Ok, my car randomly started having EXTREMELY bad fuel fumes in it today when I drove it. So I checked some things out, but found nothing wrong...what the heck could it be?!?

305 L03 TBI

 

Check the charcoal canister on the driver side opposite the battery.

 

What am I checking for?!? *Please*

 

Check if it's full, the purge solenoid may not be working. There would be a fuel stench around it.

Also check the pressure valve for the tank, it's inside the rear quarter and also check the tank filler neck, the soldering often cracks from people hanging on the nozzle while filling up.

 

Good suggestions so far.
In some cases if the heat shielding is removed between the exhaust and the fuel tank, it can heat up the fuel and create more fumes.
If this is the case you would probably hear a pressure release when you remove your fuel cap.

 

The heat shield isn't removed, however there is always a lot of pressure being released when I unscrew the gas cap. I thought that that pressure was from the car sitting so much though....it doesn't get drove as often as I'd like.

@Twin_Turbo:
Where is the purge solenoid, and how would I know if it's working or not? Also, the pressure valve for the tank, I can't seem to find it lol, I don't know what I'm always looking for though, kind of a newbie for all this.
One of the first things I checked though was the filler neck, and it's fine.

 

There is often a tank vent just above the rear axle, and the purge solenoid is often on top of the charcoal canister.
Do search for CCP - charcoal canister purge.

 

The purge solenoid is on the evap cannister, it's the gimo with the red electrical plug

The fuel tank vent valve is near the drivers side rear wheel, look for the steel fuel lines and where they go up.

here's a pic, it's the neutral/tan discolored gizmo on the right just above the axle

 

Thanks everyone!! I'm going to go check this stuff out and see if it fixes it!

 

Ok, so I did some checking this afternoon to try and remedy the fuel fumes, to no avail. I checked the charcoal canister, it seems kind of light in weight, but nothing seems wrong with it, and no fumes coming from it. (keep in mind besides fumes, I really have no clue what I'd be looking for please)
Then I checked for the fuel tank vent valve, but even with the pic provided, I couldn't find it without jacking up the car, and since it was raining, I'll admit I was lazy and didn't do it. I will look for it tomorrow though. HOWEVER, my problem seems to be taking a toll on my Camaro. I tried to start it today, usually a sure thing, and it had a hard time turning over. It finally did, but then I noticed it smoking from the tail pipes. Usually a light smoke would be normal, white in color, but this was a lot! And it's not really cold out today....so what's going on....PLEASE HELP

 

White smoke says water is getting into your cylinders.

 

Grrrr....I still need help! There's still fumes coming into my car from somewhere. I've checked everything you guys suggested and still have no idea what to do. It's more in the cabin of the car than outside. I don't know how else to describe it.....

 

Pull the rear carpet, maybe someone cut the rear area for fuel pump access and used crappy hose & hose clamps to put the hard lines back together.

 

Well, I pulled the rear carpet....and you guessed it, someone took the easy way out of changing the fuel pump. Although I don't see anything wrong with the fuel pump, the area should probably be welded back, right?!? How can I tell if the fumes are actually coming from that though? I've had the car for over a year and took it on many trips and never had this problem!

 

You can have it welded back if the metal is all there, or make a filler panel. Or you can make some kind of air tight cover, which has been done with very limited success on here. If they cut the hole, then they needed to cut the hard lines running to the pickup. All 4 lines should be a hard line all the way down the side of the tank. Im guessing that if you look in the hole youll see rubber lines were they reattached the cut hard lines. If they didnt use hose ment to handle fuel, they could be corroded enough now to let fumes escape into your interior. Id suggest fixing the hole, and replacing your pickup to correct the cut hardlines. Itll probably be cheaper to grab a pickup out of the jyard than to repair the hard lines they cut (and im not talking about replacing the rubber, Im talking about new hard lines.)

 

.

 

Ok, this is the damage the previous owner did! Now what do I do about it?!?

http://www.freeimagehosting.net/imag...a7b3cad178.jpg
http://www.freeimagehosting.net/imag...12c921acc3.jpg
http://www.freeimagehosting.net/imag...b691bb4295.jpg

 

That damage is pretty typical of the gas tank access hole mod. Id drop the tank, weld the panel back in place, and replace the pickup. Those rubber lines arent supposed to be there, and can possibly rupture, come loose, or otherwise fail.

 

interesting. This is a real pain. I replaced my fuel pump and did not replace any of the lines while I was at it. I did install next Stainless feed and return lines and left out the other two vent lines and i have quite a bit of fuel fumes, so probably going to have to install the charcoal vent system crap!

 

Wanna bet your tank sending unit is messed up? Someone tried to seal something around 1 pipe w/ red RTV, chances are it's smelling from there. They tried to seal of that horrible cut sheetmetal with it too. Remove the red stuff and check if it smells there. If it does, pull it out and solder the connections.
You can actually see it's wet between the lines in the 2nd and 3rd pic.

 

Looks to me like someone tried to seal a leak on one of the pipe with silicone.

like was suggested above you may want to get a new sending/metering unit and change it out.

 

Ok, so I went out to the car today and took all that red S@*# off the fuel line. I then started the car up and let it run for awhile...I didn't smell any fumes. Took it out for a little drive, but didn't smell fumes. What the hell?!? I didn't do anything else to it besides remove the silicone....and I didn't even put that on. I've had the car for a year and a half and never had a smell of fuel like that, and now it's just gone?!? What was it, and does anyone know if it'll come back? I know I need to fix the cut out floor the right way btw.

 

fill the tank up and check again

 

Tank is full...

 

The gas started to eveporate.

Also, you might check the sealing ring gasket. The area there looked pretty wet too, unless it was from the hoses leaking.

IMHO...X2 on dropping the tank. I would flare tubes for the hoses, and get gas rated hi-pressure hose so it lasts a lot longer!!

Good Luck

 

There's nothing on there that is actually wet. I can also only smell a very faint fuel smell from there too, car running or not. I probably need to take a longer drive and see if the fumes come back. Any other ideas guys?

 

Look along the frame rails where the lines run-- look for leaks in the lines there.

 

I still haven't figured it out, but at the same time there's still no fumes that have comeback. I don't understand how they can be there one minute, me not fix anything, then gone the next. LOL, I have a witness, so I'm not crazy.....much!