Gas smell from passenger side rear of engine bay

I have searched through the forums for about an hour and cannot find anything describing what my problem is. There is a smell of gas from the back of my engine bay on the passenger side. You can really smell it when I put the AC on. I have looked everywhere for a leak, and have found no puddles anywhere. I checked the filler neck, and that is fine. It doesn't matter whether or not I just filled the car up, it is just always there. The car is not throwing any codes, it isn't running bad, it is more of an annoyance, but I am going to mustang week in July and I don't want to drive the 400+ miles if this could be an issue.

I did just replace my PCV sensor and evap charcoal cannister because it was throwing a code, but it was happening before I did that, and continues after. I am wondering if it is an issue with the fuel injectors, but I am open to all suggestions. Thanks in advance for the help.


96 GT vert, CAI, 70mm TB, SCT Tuner, VRS catted x-pipe, magnaflow exhaust, king cobra clutch, fidanza aluminum flywheel, 3.73's, Steeda Triax shifter, SSBC brakes, H&R SS springs, tokico struts/shocks, cc plates, X2 balljoints, Steeda bump-steer kit, 17x9 &17x10.5 bullitts

BurningRubber said:

Have you inspected the areas in which the injectors sit? They use an o-ring top and bottom to seat the injector into the fuel rail and intake manifold, it's possible that over time they can deteriorate and fail, causing a leak.

You should not be smelling fuel under the hood, period. Exhaust, not a big deal, but not raw gasoline.

Have you checked the feed line running from the tank to the rail? Is the pressure regulator attached correctly? There's a line on the back of the passenger side fuel rail that runs to the drivers side rail, I'd inspect that as well to make sure there are no leaks.

The feed line, regulator, rail, and injectors are really your main sources of fuel. I guess the cannister too and whatever is running back to the tank since your car has a return system.


Also, what code was it throwing? And is it RAW fuel your smelling, or possibly a rich exhaust mixture? If you have an exhaust leak, and your car is running rich, the air could be drawing in the fumes and sending them into the car. Mine does this whenever I'm sitting in traffic.

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Thanks for the help burningrubber. The smell is definetely a raw gas smell, not exhaust. It was throwing code P1443, which was for the evap/cannister, which went off once i replaced the cannister and sensor. I'll check the injectors and the fuel lines here in a little while and see what I can find and I'll post anything I come across since I am still new to diagnosing problems with the car.

Well, this issue has gone from frustrating to very frustrating. I checked all the lines on the car with it running and not running and could not see where gas was leaking from, but you can definetely smell it. I checked the lines that run from the cannister I just replaced, but they are on tight, and the hoses are in good shape. The smell is not as strong near the injectors or fuel rail, so I don't think it is an o-ring that has gone bad. There was no gas on the ground either.

Since I am still learning my way through this, why would the smell be strong through the A/C. Is it as simple as the air is drawn from that side of the car. The smell through the A/C seems to be stronger than it is just in the engine bay.

Oh well, I guess I just need to pony up the cash and take it to a mechanic. Thanks for the help.