all just replaced a few weeks ago so I've been paying close attention for leaks and smells and all seemed good till now. I am aware that even the slightest gas leak will smell strong. I will say this, now that I think about it more it was so flooded the engine didn't even want to turn at first and no it's not the battery.

 

Well judjing from the amount of replies it got this must not be that common. it doesn't really seem like anyone knows of this. I gotta admit ive never seen a car flood like that. well anyway, It fired right up this morning and sputtered and died a couple times and it's not leaking gas at all. I drove it around all day and its running great. I floored it a bunch of times this morning. I even parked it for a while and no gas leaking. its fine for now. I have no idea what caused it. Ill just see if it happens again.

 

See this link:

http://www.justanswer.com/honda/7ggr...rd-2-7-v6.html

 

Ok so I kept smelling gas so I took it back to the place where I had the lines done and he let it sit overnight and there was gas on the ground the next day and he said he had the fuel lines accidentally switched so it was somehow flooding itself because the system stays pressurized so definitely not a common problem unless you got the lines hooked up wrong. I did have to pay for an oil change which I shouldn't have had to but at least he was honest about it. It was a very big job. It runs great now. I just don't get why it took so long before it started happening. It's fixed now. I'm sure this stumped allot of you lol