mdistel

Picked up my 87 911 yesterday and drove it 6 hours home. Didn't notice any fuel odors on the way. I filled it up at a local Shell station, had a bit of trouble, the pump kept shutting off unless I held it partially out. I put in 14 gallons and tank wasn't even on 1/4 so I think its full.

My garage smells like fuel, I opened the door to air it out but it comes back. I smell nothing by the engine. I think the odor is comming from around the plastic tank in the front trunk. It's filled with fuel, is this normal? The hoses feel dry and I don't see anything dripping. I was able to tighten the clamps on the large black hose. Here's a picture, I numbered the hoses for reference. Is there anywhere else I should look?

Mark

Peter Zimmermann

Mark: Look at the lower right corner of your posted picture. That's the sending unit for the gas gauge, and it fits directly into the tank. It's obvious that there's a problem because of the damage to the tank. The best way to address the problem is to put a few miles on the car (use up some gasoline), then undo the nuts on the sender and slowly pull it out of the tank. Inspect the area, replace the seal, and you should be good. Hopefully the tank isn't cracked in the area, which I've never seen.
FYI: Try to never fill the tank more than the first time the pump shuts off. If your gauge doesn't read full I'll bet that someone has been trying to diagnose a problem with the sender. Just for kicks, put a socket on the sender nuts and gently snug them down, maybe they're just loose...

mdistel

Thanks Peter, I'll check the sender nuts. UPDATE: The nuts were about 1/4-1/2 turn each, and sticking my nose down there did catch a wiff of gas. The tank did catch my eye, not sure if that was normal. Should I treat it with anti-rust paint, like por-15?

The gas pump kept shutting off if I inserted the nozel all the way in. We have the type of pumps that recover vapors. I had to hold the pump out a bit to get it to pump continuously.

theiceman

one of the first tricks of owning a 911. rotate the nozzle 180 from what you would expect ( you have to kind of fold over the conecting hose.

Also I am not sure about yours but mine has a vapour recovery tank behind the drivers side headlight ( behind the wsher tank ) . you will se it in the wheel well. check the hoses from there to the gas tank if you have them . Mine leaked here and caused the stink , also the leaking gas ( from overfilling ) leaked down and removed the rust protection.

Amber Gramps

this could also be a problem with the pump. If someone has topped off the tank to the point of overfill the gas can back up into the vapor side of the hose and cause a vapor lock that will not allow the pump to work. I had this problem just the other day. Went to a different pump at the same station and the problem was gone.

theiceman

here are a couple of pics. I removed my vapour tank and you can see that rap behind the light bucket. Cleaned all that up . You can also see the hose fitting that leaked and the paint colour ( brown ) has come through because the rust proofing was eaten away by the gas.

theiceman

so I cleaned it up and sprayed some of the rubberized undercoating ( get the expensive stuff NOT the asphalt based. ) dried hard as a rock , and is great for doing the battery box too .

Here is a picture of it cleaned up . you can also see the body fittings that the hoses go to . On my car one goes to the tank and the other goes to the charcoal filter if I am not mistaken.

mdistel

Looks good, I looked under there and didn't see anything out of the ordinary except a lot of dirt and AC lines. I need to set the car up on jacks, remove the wheels and scrub the wheel wells really well.

theiceman

good plan