86 951 Driver

About 2.5 years ago I replaced my main fuel lines in the engine bay. After I did so I made sure to run the car without the fender lining in to make sure everything was kosher. At the time it looked fine. Fast forward to now. I have been daily driving my 951 again(pretty sweet) and this morning I got on it a little bit. Might have been premature, but the coolant was up to to temp for a while and the oil pressure was starting to come down it was at 4 Bar. I needed to pass someone to get onto the highway, floored it and got past no issue. I rolled the window down and smelled raw gas(I have a full tank). This was coming from the front of the car. I floored the car again a few miles later down the road, but there was no smell just hot engine.

When I got to work I popped the hood. I looked over all the fuel lines, jumper line, and injectors really good. Everything was 100% dry. One thing I did notice was down in the fender it appears one of the fittings had some grime on it. Is it possible my fuel line cut wasn't smooth and is periodically leaking a bit? I vaguely remember one of my cuts wasn't perfect, but seemed to seal just fine when I tested. Could it be a charcoal canister?

Dougs951S

I smelled raw fuel in my car once...right before it burst into flames. Given our cars propensity for catching on fire, I would make DAMN sure those lines are good and leak free before driving the car again. Take it from me, recovering from a fuel fire is no fun, that is if the car survives.

Crazy Eddie

Not sure what you mean ? Do you mean the passenger side wheel wheel where the fuel lines are ? I would suspect there would be dirt on the lines as your not running fender liners
The charcoal canister is in the driver side wheel well... That has two lines running to it. One going to it from the engine bay to the canister and the other venting under the drivers side floor board...

LUCKY DAVE

Or...flooring it with a full tank sloshed gas up into the rotted out fuel filler hose/vent lines in the back of the car?

thingo

It can be deceiving when you wind the window down, in my car the air is sucked out as you wind the window down, I know from diagnosing hatch leaks.

86 951 Driver

I understand that. One of the first things I did on this car was replace all the fuel lines in the engine bay. I replaced my jumper last year and it is not leaking. I don't see any fuel leaks by the rail/injectors. The only thing I can see is a bit of grime on the fitting in the passenger fender well. I have the Deluxe Rennbay Fuel line kit.

I do mean the passenger side wheel well. I have the funder liners still. I was looking in through the hole in the engine bay down into the fender. I will try to get a picture of it.

This is a possibility. This was the first time I ever smelled a strong raw gas smell before. How hard are these vent lines to replace or fix?

LUCKY DAVE

Quote:
Originally Posted by LUCKY DAVE View Post
Or...flooring it with a full tank sloshed gas up into the rotted out fuel filler hose/vent lines in the back of the car?
This is a possibility. This was the first time I ever smelled a strong raw gas smell before. How hard are these vent lines to replace or fix?

They're an easy fix after dropping the tank.....which is less than fun.

LUCKY DAVE

..

86 951 Driver

That sounds terrible. There isn't another way to fix it?

kent426

Did you check the charcoal canister under the driver fender liner? Your canister may be leaking.

86 951 Driver

I have not checked that. Since my gas level has gone down a bit I haven't noticed the smell at all. I am assuming it has something to do with gas sloshing around back there.

User 52121

I would double-triple check your lines.

Last fall, right before I parked the car for the winter, I was dropping my son off at daycare on my way to work. I left the car idling and as I walked past it I caught the slightest scent of fuel. So I turned around and drove it home - and found that my jumper line (which had been replaced by me ~3 years ago) was leaking at the fitting (where the fitting connects to the hose itself).

I found it because I saw some very slight discoloration on the hose. I hit it with some brake parts cleaner, made sure it was dry, and started the car again... and watched a teeny tiny amount wick up the hose. Not even enough to drip. But it was enough to evaporate and smell.

I'd wipe everything down, make sure it's all totally dry, then pressurize the fuel system (either by starting and shutting down the car or jumpering the fuel pump) and look for any signs of a leak. Use your fingers and touch all the connections. Fuel evaporates quickly, so any small leaks should feel cool to the touch (cooler than everything else).

86 951 Driver

I did just this to double check my fuel rail and injectors. I had a leaky injector a while back. Everything seems fine and I haven't had any fuel smell since that day.

kent426

If you are noticing the smell on a hot day or sull tank, your charcoal canister or hoses to it are bad, that is the only vent to your gas tank.

Grant27

I was able to replace the fuel fill-up vents in my '87 924s without removing the gas tank. Some of the spaces are tight but once you get the carpet/insulation pulled back from the area it goes okay. Just buy some new fuel line (make sure you get fuel injected stuff) and start replacing the old rotted lines. Check online parts diagrams for sizes and such. There were a couple of filters/valves of some sort which seemed to still work on my car with no problem.

I did all this after smelling gas in my car after filling up the tank and taking "spirited" left hand turns which forced some fuel sloshing up into the venting system. This helped to solve my fuel fumes problem in the rear.

I also would check to make sure that the fuel filler neck is not distorted in any way, mine had a slight dent in the bottom lip which allowed small amounts of fuel to leak past the cap and into the rubber guard that surrounds the filler neck. It looks like this ate away at the guard over time. I went with the cheap fix and just siliconed up the area and made sure the drain tube was working properly.

Good luck and feel free to ask questions about any of the process I had to do to work out the gas fume issue!