wxw116

Hey all,

After a buddy and I replaced my points yesterday, I've noticed (even more than before) a really heavy smell of fuel. To the point where I just pulled the car in the garage after driving it to work (~5 miles each way) and back today in the nice weather, and the gas smell is permeating the entire downstairs of my house, my wife is about to kill me! lol..

I checked for the obvious signs of leakage somewhere, nothing is spilling out, the smell is just very bad when the engine is running, honestly I thought I could smell it more while driving down the road today too.

Could adjusting the points/distributor/plugs stuff have had a huge effect on what I'm smelling here? I don't expect that a 35 year old muscle car is gonna smell like roses, but the gas fumes are making me nauseous.

Car in question: 1974 BB Manual vert. I am the third owner, the car has been in the family for over 20 years.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Worth

45ACP

I'd start with tracing fuel lines.

And I would not put the car inside until the problem is fixed. Gas vapor + one spark = your house in orbit.

Garys 68

I spent weeks trying to find my leak.
Turned out the bottom mounted fuel line/sender unit was leaking onto my spare tire. Nothing on the ground because the spare was soaking up the gas.

GUSTO14

Worth,

You didn't happen to fill the tank recently did you? If you did, be sure to check this thing out at the top left front of the fuel tank...Tank Vapor Separator...

http://www.zip-products.com/Zip/asse...ges/GT-380.JPG
You can see it by laying on your back and looking directly up into the cavity between the left rear quarter panel and the left side of the tank with a flashlight.

Regardless, try to isolate the area where the smell is strongest and we can probably be of more help.

One thing I have done is lay some newsprint under the car in the areas where a leak is most likely to occur. Left rear under the (above) vapor separator; right rear under the rubber lines that connect the tank to the main fuel lines to the front of the car; and of course under the engine in the vicinity of the fuel pump.

Good luck... GUSTO

theandies

What Gusto said

Mr.Gearhead

Okay... longshot.. but this was my issue. FOR SOME REASON... when I put in my petronix points... my car was running rich. Mine was not raw gas smell but rather exhaust and fuel type smell. Now I would think since I put in a "better" spark, more fuel would be good.. but I had to adjust my carb. I only adjust the idle mixture screws on my Holley, but this work for me...

I think you would see a leaking fuel line. It has been my experience nothing happens by accident. You question is a good example... replacing points will not knock of a fuel line or evaporator... although I agree with other posts it doesn't hurt to check.

Does the exhaust really STINK? My pipes inside turn black after a week... Hope this helps. I know the feeling with the wife ready to kill ya!

PETKAH

Consider replacing the rubber hoses at the tank - that solved my
problem. Plus, I never fill it all the way up.

kdf1986

I have a similar problem with my 1975. I have tried new gas caps, both vented and unvented. I took off the carb to check the fuel wells to see if they were leaking and draining into the intake manifold, they were not. Then I started to replace all the rubber hoses connected to the carb, back to the fuel vapor cannister. Next week I will do the hoses from the fuel pump to the steel fuel lines on the frame. I am slowly working my way back to the fuel tank.

For now I bought a very large industrial floor fan. After my drive I point the fan towards the car, turn it on high, and leave the garage door cracked open. I leave this on for about 2 hours to push the smell and the vapors outside of the the garage. If I dont, the entire house will smell like gasoline, and it really stinks.

good luck in finding your leak. To minimize it until then you may need to get a fan to blow the fumes/smell away from the house.

kdf

427-390

My experience was this: After a drive and the car was at operating temp, I would park the car and have the same overwhelming gas smell. The car would also be hard to start, as if it was flooded. After it was cooled down, the car would start just fine. One day, after I drove the car, I was in the garage for about 15 minutes after I shut the car down. I started to hear some unusual noise under the hood of the car. I opened the hood pulled the air cleaner, and to my surprise, gas was bubbling out of the Q-jet. It took about 10 - 15 minutes for this to happen. I replaced the carb, no problems since. Lars has addressed this very problem with Q-jets in the CF in the past. You may be able to find it in the archives. Anyway, you may want to see if this is what is happening. Get the car to operating temp, shut it down, wait for about 10 - 15 minutes and see if any gas is percolating out of the carb. I hope this helps. Good luck

wxw116

for all the responses guys, I'll try some of that, especially looking at the vapor seperator.

The carb (and entire engine bay) was just completely rebuilt in the last 3-4 months, so I'm thinking it's more likely the problem is at the other end of the car...the newspaper idea is a good one too.

if anyone else has more to share, keep it comin!

71406

for me it was the evaporator canister located on the frame just behind behind the driver side front wheel. Its filled with charcoal and absorbes fuel vapor in your system. While mine was 36 years old, maybe you knocked off a vacuum hose leading to it while changing the points.

Chuck-75

your description of the gas smell has been talked about before. Id check the vac.hose to the canister . because thats its job to vent the fuel so that it dosent get to the out side of the car.

BKbroiler

Remember that fuel vapors are heavier than air and therefore will be most dense at floor level. Consider if you have a gas fired water heater or something at that level that could ignite the fumes. It does happen.

OzzyTom

obviously not related to your situation regarding changing points, but I also had issues with strong smell of gasoline just after purchasing my vert 10 years ago.

I found I had a fuel leak from my tank
I repaired it as best I could at the time, and it was OK as long as I didn't fill the tank above 3/4 full. I replaced the tank with a new one last year and it now allows for a full tank of fuel without issues.

I also experienced a similar issue as 427-390, where my carby was squirting raw fuel into the carb even after shutdown.

I hadn't used the vette for several months, and on this particular early morning, I happened to find a quiet length of country road (as you do) where I did a flat out run from standstill to test it out...

When I backed off, the car began to cough and splutter, and eventually stalled as I pulled to the side of the road.
I could smell gasoline, and when I lifted the bonnet and removed the air filter assembly, there was raw fuel squirting into the secondaries of the holley, and leaking out and pooling onto the manifold..

Not good.

I managed to get it going by giving the carb a knock above the float needle to release it. I then drove home sedately to pull the carb apart.

If it's raw fuel smell that you can notice.... my advice is find the source and fix it now.
Don't let it be one of those jobs that you keep saying "I'll get around to it next week..."

Fibreglass is not fire resistant!

bluesilver82

That is scary..If you cant get it fixed yourself shortly, I would take it to a shop or even a chevy dealer and let them take care of it.

sjr1971

The seperator is made up of an upper and lower resevior half[glued]. On mine, the bottom de-glued and disappeared producing strong gas fumes with > 3/4 tank.With conventional exhaust, that fuel would pour onto the exht pipes. I tied off the hose , vented[drilled a small hole in]the gas cap and drove the car. No mo gas fumes.

schmegeggie

My 69 had a pin leak right where the crossmember supported the whole tank. It was leaking down into the spare tire carrier. I really noticed it when I filled the tank, thus creating more pressure at the leak source. New tank and the smell is gone.
Get to work hunting down the source. A leaking tank is the last thing you want.