Gas smell?

[MUSTANGJOE]

car smells like gas!..I have an off road h-pipe and dumps, but It never smelled this bad, could it be a leking injector? Thanks

 

[HISSIN50]

or a bad EVAP line or cracked charcoal cannister. The cannister is on the pass side next to the front clip. There is a large purge line from the cannister to the intake. it inserts into the upper right in the middle front. It bakes and can crack.

Good luck.

 

[MUSTANGJOE]

thanks...whats a cannister?

 

[Curse]

When I got my exhaust dumps, my car would smell like gas bad. Have you always had dumps?

 

[MUSTANGJOE]

yes ..about 2 years now. But I smell it more and more.

 

[Curse]

Maybe o2 sensors or egr going bad. Just throwing stuff out there.

 

[HISSIN50]

thanks...whats a cannister?

The charcoal cannister is a black box, about the size of a loaf of rye bread. Fumes from the gas tank are sent there (rather than vented into the atmosphere, like in the old days). There is a purge valve which sends saved fumes into the intake for consumption.

I would take a look at the cannister - it will take about 30 seconds to check stuff out. When a line cracks or the cannister cracks, it will smell.

FWIW, that was good of you to include that you have had an O/R pipe, dumps, etc for some time. I dismissed any issues from that because of this.

Good luck.

 

[18mustangs]

Since we're just throwing possibilities out, be sure to check the gas tank filler neck seal. I'm not sure about the foxes, but the SNs seem to tear after 8-10 years letting some fuel run down the outside of the tank and smelling strongly as well.
Tim

 

[Jaswir]

new o-rings and lockring on the gas tank... that was my problem

 

[18mustangs]

new o-rings and lockring on the gas tank... that was my problem

Where did you find the lock ring for the gas tank? When I did my fuel pump I could only find the 3 tooth sending unit lockring and not the 4 tooth pump lock ring. I had to reuse the old rusty one.
Tim

 

[SamSnyder]

Trust your nose buddy: If you're smelling raw gas it's there somewhere, and you've got to find it or risk burning your car down (or worse, you). Hunt all over that thing. You can pressurize the fuel lines key on/engine off by shorting the fuel pump lead on the diagnostic test plug under the hood to ground, which will run the fuel pump. I use an old-timey remote starter switch to do it, which lets me get under the car and turn the pump on and off with a press of the switch. Then you can inspect all the lines from the tank to the engine and back with pressure in them. The charcoal canister is also a prime target -- look for gas dripping from it when the engine is running. It collects fumes from the tank and is supposed to be vacuumed clean on startup when a solenoid opens the vacuum line to it, but a clog or bad solenoid can allow the canister to get saturated. A bad injector might look wet with the engine running. I saw one on a Jeep Cherokee spraying gas all over the top of the engine. The o-rings on top of the tank are also a good thought, but you'd have to drop the tank.

For me, it was indeed the fuel filler neck. I had a pinhole rust-through up under the rubber surround that seals it to the body near the filler door. I guess it got there from the filler door drain tube being pinched -- I always had water laying around the filler neck after a rain. I had a bad gas smell on fill up, and also when going around corners. I finally spotted a damp spot appearing on the filler neck tube when tanking up. Sure enough, pushing the rubber surround up revealed a pinhole rust-through leaking raw gas. A new filler neck from the junkyard ($5) fixed me right up.

But my original statement goes -- trust your nose and hunt down that gas leak.

 

[jaymac]

I've had all 3 things go bad on me. leaking injectors (2 of them, and not the Orings, the injectors themselves), the filler neck seal, and the O ring for the pump assembly. Once all 3 of them were replaced, no more smell

 

[tjm73]

I had the same thing happening.

2 things;

1.) check you fuel pressure regulator. I smelled gas once and my Crane regulator was leaking gas down my engine block right next to the H-pipe. Not good.

2.) How many miles? Do you get a MIL light? My O2 sensors were shot and it smelled very gassy. Changed them and the smell went away and the MIL stopped flashing.

 

[Jaswir]

ummm... well i ended up replacing my gas tank... because the lock rings wouldnt lock hard enough because the little things that they slide under werent in the greatest condition... so the tank came with them... u can get them at a ford dealership or buy em off 50resto.com they are kinda of expensive but i got em off

http://www.breezeautomotive.com/details.php?prod_id=223&cat_id=27

http://secure.50resto.com/category.cfm?SID=1&Category_ID=1169

 

[aaros]

i changed my tank, new fuel pump, sending unit and neck seal and presto no more gas fume smell

 

[MUSTANGJOE]

Hey guys thanks for the replys.

I checked my injectors and they seem fine..so does the neck from where you put gas. I changed my O2 sensors when I installed my h-pipe 2 years ago, you think they might have gone bad already? There is no check engine light or anythingShould I pull the codes?..thxs again!

 

[SamSnyder]

Yes, always pull the codes. If you don't already have one, a cheap code reader from Pep Boys is an invaluable tool.