Newbie in Wichita with a gas flood

[solsnowbarger]

Hello gentlemen,
I just recently joined the 4Runner family with a 2002 SR5 2wd purchased last week from the original owner in Texas, a very nice lady in her 60s who supposedly only ever shopped for antiques in it. Sounded perfect to me, and I bought it. The exterior and interior are absolutely flawless, and the engine got a clean-ish bill of health from my mechanic, and with barely 100,000 miles on it, I think I'm happy.
However, yesterday driving home I noticed a gas smell in te cabin, and once at home I found a pretty good rain of gas coming down from somewhere high behind the motor, far enough up and back that I wasn't able to see it.
I'm 22 and I've been reading these forums for a few day, and absolutely want to start working on my own vehicles, partially to save money, but mostly for personal satisfaction. I think this issue is out of my league though, are there any of you folks in the area who could suggest a good mechanic? And if you wanna though out a wild guess as to the reason for the gas leak that would always be welcome. I'm guessing some kind of fuel line but that's all farther my mechanical knowledge goes at this point.
I'm happy I found this place, thanks so much,

Solomon

 

[krenaud33]

Cracked fuel hose, connection came loose, rusted fuel line that cracked. Have you got under it to see if you can see the problem?

 

[4everun22]

The fuel injectors, fuel rails, and pressure regulator sit right on top of the engine beneath the intake manifold. If the o rings or grommet on the injectors have any slight detect from a pinch or just being dried and worn out, it will leak like no other and the smell is very potent. It's about an hour to hour and a half job from start to finish taking your time to do it right. Make sure you order new gaskets for your throttle body, upper and lower intakes manifold, and o rings. Clean everything while it's off. Better replace valve cover gaskets too so you're not tearing it all apart again. Be sure to torque everything to spec.

 

[Brveagle]

whatever you do, don't drive it until you get it fixed.

 

[solsnowbarger]

Thanks for the help guys.
And I did try crawling under there but it was just high enough that o couldn't see anything.
But thanks so much again, I'm gonna go out to get a repair manual and start trying to figure something out.
Btw, is the factory service manual going to be easier for an absolute layman to read compared with the Haynes or chiltons repair manuals?

 

[CentralFL4Runner]

Easier to read? Probably not... However it has a TON more information and instructions in it. Ill start a project and just print out the pages referring to what I'm doing so I have them there with me.
Search the forum and you can download a free copy. Saves the money of a haynes. Feel free to PM if you have any questions. Everyone here is pretty knowledgeable and I just replaced a couple injectors and all the o rings last week.

 

[gamefreakgc]

Hey this is how we all start out right? Not like we are born with a wrench in hand or something, or at least I wasn't.

Just do be careful about the gas ok? Gas leaks + really hot exhaust = :flame:

Most likely a cracked hose like mentioned above. If it sat around un-used a lot the rubber components will start to crack and can burst. Go ahead and replace any other hoses you damaged as well (clamp = liquid inside, no clamp = vacuum hose). Just take the old portion to your local auto parts shop, let them know what kind of liquid it carries and they'll get you a replacement hose for a few bucks.

I should also add that the fuel lines are easy to spot since they will almost always be a hard line (metal) and you can follow them from the gas tank. At some places where they need to flex there's a rubber hose, that's where you will want to look for the leak. If not, then look under the plenum (big silver part where the air comes in) at the fuel rails and the tops of the injectors, you'll see gas pooling up there if that's the leak.

 

[solsnowbarger]

Thanks again for the responses, I actually wimped out since I haven't got around to buying some tools yet and took it to get it diagnosed by a mechanic. Turns out to be the fuel pressure regulator, and they quoted me around $400 parts + labor, using a factory part from toyota that's $190.
Now, I'm still feeling sort of brave, is this repair something a novice could attempt? Or should I let the professionals handle this first one and I'll start with something more strait forward?

 

[MandAtaco]

If you can find the FSM's on these trucks, it helps a lot! Basically it will give you a step by step as Toyota intended when working on them. The fuel pressure regulator isn't hard to do, you'll have to pull the intake plenum (upper and lower) to access it.

 

[solsnowbarger]

Okay, I might just go at it then, thanks much guys, I'll let you know whether or not I blow something up.

 

[solsnowbarger]

Hey guys, just thought I'd say that, with the assistance of a kind member, I got a gently used replacement for my fuel pressure regulator, bought some basic tools, and after hours of noob-like shenanigans, I am again road worthy! Thanks so much for the help all.

 

[Ol School]

Congrats on the do-it-yourself fix.

 

[dmauldin]

Nice!!!