My 08' Base Fit will have a gas smell come in the cabin at start up most times. I read some old posts and tried the purge valve replacement, but it's still happening. I'm just shy of 107K miles, and I haven't had the valve adjustment done. Am I on the right track thinking it could be this or maybe an exhaust leak. I don know that my gas milage has dropped from mid-hi 30's to 30ish since this smell started. And it's usually only the first startup of the day. Any thoughts?

 

Loose spark plug is the first thing I'd check. You'll need to remove the coilpacks to get at the plugs. 10mm hex to remove the coilpack bolts, then just pull the coilpacks off the plugs. Pull the plugs and inspect, reinstall and tighten (finger tight + 1/8 turn of the spark plug wrench if you don't have a torque wrench), put the coilpacks & bolts back on and fire 'er up.

 

Too much ethanol in gas!

 

I pulled the boots on the plugs and one plug was actually pretty loose. Thanks for leading me in that direction. i wouldn't have thought of that. She had been sitting for a while when I did it, and no fuel smell when I started her up. Hopefully that's it.

 

Excellent, glad it worked out for you.