G Man

Have been smelling gas on occasion when my car is running. I have looked and looked for the source but can't find the source. I pulled the cover from the fuel pump area the other day and found that I did have a leak from the output of the fuel pump. I tightened the fittings a little and took care of that leak. The next day I went out and started the car and once again was met with the smell of raw gas. I went over all of the possible sources I could think of. First thing I did was to recheck the fuel pump area which was dry upon inspection. I then went into the engine compartment and carefully inspected the injectors and fuel lines from the rail. No obvious leaking there. Pulled the vacuum lines from the fuel pressure regulators and dampner and found no gas there either. I can't think of any other areas to check. Looking for suggestions. I am really paranoid about this with the recent stories of cars burning up.

Mrmerlin

remove the RF wheel ,
then the liner,
have a new 3 way fitting to install

Bill Ball

Is the smell detected inside the car? If so, the infamous plastic 3-way connector to the charcoal cannister in the back of the right front wheel well (remove the wheel well cover) is the likeliest culprit.

If it's in the engine compartment, you have to do more than look. Remove the fuel rail covers and run you finger under each fitting and see if it gets wet. This picks up leaks that are not visibly dripping or squirting. Also, do that with the leak you think you fixed.

G Man

I'll pull the wheel and liner and check that connector. Thanks for the suggestion.

brutus

Also tightening the fuel pump connections is a poor way to seal since you end up with overtorqued and impossible to remove fittings. Always best to use new soft crush rings or in a pinch anneal the old ones to fix such leaks.

G Man

Good point. I have a question about tightening these fittings. What is the reccomended way to back up the fittings on the pump when tightening them down. Is there a special wrench that fits on the fuel pump connector? I am nervous about damaging the fuel pump when tightening things down.

fbarnhill

I had that smell in my 88 that I could never figure out. Mine smelld like old gas. I believe the problem turned out to be that somehow gas had been sucked into the charcol cannister and after fixing the issue, somehow the vacuum that was holding it in, went away and it came running out. That was the area the fire started in. I had just replaced all fuel lines and I know there were no leaks. I ran the fuel pump for several minutes and could find no leak anywhere. You MUST find the source of this smell. It is not something you want to find out about the hard way.

Best of luck,

NoVector

Under your air filter box, two fuel pressure regulators that have rubber U-shaped hoses--#14 in the diagram below. Other than those two, the only other soft lines I can think of on an 84 are the ones connecting the injectors.
Good luck! / Bruce

G Man

My thoughts exactly. I won't rest easy until I find the source of the smell!

G Man

Thanks for that suggestion. I'll make sure to look here. I see you are in K-Town. Are you there on military duty? I was there in 94' while in the Nat Guard. Would like to go back one day and spend more time there looking around.

z driver 88t

Damn this site is the most useful forum ever. I had a slight occasional gas smell inside the car for the past few weeks. I assumed it was a gas line leaking and being sucked in via the fresh air vent, but could not find any evidence of leaks in the engine bay - including pulling the air box and letting it idle for several minutes and checking all the hose connections.

I haven't even had a chance to post the question on Rennlist yet and this post pops up.

Getting your questions answered before you even ask them is priceless.

I wonder what those 3-ways go for? Normally you pay extra for that.

SanDiego928

Check under round plastic cover under carpet in rear also. That is where my gas smell was coming from. I forget what line that is - return line? It was very bad and needed replacement. PITA.

Should be the same for an 84 I believe.

NoVector

Here's a couple pictures of the U-hoses from my 84, The first is the driver's side, the second is the passenger. It's probably the carbon canister 3-way connector, but better safe than sorry. Yep, K-town. Fasching this weekend

Good luck!

EDIT: These, and all fuel hoses were replaced 5-6 years ago. That's why they're disconnected. Only posted so the OP knew where they were located. Wow, tuff crowd...

Herman K

I’ have recently done some test in order to find a vacuum leak and that's the reason why I currently have had my air filter housing removed from the MAF while the vacuum leak chase was in progress I noticed a very small sweat trace of gas (no drips) coming from the fuel return line at the fuel cooler when the engine was running.

This was enough to give an occasional whiff of fuel smell from a source that can only be seen when the filter housing is removed wipe those fuel lines clean and run the engine without the air filter housing in place and see if they stay completely dry.

Good luck

dr bob

Seeing pictures of tired/old/cracked fuel hoses sends little shakes through me. Please replace all those fuel hoses if you haven't already. Not just the cars in the pictures, but YOUR CAR, the one that's at YOUR HOUSE.

The Y connector in the front wheelhouse area is connected to the vapor recovery canister, the vapor vent to the intake, and the vapor area at the top of the tank. When it fractures, fuel-saturated vapors fill the area cavity there and weep into the wheel area. They also flow over into the engine bay via the opening for the hose and also where the washer tank neck passes up below the right-side hood hinge. When you replace the Y, spend some time with cable ties to secure the Y and the connecting hoses, so the weight of the hoses isn't hanging on the Y fitting. New parts are less than $10 last I looked, so no reason to try to patch something together out of hardware-store plumbing pieces.


For pressure-side fuel system leaks, hunting for leaks with the engine warm can be a challenge. Warm surfaces mean that leaking fuel can quickly flash to vapor before you can see it. So do the checking with engine cold. Jumper the fuel pump relay to pressurize the system without running the engine. Then, follow Bill Ball's method by running your fingers around and under EVERY connection. Regulators and dampers, connecting hard piping, the fuel cooler in the AC return behind the air cleaner housing. Soft lines including the U hose under the throttle linkage, the pressure hose over the passenger side cam cover, the crossover hose at the front under the oil filler housing, and the return hoses at the rear of the engine bay. Lots of places to check. Using Bill's "hands-on" method, you may not feel the tiniest leaks. But you will be able to smell the leaked fuel on your fingers. Gloves and a paper towel can do almost as well, and keeps the gas out of your flesh. Use your best judgement.