Gas smell.

[Art5]

I constantly smell gas, mostly on the right side by the wheel. Changed gas tank in the past, gas filter, line seals, but still comes back, a lot less now, but anyways...
I have tank on the ground right now and had the car running for at least 20 min and I don't see anything and no smell. however, I found that one of the lines, that comes from that little cap that is on the left side of the tank is just not connected anywhere , but taped along to the rest of the lines somewhere between front and rear door.
My questions is , where else should I look?

 

[sperold]

Is it more prevalent when you fill up?
I think that little cap is a vent with 2 small neopreme lines. Look there first.
At the very least, put hoses on that thing and have the end higher than the little cap for a trial.
I have a similar thing but I can see where one side of my tank is damp (no drips), so I may have a different issue.

 

[hawkeye18]

Usually a gas smell in the cabin indicates a faulty Canister Purge Valve solenoid. If you look at the smaller of the vacuum lines off the throttle body that heads straight down toward the ground and follow that to its other end, you will be touching the solenoid. When it fails, the gas vapors that build up in the large charcoal canister in the driver side fender well have nowhere to go (instead of getting sucked into the engine to be combusted) and the smell leaks out into your nose.

It's about a $35 part, and dead simple to replace. Two vacuum lines and a small electrical connector.

 

[Art5]

no, I smell it only after driving for at least 20 min to 30 min but not just standing and idling. and most of the time by the right wheels. dropped the tank and can't see any leaks. Could it be some little tiny hole or a crack on a top of the tank that is pushing fuems out or something? I actually put a layer of fiberglass on it before installation, so would expect not to, but who knows.

 

[luigisho]

Yeah, like ... post #3 is pretty good place to start.

 

[sperold]

Is it the front wheel or the rear wheel where you smell the most fuel-smell?
There are no little cracks or anything like that on your tank top, you would have raw gas all over the place in that case. It doesn't seem to be your fill hose either or the spill line back to the tank.
That cansiter purge valve selenoid sounds pretty good to me, is that thing under the battery?
Do you hear a "whissssh" when you take your gas cap off to fill up?

 

[Art5]

Is it the front wheel or the rear wheel where you smell the most fuel-smell?
There are no little cracks or anything like that on your tank top, you would have raw gas all over the place in that case. It doesn't seem to be your fill hose either or the spill line back to the tank.
That cansiter purge valve selenoid sounds pretty good to me, is that thing under the battery?
Do you hear a "whissssh" when you take your gas cap off to fill up?

all the smell is from the back of the car and I just put tank back on the car and no leaks.

 

[sperold]

What did you decide to do with that little plastic hat do-dad that I think is a vent? Did you put some small neopreme lines on it and run it out where you can see the end of the lines?

 

[Art5]

What did you decide to do with that little plastic hat do-dad that I think is a vent? Did you put some small neopreme lines on it and run it out where you can see the end of the lines?

that line sort of comes out of the tank, so i just left it the way it was and ran the car. There was some dirt on the end of the line and it looked like it was there for ever. I put some vinyl tape over it and that was it.

 

[sperold]

I hope your smell thing went away.
I changed out my tank today. I had the good luck of being able to remove and re-use the bolts and captive nuts that have been on the car 20 years.
I was going to cut a hole in the floor to change the pump in the future, but decided against it since removing the tank did not turn out to be too hard.
No smell from mine, and I still don't know what those little lines off the vent do, my helper called that little plastic thing a "roll-over valve"..... when you are upside down the gas doesn't pour out this vent.
Anyone heard of that?

 

[hawkeye18]

I hope your smell thing went away.
I changed out my tank today. I had the good luck of being able to remove and re-use the bolts and captive nuts that have been on the car 20 years.
I was going to cut a hole in the floor to change the pump in the future, but decided against it since removing the tank did not turn out to be too hard.
No smell from mine, and I still don't know what those little lines off the vent do, my helper called that little plastic thing a "roll-over valve"..... when you are upside down the gas doesn't pour out this vent.
Anyone heard of that?

Have not heard of this roll-over valve, but it seems like a good idea.

The benefit of cutting the access hole for the fuel pump is not necessarily realized the first time you replace the fuel pump; the benefit is reaped when the cheap aftermarket fuel pump fails after 2,000 miles. Or, in my case, about 500. Then you'll feel like an idiot knowing the second replacement could've taken about a minute and a half.

 

[sperold]

I think you are right.
I took a chance (in some peoples' eyes) of re-installing the pump that has been in the car for 200,000 miles. At least I don't have to worry about infant mortality.
If bad luck dictates I need to change my pump, I think I would lower the tank a bit and use a regular cut off wheel to cut the hole.
I had a very difficult time keeping the new retaining ring from popping out on one side (seemed to be just a little bit too small), that I might have to take it out anyways. I kept the old ones and the old O-ring as they seemed to be in great shape (who knew?).

 

[Art5]

I really don't know what's going on with my car, but, I just might as well save up some money and buy a new gas tank and look into changing fuel lines too with some newer and better aftermarket, but that's in the future. However, maybe my car is just running rich, I don't know.

 

[hawkeye18]

I really don't know what's going on with my car, but, I just might as well save up some money and buy a new gas tank and look into changing fuel lines too with some newer and better aftermarket, but that's in the future. However, maybe my car is just running rich, I don't know.

Have you swapped out the canister purge solenoid? I know it's not in the same area, but it's got to be easier than changing out the entire gas tank.

 

[sperold]

If you had your tank out and did not see any discoloured, damp areas appear as you handled the thing, then you don't have a gas leak from the tank.
Mine was perfectly OK except for one small pin hole the size of the period at the end of this sentence. And the gas poured out of it when I tipped it up. But before that, you could smell the car in a lineup 4 cars away when parked. So a little gas gives off a lot of smell.
Your lines are probably OK as well as mine were just like new and I was amazed how I could get the clips off and reuse everything.
Your fuel filter is located where you are describing the smell, take it off and look at the connections there... or just replace it..... they are supposed to be swapped once a year and they are a pump killer if they get go west. (I see you replaced that filter so disregard).
Have a good look at those 2 steel lines that run to your filler cap. Mine were horribly rusty, except where the clamps were..... and they look like they will fail before the tank as the tank is galvanized, but these lines did not look like they were protected by anything.
I say your steel filler line(s) have a pinhole.
Before I pulled off any more parts, I would try to give the gas tank system a slight pressure through the gas cap (don't know how, but maybe that rad pump where you pressurize your cooling system). I don't know what you have to block off manually (maybe that spill return line beside the fill cap). I would get under the tank and listen for anything unusual.
May not work, but beats buying a new tank you may not need.

 

[Art5]

If you had your tank out and did not see any discoloured, damp areas appear as you handled the thing, then you don't have a gas leak from the tank.
Mine was perfectly OK except for one small pin hole the size of the period at the end of this sentence. And the gas poured out of it when I tipped it up. But before that, you could smell the car in a lineup 4 cars away when parked. So a little gas gives off a lot of smell.
Your lines are probably OK as well as mine were just like new and I was amazed how I could get the clips off and reuse everything.
Your fuel filter is located where you are describing the smell, take it off and look at the connections there... or just replace it..... they are supposed to be swapped once a year and they are a pump killer if they get go west. (I see you replaced that filter so disregard).
Have a good look at those 2 steel lines that run to your filler cap. Mine were horribly rusty, except where the clamps were..... and they look like they will fail before the tank as the tank is galvanized, but these lines did not look like they were protected by anything.
I say your steel filler line(s) have a pinhole.
Before I pulled off any more parts, I would try to give the gas tank system a slight pressure through the gas cap (don't know how, but maybe that rad pump where you pressurize your cooling system). I don't know what you have to block off manually (maybe that spill return line beside the fill cap). I would get under the tank and listen for anything unusual.
May not work, but beats buying a new tank you may not need.

thank you very much , I have a lot more leads now. I did replace gas filter, but didn't replace any seals on those lines though. went under the car many times and didn't see anything and it felt like smell was everywhere, but not very strong. ANyway, i will check these other things you pointed out to me.