exhaust has gasoline smell
 

2001 Boxster S with 23K miles...
with first starting (after sitting for a day or two), and during idling, exhaust is smelling a little rich like gasoline...
is this normal, or problematic?

thanks.

Hi,

This is normal, if noticed on startup before the engine warms, nothing to worry about...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

Its because your car burns gasoline for powerf. Ok J/K..

Really the reason is because your catalytic converter and car are not up to temp yet. When you first start up the car your fuel pressure and RPM are raised slightly to help warm up the car quicker. This is also to help warm up the cat so it starts working as soon as possible for clean emissions. If you notice your idle is high and it drops down after some time and the smell goes away, thats because your air fuel ratio settles down with the RPM and the cat is working so everything goes nice and clean, but it takes a minute or two for this to happen.

The fuel pressure regulator is hooked upto a vaccum source so when the RPM is raised it raises fuel pressure along with it, so your RPM going up a few hundred raises fuel pressure 3-4psi. It's pretty standard among most cars except for cars with non-return style fuel systems.

Well explained Jim. I always wondered why my idle was higher when I first starteed my cars.

BTW, what is it like to drive a 425HP Talon? Do you have any problems with half-shafts?

"It's pretty standard among most cars except for cars with non-return style fuel systems."

fair enough... just seemed much stronger than other cars i have owned, so was wondering if it was one of the Boxster's personality traits.
also, this is my first convertible so it could be related to the 'less-insulated' experience.

i don't mind that gasoline smell ("smells like victory"), just wanted to make sure it was happy and running right.

thanks to all.

God bless you

No problems with the driveline. I spent $2600 on the trans for a Magnus/Shep tranny which including gears and a 4 spyder center diff which makes it all stronger than hell. Each wheel got around 25% of the power so I never ran into problems with shafts breaking. If it was FWD or RWD I would run into those problems

Clutches on the other hand were a nightmare. Get about 8000k from one and it's smoked because of slipping the crap out of it during the launch.

It drives pretty normally except when the power came on, it comes on big and press's you into the seat really hard. If you have ever been in a Vette Z06 or the likes at full steam through 3rd gear you know what I'm talking about.

Very nice sir.