Nick S
Well-known member
Ok, this might be a little long, but this "problem" is driving me crazy. About a month ago, I filled the car up with gas and drove home. The next morning when I was driving to work with the driver window down and vent on, I started smelling gas whenever I stopped at a light. The scent was kind of like what you get when you are at the gas station. Not super heavy, but you will get a whiff of it every now and then enough to notice the gas smell. Well, I assumed that it must be someone else's car because mine does not leak gas. Unfortunately, it seems to be coming from my car. Over time, I have noticed that the smell tends to occur more in the morning than when I drive home from work in the evening. Not to say that it isn't there from time to time in the evening, but it is always there in the morning.
Anyway, so I start doing research on here and in my shop manuals for the car and armed with that knowledge I take it to the Chevy dealer. I told them to replace the fuel filter (was time to have it done anyway) and to try and hunt down the smell. They told me that they don't smell anything and that everything appears normal. I wasn't really satisfied with their explanation of their diagnosis (longer story). So, still smelling the fuel, I took it to another Chevy dealer. This dealer tested the fuel pressure, took it on a test drive, let it sit over night and started it in the morning, looked for leaks, etc. and still nothing. (By the way, they charged me nothing for this. I thought that was nice of them.) They said that the car was holding fuel pressure and that if there was a problem with a leak or with something in the EVAP control system that they would like to wait for a code to be thrown before they start randomly throwing parts at the problem.
Well, I started the car this morning and immediately smelled gas. I don't know how people can miss this smell. It smells like it is coming from the back of the engine, but you never really know with a gas smell. The smell could be coming from anywhere, but it is definitely not coming from the rear of the car. I read about people having hard start issues which indicated a leaking fuel injector, and have noticed that the car turns over quite a few times before it will start every once in a while in the morning. But I wonder if I am thinking about this too much now. I thought that it might be the ethanol that is in the gas now (10%) and I added some gas dry in case there is any water in the gas. That did nothing.
The car has been running fine except for a slight rough idle that I have been chasing for a few months. I replaced all of the plugs and wires and cleaned the throttle body before this smell problem, and that did not seem to change the idle. I never thought the idle was a problem until someone mentioned to me that it seemed to stumble a bit while idling.
Another thing, the car is not running too rich or too lean when I watch the long and short term fuel readings.
I have a hard time believing that this is normal and that I should just let it go. However, after two dealers have told me that they don't smell it and don't see a problem, I'm wondering if I should just live with it and my burning eyes (from the smell).
Sorry that this is so long and wandering of a post. Anyone have any suggestions?
Thank you.
Nick
Anyway, so I start doing research on here and in my shop manuals for the car and armed with that knowledge I take it to the Chevy dealer. I told them to replace the fuel filter (was time to have it done anyway) and to try and hunt down the smell. They told me that they don't smell anything and that everything appears normal. I wasn't really satisfied with their explanation of their diagnosis (longer story). So, still smelling the fuel, I took it to another Chevy dealer. This dealer tested the fuel pressure, took it on a test drive, let it sit over night and started it in the morning, looked for leaks, etc. and still nothing. (By the way, they charged me nothing for this. I thought that was nice of them.) They said that the car was holding fuel pressure and that if there was a problem with a leak or with something in the EVAP control system that they would like to wait for a code to be thrown before they start randomly throwing parts at the problem.
Well, I started the car this morning and immediately smelled gas. I don't know how people can miss this smell. It smells like it is coming from the back of the engine, but you never really know with a gas smell. The smell could be coming from anywhere, but it is definitely not coming from the rear of the car. I read about people having hard start issues which indicated a leaking fuel injector, and have noticed that the car turns over quite a few times before it will start every once in a while in the morning. But I wonder if I am thinking about this too much now. I thought that it might be the ethanol that is in the gas now (10%) and I added some gas dry in case there is any water in the gas. That did nothing.
The car has been running fine except for a slight rough idle that I have been chasing for a few months. I replaced all of the plugs and wires and cleaned the throttle body before this smell problem, and that did not seem to change the idle. I never thought the idle was a problem until someone mentioned to me that it seemed to stumble a bit while idling.
Another thing, the car is not running too rich or too lean when I watch the long and short term fuel readings.
I have a hard time believing that this is normal and that I should just let it go. However, after two dealers have told me that they don't smell it and don't see a problem, I'm wondering if I should just live with it and my burning eyes (from the smell).
Sorry that this is so long and wandering of a post. Anyone have any suggestions?
Thank you.
Nick
