Problem with my old mans car

I get around · 29 Sep 2009 at 15:18

Essentially when you turn it on it revs slightly on its own without any input from the accelerator.
The exhaust fumes smell like petrol very strongly too.

However it drives fine.
it's a 1.8 citroen xsara by the way

Any ideas what it would point to?

Janesy B · 29 Sep 2009 at 15:18

Don't all cars exhibit both of those things when starting? When I start my car it'll rev up to 1500 rpm on it's on and it'll run rich as it's on choke for a small period of time.

I get around · 29 Sep 2009 at 16:10

Sorry I'm having trouble explaining myself today, bit hung over, bored nonetheless, it's running rich all the time (fumes stink of petrol a lot) and it's revving more than it should on startup if you know what i mean.

Dr Who · 29 Sep 2009 at 16:49

Likely to be the cold start circuit, they increase the fuel and idle speed when starting from cold

Pixel · 29 Sep 2009 at 17:27

Mine's the same.

Revs up to 1500-2000 on a cold start and stays that way until the engine warms up (usually a minute). Also stinks of petrol fumes.

No idea how to set it back to default or whatever, but winter's coming up anyway and it isn't a huge deal.

Dogbreath · 29 Sep 2009 at 17:37

I get around said:
Sorry I'm having trouble explaining myself today, bit hung over, bored nonetheless, it's running rich all the time (fumes stink of petrol a lot) and it's revving more than it should on startup if you know what i mean.

Does it settle back to the correct idle speed when warm?

I get around · 30 Sep 2009 at 10:27

No it's still more than idle when it's warmed up.

Biohazard · 30 Sep 2009 at 10:29

I get around said:
No it's still more than idle when it's warmed up.

Does revving it a bit settle it back down to 800~rpm?