davidosus said:
Now that you mention it, the inside of my car does smell strongly of gas. I thought it was normal for the engine. I don't notice any puddles underneath my car when I have it parked (could fuel evaporate that quickly?). Could my problem be a simple gas leak? :confused
First of all, welcome to the CAC - great cars, great people, tons of info and not just in the forums so be sure to check out the rest of the site.
As for your problem, I too had the gas smell in the car and could not locate the leak anywhere for a couple of months. Then on a Sunday morning I stepped into the garage to find that gas fumes had filled the garage. Being paranoid I yanked the plug on the opener and pulled the bay door up manually. When I looked under the car, still no puddles anywhere so opened the hood shining a maglight everywhere and saw nothing:confused. I sniffed the grilles on the rear deck and the smell got stronger so I crawled under the backend and noticed a dried spot of something(?) under the right muffler. The spot was dry but it wreaked of gas. Above that spot the muffler was discolored and, you guessed it, the smell was still stronger. I ran my hand up the tailpipe and finally I hit paydirt - it was wet with gas:eek. I jacked the back end up and dropped the spare tire and removed the entire spare tire tub (top & bottom). Once the tub was removed, the source was staring me in the face; the gas tank had been replaced by a previous owner and no pads were installed. This caused the tank to rub on the straps, resulting in a pinhole leak. At this point I could see the gas dripping very slowly, so slow that most of it was drying before it hit the ground.
The discoloration of the muffler and tailpipe were caused by dripping while the exhaust was hot, causing the gas to evaporate quicker. Though my problem may not be the same as yours, you should do everything possible to find the source of the smell because it isn't normal and fiberglass burns really quick. If everything on the topside of the engine is good you need to go to the gas line and tank. Trace all of the gas line you can get at, running your finger along it. The outside of the gas line should NOT smell like gas; if it does, there's your problem. If the tank has never been replaced, it may be the seal around your sending unit on the tank. Another common problem in the tank area is the rubber hose connecting the sending unit to the frame line as it can rot over the years.
The temp of the car is key to this as a hot car is going to evap any trace of all but the worst leaks. It's best to do this when the car is cold so there is less evaporation. This is a catch 22 as well, because if it's a small enough leak, the lower line pressure may hide the leak. Gas, however, does tend to find a way out of any hole no matter how small or what the pressure is. If you don't find anything, start the car to get pressure in the line built up and shut it off and try again. I looked at a 75 with a friend last year that had a puddle on the intake manifold and bubba owner said not to worry because it would go away once the engine was hot -not the best advice.
If you do find a leak in a gas line DO NOT use the bubba approach using copper line to clamp in a fix. I've heard of several cases where this lead to a total loss claim for an insurance company, since when copper bends, it weakens much quicker than steel. Your best and, most importantly, safest bet is to replace the entire line.
If your problem is the tank or sending unit, there are generally two ways to keep gas from going everywhere. One is to detach the rubber hose from the frame rail and supply all of your neighbors with high octane lawnmower gas or clamp down the rubber hose really tight (if the leak is beyond the rubber line. This may go without saying but I'll say it anyhow, if you have to drain the tank, the gas flows a lot faster if you open the filler cap but have someone else do that after you get the lone in the gas can. I was bathed in gas when I drained mine.
Though tanks can be repaired, many frown
on this. I had mine repaired but only because the tank was relatively new and had just been installed improperly. A kit is sold to seal the tank yourself from the inside but I, for one, do not recommend this. Though the kits work when done correctly, it isn't very expensive to get the tank repaired professionally. Most radiator shops also repair gas tanks.
Good luck and, again, be careful! Let us know how it goes.
