Slight smell of gas after installing LAP 3 chip and ADD W1 Catch Can

[Denis]

Hi Guys,
My Kia dealer installed the LAP3 chip and ADD W1 v3.3 Catch can last week and now I have a slight smell of gas every time I accelerate.
When I say "accelerate", I don't mean racing type of acceleration, I mean stop sign or green light acceleration to about 3000-3500 RPM.
The gas smell only stays for a few seconds and comes back when I accelerate again.

I also have the K&N Typhoon intakes which have been on the car for over 8 months now.
The power difference is quite noticeable with the LAP3 but if this gas smell is a normal thing, I might uninstall.
Hoping some of our wise members can help me with this problem.

Side note- I am missing one of the check valves on the ADD W1 catch can (was not in the box).
ADDW1 sent me another one which should arrive this week.
I asked Jack from ADDW1 if I can safely drive the car with just one check valve and after seeing a picture of the set up (image attached), he said yes but strongly recommends to have 2... (obviously).

Thanks in advance for any wisdom you can share

 

[Cosmo]

Hi Guys,
My Kia dealer installed the LAP3 chip and ADD W1 v3.3 Catch can last week and now I have a slight smell of gas every time I accelerate.
When I say "accelerate", I don't mean racing type of acceleration, I mean stop sign or green light acceleration to about 3000-3500 RPM.
The gas smell only stays for a few seconds and comes back when I accelerate again.

I also have the K&N Typhoon intakes which have been on the car for over 8 months now.
The power difference is quite noticeable with the LAP3 but if this gas smell is a normal thing, I might uninstall.
Hoping some of our wise members can help me with this problem.

Side note- I am missing one of the check valves on the ADD W1 catch can (was not in the box).
ADDW1 sent me another one which should arrive this week.
I asked Jack from ADDW1 if I can safely drive the car with just one check valve and after seeing a picture of the set up (image attached), he said yes but strongly recommends to have 2... (obviously).

Thanks in advance for any wisdom you can share

Burned or unburned "gas"?

 

[Denis]

Burned or unburned "gas"?

Smells like unburned gas.... same as when I fill up at the pump...

 

[Cosmo]

Smells like unburned gas.... same as when I fill up at the pump...

Then you've got a fuel leak somewhere. Take it to a reputable shop asap.

 

[Denis]

Then you've got a fuel leak somewhere. Take it to a reputable shop asap.

I will do that first thing in the morning....
Just curious... if it would have smelled liked burned gas.... what would be the cause in your opinion?

 

[Denis]

Would the installation of a catch can or LAP3 be the reason for a fuel leak? It started the same day that I got the kit installed.... just trying to figure out if it can be related to the install or not.

 

[ChaneRZ]

Doubt the piggy back. Might be the catch can.

 

[ht_addict]

Did you figure it out? Did they use teflon tape on the inlet connection to the CC?

 

[Denis]

Did you figure it out? Did they use teflon tape on the inlet connection to the CC?

The car is going in the shop tomorrow and they will remove the CC to see if this is the cause. They said that the smell is actually burnt oiI and the smell is going through that small filter that comes with the CC... but in my opinion, that makes no sense at all.
I still think it's gas but im no mechanic.
I did quite a bit of searching online and haven't found anybody using the ADD W1 CC that has this smell of gaz in the cabin or "burnt oil" when accelerating.
Also, with the lap 3, im suppose to get up to 10% savings in fuel consumption but it's actually worse now than before the install which worries me that it might actually be a gas leak somewhere.....
I have a hard time getting 400km on a full tank now and im not pushing it more than before....im actually pushing it less because of the smell issue. I was getting close to 500km on a tank before the mod.
I'll let you know the results tomorrow.

 

[ht_addict]

Have you emailed Jack at ADD? I think the CC isnt sealed properly. Maybe the didnt use the small o-rings and teflon tape when attaching the nipples to the CC.

On another note. The small silver screws that came with the CC, what are they for? Did your dealer give you back your hoses back? Did the cut the one where the breather atraches too, to get it off?

 

[nhcowboy28]

I love the smell of 93 octane in the morning...

smells like...

Victory.

 

[Denis]

I love the smell of 93 octane in the morning...

smells like...

Victory.
View attachment 51344

lol... I agree but it gets freakin annoying after a while

 

[Denis]

***UPDATE***
I removed the catch can to see if the smell would go away and it did, the same day that I removed it.
I drove without the catch can for about a month...... no gas or burnt oil smell in the cabin at all.
I decided to reinstall the catch can 2 weeks ago and the smell came back right away. Drove it for about 2 weeks and took off again.
Can't figure out what would cause this and I am 99% certain that I installed it correctly

Also, when I checked what the CC collected in the past 2 weeks, I found this white residue at the bottom of the can and the liquid had a whitish color. (see image).
Can someone tell me if this is normal? Also, there was quite a bit of liquid for just 2 weeks of driving (about 600 KM)...
It had a strong smell of gas.

I have also attached images of the install just in case someone sees something that is not right....
I also sent the same images and explanation to ADD W1 to see what they say.

Thank you in advance for any input you can give me on this.

 

[ht_addict]

I have mine installed. No smell. Did you use the teflon tape on the nipple threads for all 3?. I would say the smell of gas maybe coming from hose going to the intake manifold from CC? Can you see where thos connects to the PCV, is it loose?

 

[Denis]

Oups....no teflon tape was used. I will put some and see if it changes anything.
As for the hoses, everything is tight.
By the way, do you also have that white stuff at the bottom of your CC and does the liquid have a whitish color to it? Trying to figure out what that could be.
Thanks for the feedback.

 

[ht_addict]

Just installed mine couple weeks ago. Havent checked yet. Could just be condensate, from when the can cools. Where are you located? Ive attached a picture of what my CC caught in my previous car(Optima Hybrid)

 

[Canuckkia]

My wife noticed that smell in the cabin of our 2020 Sportage 2.4L, AddW1 catch can too, I checked and for sure it smelled like crankcase vapours. I used teflon tape on all threads and everything was tight except I missed that the factory spring style hose clamp at the PCV valve was not tight. Installed a good stainless catapiller type clamp and that fixed it. Just a little leak at the pcv valve hose was enough to fill the engine compartment with fumes at stoplights etc. Also Ive had to be really careful that the big o-ring that seals the two halves of the catch can is seated and doesnt bind up when screwing the bottom back on after servicing. Yes your pics of the nasty liquid look the same, with the white sludge too, its worse in winter when the engine stays in open loop longer to warm up. The liquid is oil and water mix from crankcase vapours and condensation. At the end of the day somehow the smell was still present occationally so I removed the can and hoses, put it back to stock and the smell is gone, I must have had a leak somewhere that I missed. We've decided just to bring it in at 80 or 90k kms to have the intake removed and the valves cleaned with high pressure walnut shells at the dealer if we notice a rougher idle or lack of power. Funny how Hyundai/Kia have switched back to multipoint injection on a few engines already. A quality catch can should be installed at the factory but you know people wouldn't empty it on time if at all and it would make a mess and possibly do serious damage if it were to get full and clogged. Also the manufactuers would be admitting that GDI have a carbon buildup problem. People just dont care about learning about maintenance anymore. The owners manuals from cars 20yrs ago would tell you how to adjust the valves, while the manuals of today warn you not to drink the battery acid...

 

[BHamm]

I have the smell too, but am running to generic mishimoto catch can

 

[Peso]

Hi Guys,
My Kia dealer installed the LAP3 chip and ADD W1 v3.3 Catch can last week and now I have a slight smell of gas every time I accelerate.
When I say "accelerate", I don't mean racing type of acceleration, I mean stop sign or green light acceleration to about 3000-3500 RPM.
The gas smell only stays for a few seconds and comes back when I accelerate again.

I also have the K&N Typhoon intakes which have been on the car for over 8 months now.
The power difference is quite noticeable with the LAP3 but if this gas smell is a normal thing, I might uninstall.
Hoping some of our wise members can help me with this problem.

Side note- I am missing one of the check valves on the ADD W1 catch can (was not in the box).
ADDW1 sent me another one which should arrive this week.
I asked Jack from ADDW1 if I can safely drive the car with just one check valve and after seeing a picture of the set up (image attached), he said yes but strongly recommends to have 2... (obviously).

Thanks in advance for any wisdom you can share

I had this catch can and I had the same problem and it threw me a map sensor code, I emailed them and they told me it’s faulty because it’s missing a check valve and they were recalling the product. They sent me a dual catch can kit as a replacement great company

 

[rpoffen]

It's coming out of the breather that you put on as part of the kit, possibly because of the check valves. I relocated my breather by adding a hose down towards the bottom of the engine bay.