2008 RL Gas Fumes
 

My wife and I have a 2008 RL. We live in Las Vegas, Nevada. Last week my wife noticed gas fumes in the RL while she was driving and I could smell the gas fumes after she park the RL in the garage. After two hours the fumes were gone. The next day the same thing happen. She drove the RL to our local Acura service department and the staff at the service department also noticed the smell of gas fumes. After the inspection we were told that this was normal due to our summer heat here in Las Vegas. The afternoon temperature was around 107 degrees. They explained to us that there is a charcoal filter that is design to trap the fumes but because of the heat it cannot trap all of the gas fumes and it releases the gas fumes outside. The service advisor suggested that we leave the RL parked in the driveway for an hour before parking it in the garage. The odd thing is this is the second summer with the RL and it did not have this problem last year and we had the same temperatures in the summer, also the Acura service department only received two other calls from RL owners calls regarding gas fumes. My concern is safety, I believe that no one should be exposed to gas fumes at anytime and what about safety driving a car when gas fumes are coming into the cabin of the car, also the possibility of fire when the car is parked in a garage. If anyone has any thoughts on this subject I would appreciate it.

Thank you.

I've not noticed this with my RL but the summer here (at least this year) has been pretty cool.

On other cars, the charcoal cannister is about the size of a small coffee can - don't know about the RL for sure. The way it was explained to me is that when the car sits, pressure/fumes can build up and cause pollution if released. The cannister stores these fumes (as best it can) until the next time you start the car when the fumes are then sucked into the engine and burned along with your fuel/air mix.

You get the "smell" when there are too many fumes to be held by the cannister.

Don't know that I've ever heard of any car of any brand catching fire from these fumes. By design, you shouldn't be getting them as you drive the car as the vacuum from the engine should suck the fumes in and burn them and while you drive, there won't be the build up because gas is being removed from the tank.

My thoughts. <g>

Tom

I NEVER noticed this on my RL even on the hottest days here in Cleveland (90's-rare low 100's). Is the canister defective, perhaps? If you went through similar temps last year without difficulty, that would have to be a consideration. :dunno: I'd press on this with the dealer.

And likely any emissions issue such as the canister would be covered under manufacturer warranty as mandated either as part of the 4 year/50K mile warranty or by manufacturer as compelled by EPA law/regulation (I think they control air quality and mandate longevity of emissions systems)