90 Maxima need help

[Gerald-NC]

Hi everyone! I've owned my 90 Maxima for around 4years now and have 170k+ on the odometer. It's really my wife's car but I do drive it quite a bit as well.

First off, I've searched and searched since finding these forums and while I've found all kinds of posts on the fuel odor smells, I haven't found one where someone actually had an answer proven lol. For me, when the car is cold she smells of a fuel odor until it warms up completely. It is coming from under the hood. I think it's either something emission wise or injectors, but I can't find any "wet" areas where fuel is actually leaking. The smell prevents me from running the heat or ac in the morning...yes the smell is in summer and winter but maybe heavier in the winter.

Also I figure I may have a slight exhaust manifold leak but wanted to run it by you guys first. Almost ever since we've owned the car, if you park it for even just a minute, with it shut off, then go to start and drive again she has a "clicking" noise and she's also a lil stuttery (sp) until she completely warms up again. I'm really leaning towards the exhaust leak possibility. I've looked but man I think it's going to be tough to put new gaskets in lol, so any tips are very welcomed.

We've only put around 30k miles on the car since purchasing. I've replaced both front axles, shocks and struts, door hinges, 3 of 4 window regulators, main window switch, cd player and speakers, and changed the fuel filter lol. I need to replace the steering rack now cuz it's all screwed up too now. Other than that the car does act up a lil in overdrive some times, like stuttering feeling, but mostly I can control that. Uh she's also lately developed a miss, only slightly and not too often yet but of course it's worrying me.

Thanks for your help, and I do look forward to frequenting this site often.

[180fan]

Cold - metal shrinks faster than rubber, check around the hoses where it meets up to the hardlines. I'm sure you'll find some cracking along the fuel line ends or under the clamps. If you haven't replaced the fuel lines, I would suggest that you do. I've a 95 Altima and I've already replaced the fuel lines on that car over 2 years ago. From a 90, yes, replace the lines just as a safety measure regardless. It's not like it's expensive either.

Got a better description of the clicking? Does it sound more like a crackling sound? If you're having problems when it's cold, you probably have a coolant temp sensor issue.

With the automatic transmission, how often do you change the fluid and when was the last time you serviced the strainer assembly?

[Gerald-NC]

Good tip on the fule lines.

I really think the ticking as I call it is just the exhaust manifold having a slight leak while it's cold or just cooled off. Others here say there's has been the same.

transmission hasn't been serviced since I've owned the car so yeah I am now considering that as well.