Gas Odor Lingers On...

[Ron H]

Posting for a buddy who has had a lingering strong gas odor that his wife has repeatedly worried about in the garage. And he has said he will notice an odor on occasion when driving the car on turns. Zero leaks and the smell is around the engine. At first thought the carb was the culprit maybe the float/bowls...except he recently installed a new 4bbl Holley and same thing! Engine totally rebuilt 2 years ago with a few mod's slight cam, etc. After extensive gremlin searching he's thinking maybe fuel pump. But engine runs like a clock. I've never heard of a pump causing an odor unless it's leaking. Thinking bad venting; but think this would be more evident around the filler or rear? Anyone have idea's where this gremlin could be hiding? Thanks.

 

[MoparLeo]

If they can smell it from inside the car, some firewall holes need plugging. Do all testing outside where there is plenty of fresh air. That is number 1. Is this something that just appeared recently ? Any changes to car before problem ? What engine are we dealing with ? Pictures ? More detailed info =better diagnosis.

 

[GetX'd]

I had a similar situation with smelling gas and no apparent reasons. Eventually we determined it must be bad gas after much searching. Car sat for a very long time with fuel evaporation. After running a few tanks of high octane thru it - seemed to resolve the issue. New rebuilt engine and similar to what you describe. If you’ve checked for everything else it may just be the gas.

 

[Ron H]

If they can smell it from inside the car, some firewall holes need plugging. Do all testing outside where there is plenty of fresh air. That is number 1. Is this something that just appeared recently ? Any changes to car before problem ? What engine are we dealing with ? Pictures ? More detailed info =better diagnosis.

LOL MoparLeo! Was going to keep it a secret so us Mopar guys wouldn't get testy helping a Chivvy guy out! He has a beautiful '65 Camino 283 motor. We took a cruise yesterday, around 100 miles, and had our cars parked outside in my driveway as we shot the **** for a bit. Standing next to his car I could smell the odor and we opened our hoods. My '63 Fury had no odors while his was pungent as all get out - out in the fresh air. I know, I should suggest he get a Mopar...but...

 

[Dennis H]

Wife has sensitive nose. If is is a hint of an odor, DETECTABLE, it MAY be normal. Forget the cars now, follow the lines.

 

[Ron H]

I had a similar situation with smelling gas and no apparent reasons. Eventually we determined it must be bad gas after much searching. Car sat for a very long time with fuel evaporation. After running a few tanks of high octane thru it - seemed to resolve the issue. New rebuilt engine and similar to what you describe. If you’ve checked for everything else it may just be the gas.

Ironically, as part of our cruise I mentioned (in my 2nd post here), we drive out to another county where we can fill up with good gas - premium ethanol-free gas. Most of the time we're running this.

 

[slepr1]

I once had a gas smell and found one of the fittings on the fuel pump had a small leak, not enough for any dripping on floor. It was always wet around the fitting. Fixed that and no more issues.

 

[tnfastback]

Does he have any older braided fuel lines?? The gas of today eats the rubber underneath the braid creating a smell. The new braided lines are PTFE/teflon to fix this problem. Just a suggestion.

 

[khryslerkid]

Check for a rusted out hole in the top of that Cheby's gas tank.

 

[beanhead]

The thing about gas---is that it evaporates quickly and can leave no traces of leaks once it's gone, except the smell. I dealt with a tough-to-find leak once, it turned out to be a leaky accelerator pump diaphragm. It would evaporate off the hot intake completely after shut down. Only way I found it was by checking around during a drive with the engine running.