Hello there,
For a while now I’ve had a strong gas odour coming from my car (on and off). It’s kind of scary when the car is in the garage. Sometimes I’m afraid to turn the light on.
It doesn’t always happen though. It’s almost like once in a while the car decides to “purge” some gas. Once I was wating at a light and smelled it but most often is after I drive the car and park it. Last time though, it happened after I drove the car and parked it for a week. First I opened the garage door for a while and I thought the smell was gone but when I got back home 4 hours later it smelled again. I opened and closed the gas cap and that seemed to have fix the “leak”.
I noticed a small “stain” on the garage floor, about 10” diameter, in the area below where the fuel filter is. Not sure if this is any help but one time I had it jacked up and couldn’t see anything so maybe this stain is a troubleshooting indicator.

Has this happened to anyone, do you have any suggestions as to what it might me and how to fix it?

Thanks

D.

 

i think they have a recall on 91 camaros because of the gas caps. not sure but there have been other post similar to yours.
i have an 86 with a carb and i'm having the same problem. every day when i get home i have to open the garage so it can air out because the gas odor is really strong!

 

Would a new gas cap fix this though?

 

Can't remember which years but there was a recall on the gas tanks. My '91 had the fill pipe come completely loose from the tank and that is why the inside of my car smelled like gas. You may want to check yours.

Best Wishes!

 

That's a good idea.

Thanks

 

This problem just won't go away.
Ever since it started the gas smell is there.
I open the garage door to get some fresh air and sometimes everything is OK for a few days, then it starts all over again.
I open the gas cap and I can hear the hiss, sometimes the smell is gone for days sometimes it's back in a mater of hours.
I don't drive my car in the winter so after X-mas I kind of neglected it and the battery died. During all this time there was no smell, yesterday I charged the battery and now the smell is back again.
Could the two be related? Is there something that is powered on and does some sort of purge and when the battery is dead nothing happens because there's no juice to power the valve or whatever causes this?

It's driving me crazy.

Please help.

D.

 

The recalls were for 91 and 92 I believe

 

How can I find out if my car was one of the cars included in the recall?
Should there be a sticker somewhere if the previous owner(s) brought the car in for the recall?

Thanks

D.

 

So after jacking up the car and checking things out I think I found the problem (and the solution).

There is a "vent" attached to the gas tank thorough a rubber hose and I figured this is the only think that could release gas.
After examining it and talking to a guy from a parts store I decided to replace.
Here is the theory behind this "vent": gas vapors build up in the tank and this "vent" is nothing more than a pressure relief valve (spring loaded) with a carbon filter in it to neutralize the smell.

The GM part number is 10033125 and the description is Valve Asm (as per shipping papers). It was $63.79 Canadian including taxes.

I've replaced it today and now I have to see if this really did the trick.

If anyone wants a picture of this valve let me know and I'll upload one.

D.

 

So the valve replacement did not do the trick. I still get the gas smell, oh well.

I did speak with a tech from a local GM dealer and he seemed convinced that it's got to be a fuel line rusted from the inside or the flange (or whatever is called) on the top of the gas tank where the three lines (supply, return, vent) come out. Apparently because of humidity water collects around this flange and it can rust which will lead to "purging".

According to him to replace the fuel lines it's going to be around $600CAD.

Any ideas what options I have in order to replace the lines on the cheap?

My plan is to put in a fuel injected 350 and hopefully with about 400hp, does that mean I need to change the line size? What size should I use?

Thanks

 

You may want to check and see if someone did a "hack job" under your carpet of the hatch to replace a fuel pump...If so they would have had to cut fuel lines and they may not have gotten the clamps tight or wrong type of line...I know from experience on one of my last cars i sold...Strong fuel smell...ended up a line was leaking ever so slightly. Worth a look imop

 

Carz, you might be right.
Back in 2003 I had the fuel pump replaced and a few weeks after that I smelled the gas at a traffic light for the first time.
After that it happened now and then and I never really paid any attention to it until a couple of years back when it started to be a pain in the rear side.

Thanks

D.

 

no prob

 

The lines on the tank should be hooked up as followed

If you see any wet spots on the tank , odds are leaking lines.

 

Attached are two shots of the valve assembly.
One shot show the valve disassembled. As you can see there isn't much to it.
There is no carbon filter or any for of filtration.

D.

 

Don't know if I have correct information....but my '91 camaro did and does the same thing...I researched and asked everyone I could think of...I got a response from a GM mechanic at the dealership who said that it was actually normal, or kinda normal anyway.....what happens is the tank builds up pressure usually from heat from the road and especially the exhaust system...instead of the tank getting more and more pressure (which is dangerous), it releases excess gas fumes through that valve assembly/vent you have pictured about. I had the same problem and it bugged me...so when I put my new exhaust system on, I put a smaller muffer on (went from flowmaster to aerochamber) and left a little bigger gap between tank and muffler....also I had the whole exhaust system, including muffler ceramic coated to keep heat down...then I also took off that small tin heat shield under gas tank, had it ceramic coated, and then attached some heat shield material to it (like muffler wrap, but one side has sticky tape to stick to something, get it in Jegs or Summit)....anyways, I haven't smelled any gas fumes since...and also I noticed when I open tank to put gas in it, there is less pressure in it. You know what might also help you that I noticed helps before I did all I stated above.....keep tank at least 3/4 full....the gas doesn't heat up and turn to fumes as fast....anyways..there is my two cents...hope it helped some....

 

Here is the recall page 7 has the info on the Vin #.

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/acms/do...-94V077-NN.PDF

 

Thanks KD.

Yeap, mine is part of the recall. I'm going to check when I get home if I have the campaign sticker on the radiator core support.

Here's a link to a VIN decoder from GM, it might help other people:

GM VIN Decoder

 

Yup if your's isn't done and bring it to the deal and have luck on getting them to replace the tank let me know. Mine is currently in the shop at Friendly Chevy in Dallas, TX. They agreed to take it in and said its a recall and should be fixed but then something happen and a district manager got involved and now it's a sit and wait game... Anyone know of any Manager that can pull strings or have contacts to GM because the customer support number is of no help what so ever...

 

Sorry man, mine has been on jack stands for about a year - suspension job gone bad.

Maybe in the spring next year I'll have a chance to get it back on the road.

When I go my dealer for my other Chevy, I'll ask the service manager what options I have.

Thanks again for posting, one of the reasons my suspension job never got done is because I wanted to fix the gas smell issues and never got around to getting new fuel lines (one possible fix) while everything was off the car. Other projects got in the way and now...

Oh well...

 

I have the same problem with my 89. Very strong gas smell quite frequently! It really started after I changed the fuel pump. I think it has to do with the gas lines. I also replaced the gas cap. Its a common thing with some 3rd gens I'm assuming.

 

You know, now that you mentioned it, I think mine started this after changing the fuel pump in 2003.

I checked and there is no campaign sticker so I guess it was never taken in for the recall.

 

http://s55.photobucket.com/albums/g1...t=IMAG0255.jpg

The above link is the service order from the dealership and they said it has a recall.

 

YES SIR! I read online somewhere from some dude that changed the fuel pump on a totally different car and he complained of a strong gas odor too? I thought about pulling my fuel tank to see if it leaks,,, but hell NO its a pain in the A**.

Man I really wish we could pin point the problem and get it fixed! It just flat out sucks cruising along and smelling fumes all day!

 

Under the hood of our cars is a vacuum canister. This device pulls gasoline vapors from the tank and recirculates them through the intake. If you have a tendancy to overfill your gas tank these canisters can actually pull raw fuel from the tank and cause a rich condition and a strong fuel smell. The charcoal filter inside this canister also need to be replaced periodically. Some filters are replaceable, some require a whole new canister.

There is a small, electronically controlled, switch on top of the canister that go bad as well and will allow the engine to pull full vacuum all the time. This will cause raw fuel to enter the canister AND causes that suction at the gas cap.

The easy way to check this stuff is to take a couple small bolts and plug the vacuum lines on both sides of the canister and see how it runs. Make sure you plug them both though because one side is 100% vacuum from the engine and the other side is an open line to your gas tank. If this fixes your problem replace parts as needed.

Hope this helps

 

 

I think we are all going way to far on this. Lets just face the facts. "Thats what horsepower smells like!!" and those stains on your garage floor is sweat from all that horsepower as well. At least that's what i tell my wife. LOL

I just bought an 83' Z and i'm new to this forum but i have a 68ss and when i park it in the garage, i also have to leave the door open for a while to minimize the gas/exhaust smell.

 

 

if my tank pressurizes then leaks gas were would it be from?

 

sent a pic of the vave be greatly appreciated also did your car ever run funny like cut out and run odd when valve was bad