I have a 1995 C4 and I am smelling gas in the garage. I have searched on the forum here and this is what I have done so far.

1 visually inspect all fuel lines (see pic included) no visible leaks
2 took off the ribbed air tube to the throttle body ( no fuel)
3 smelled all around the vac canister in the back and looked at the bottom of it ( no fuel or strong odor)
4 Checked the gas cap no smell or apparent gasket problems.


The smell sorta went away after it sat without being started for a week, but after I started it and let it warm up looking for a leak the smell came back strong. I have removed anything else that might be causing the smell in the garage. I am going to get a fuel pressure gauge to check that next. I have included a photo of the driver side injector area that looks like something has pooled there. Any input is welcome and I will let you know when I get a gauge.

Art

 

I'd guess you have a bad injector.
Have a couple of fire extingushers on hand and remove covers and have someone start the car when engine is cold. Watch all injectors and smell for leaks as soon as you see or smell something shut engine off, do not let car fully warm up.
Could also ck injectors with a multi-meter before starting they should all read at least .012 ohm or more, higher is better. Remember a fuel leak is usually a mech. failure not a electrical one. But they can come together mine did. While driving close to home smelled gas drove right home let car cool and took off covers, restarted and could see gas spraying out of one injector. Replaced all injectors with Bosch 3s, problem solved.
PS im not a mech. so if your car burns up don't blame me
Safest bet have car flat bedded to dealer, just have your wallet full of green.
Dealer wanted $200 per injector I replaced all 8 for under $200 thanks F.I.C. !!!!!

 

Also, I would push the car out of the garage before trying anything.

 

I would sniff around by the Fuel Pressure Regulator. These things have a tendency to leak as they age. You may notice a slight leak, or the membrane inside might leak into the vacuum line so no leak will be noticeable. Ethanol have a tendency to cause fuel parts to leak, especially on older cars that weren't designed for it.

 

All good info I will check into all of it.


By the way Go Giants... they won game one.....



Art

 

I have nothing to add except don't ignore gas smells!

 

My gas cap would sometimes vent after warm up and on hot days. You could easily locate the prob when this happens.

 

A couple of years ago when I was replacing vauum lines on my car I pulled the line from the FP regulator and had some liquid come out. Didnt give it a thought then and didnt check to see if it was fuel. About a month ago I had a strong gas smell in my garage. checked around and found the vacuum hose on the FP regulator split and it looked like a liquid was spilt and dried in the area collecting dirt.

So I check the FP diaphram, I had a bad diaphram in my FP regulator. Was sucking gas right into the plenum, Never smelled gas until the vacuum hose split. Guess the hose was not resistant to gasoline. You may want to prime your FP outside the garage and then pull those two vacuum lines to see if there is any gas in them. If there is replace the diaphram and the old vacuum line.

 

Ok Weekend update:


Worked Saturday so today I got the fuel pressure gauge hooked up this afternoon. After I removed the plastic cap on the Schrader valve I noticed a little wet fuel it might have come from the pressure gauge but not sure I will keep an eye on that. Hooked up the gauge and turned on the key pumped up to 45 psi then dropped to 43. Did this a couple of time, I bled the pressure each time same results. I then ran the car and had a pressure of 38 psi while running. I let the gauge set after that for 15-20 min and no loss of pressure.

I looked all over for a leak or any signs and nothing. The only hoses that look bad and they have cracks in them are the vacuum return hose form the canister relief valve next to the engine. I will need to go up and get some of that hose this week and replace the entire run. That might be where the smell is coming from.

If I have no lose of pressure with the engine turned off on the fuel line does this rule out a fuel leak? I would think so but maybe I am missing something...

Art

 

You need to look for fuel in the vacuum line attached to the fuel pressure regulator. If there is fuel in there then the FPR diaphragm is ruptured. That sucks fuel into the plenum and you get a fuel smell... (or possibly a fire, which happened to me).

 

Absolutely Not..your fuel system runs the entire Length of your car.

 

Desert Mike,

Not following you, if the pump is in the tank and the system returns to the tank on the return side how does holding pressure not include that entire run. Is there a check valve somewhere along the way?

Any input on what vacuum hoses to replace with?

Art

 

Weekend update, I filled up the tank Thursday and when I took the cap off There was a lot of vacuum built up in the tank. Normally this wouldn't seem too strange but given the smell issue I noticed it. I picked up 1/4 fuel line to replace the vacuum line with because I didn't like the vacuum line they had, not sure if there is an issue with using fuel line vs vacuum line so any input is welcome with that. Does anyone know of a vendor to get the little spring loaded hose clamps, I don't think I need to put on the screw type for this but maybe.

I looked over all the vacuum line for signs of gas and nothing no leaks detected through the diaphragm at the fuel pressure regulator. The smell seems to have dissipated since I filled up the tank. I did grab a fire extinguisher and install in the car though just in case.

Art

 

Because the only " pressurized "part is the line between the pump and fuel reg on the intake
The return line only has pressure from what fuel is bypassed by the fuel reg when the engine is running .
Stopped the return line has no ( or tank ) pressure

 

I have a 1990 corvette. Had the same smell . My leak was my fuel tank above the spare tire and exhaust pipe on the right side. A small crack no rust about 3 inches up from the bottom of tank. by the safety cable. Dont know why, Good luck, doctorg17.

 

Vetteoz, got it. I understood that part wasn't pressurized but didn't really say that. A guy at work said it might be an injector that is dripping a little bit right after I turn off the key. I am going to pull off the spare tire and look up there.

Art

 

DO NOT drive the car or run it in the garage. I had the same mystery gas odor. Here is what happened. One day after filling the car up the night before I went out and started it up to go somewhere. As I pulled up the street it was running a little lumpy but I figured I must have gotten some gas with water in it. About another quarter mile up the road it started to run really bad so I turned around and went home and into my garage. When I pulled into the garage and shut it off there were fumes rolling from under the hood. I popped the hood figuring I had a busted radiator hose because there was a wide wet trail up the driveway into the garage. When I looked at the back of the engine it was covered in a liquid. I mean the intake cavities were full of a liquid. Suddenly my nose told me what it was it was fuel. I discovered that the "o" rings for the fuel lines between the fuel rails had gone bad. When I got it repaired and turned the key on I noticed my gas gage was down over 1/4 of a tank. In the less than a mile I drove the car that morning it had pumped over 1/4 tank of gas all over the engine. For the few dollars it cost to get new seals just replace them and see if the fuel smell goes away. I went to the local bearing supplier and they measured the seals I had. They had a seal that was the same od and id but was just a little bit thinner so I doubled them up. I believe it was less than $5.00 for a package of 25

I need to clarify something. When I said Ihad the same mystery gas smell I meant to say I had been looking for it for a couple of months just like you are. Like you I went through the evap system etc. All the suggestions posted so far are good possibilities for your gas smell. In my case the seals held just good enough for some time before finally blowing apart. Like I said for the small amount it cost for new seals this is just good preventive maintenance on these old cars.

 

I had the same issue. The FPR was leaking and gas was pooling on the manifold.

 

I too have a 95, and noticed the same thing. The first place i looked was the schrader valve going to the fuel rails, it was loose and had a distinct fuel smell around it. I tightened that up and it went away, that was over 18 months ago..