i have a STRONG smell under the hood of gas. there is gas spewing from the gas tank breather(vapor) hardline 88' TPI. is that what's it's called? fuel is loading up in that line. i have removed the first charcoal canister that got fouled with all the fuel that got in it. i have removed it and installed a new one but did not connect it. i ran the car without the canister connected and fuel was bubbling out of the metal hard line???? what can be causing this? could it be that valve (tank pressure valve?) that hangs over the tank? maybe it stuck closed or something? can someone please help i don't want my baby to catch on fire .

 

i did some more searching. the "ventilator" or whatever it's called does not vent at all. it let air in to replace the fuel that has been used. so that can't be the problem. our fuel systems are designed to be pressurized, so there is supposed to pressure in the tank. there has always been pressure in my gas tank. ie i remove my gas cap and here comes all these horrible gas vapors. i can ASSUME the ventilator and gas cap are good? am i right in my assumption?


what i don't understand is why is there liquid fuel in the vent line? shouldn't there be fuel vapors but not liquid fuel in that line? there is a substantial amount of liquid fuel even if the tank is nearly empty. i don't get it. has anyone else had a similar problem? please help!!!!!

 

Mystik,

There is a tank pressure control valve that is normally part of the EVAP control package. Without seeing the setup, all I can guess is that you may have an EVAP valving problem. Double-check the vacuum hose connections and purge solenoid valve operation, just to be sure everthing is connected correctly.

Wish I was more helpful.

As for the '94, if your Opti-Scrap has failed, you CAN get just the rotor and cap portion od the assembly. I did that on my older SS when it died on me. Generally, the optics / pulse generators are not the problem, just the cap. The down side is that the cap/rotor cost me $130.00 (wholesale, yet).

It's about a two-day job to do it right, with all the parts being cleaned and inspected, anti-seized hardware, new ignition wires (what a PITA to route) and such.

 

maybe this picture can be of help? fuel is bubbling from the line indicated with the red arrow.

all EVAP hoses connected to there respective places and are in good conditon(no leaks).


Edit: boy this isn't my day...... damn TPS just bit the dust. no wonder the idle was acting up, the TCC was also acting funny, and i couldn't adjust to specs correctly. more problems great....

 

this is a better pic.

 

so no one has ever had this problem before? wow. maybe there is something wrong with my gas tank?

 

Yup. I can see in the photo that the red arrow is on the tank vent/pressure control line. That should be nothing but vapor. It's no wonder your EVAP canister was saturated.

Has anything been done with the fuel pump recently? I'm at a loss. The only thing my twizted mind can envision is that somehow the fuel return and vent lines got crossed somewhere. The vent line enters the top of the tank. You've got a pretty good mystery there.

I could understand that with an overfilled tank on a hot weather day, but not under your conditions (you mentioned the tank is nearly empty).

Then you get a TPS taking a dump on you, too? Man, you're lucky. Happy Kwanzaa....

 

that's what stumped me. nothing has been done to the car. nothing fuel related or anything of the sort. it just started doing this about 2-3 days ago. never had a problem with the evap system till now. well the tps thing made me breath a sigh of relief. at first i was getting a code 33 MAF at the very least it wasn't the MAF. omg i might have to go to the dealer. i'm really scared now. i'm going to to go over the lines with a microscope from evap vent to the fuel rail to the tank. maybe something funny is going on along on of the lines? thanks again.