bad gas smell in car

[lsmkr06]

everytime i put gas it the car it smells up the interior soooo bad like gas...can anyone help. any suggestions would be great thanks

[IslandS62]

Remove the rear seat bottom. On the passenger side there is oval plate secured by 4 screws, and under it are the connection for the fuel gauge and sender as well as some lines. The round brass colored plate you see there has an O-ring under it that wears out over time and it needs to be replaced.

Undo the lines and electrical connections (disconnect battery). Undo the 4 nuts securing the sending unit. Remove the sending unit by pulling up and out. Remove the brass color plate by turning it counterclockwise...the fuel and tank are right there uinder the plate. Put out your cigarette. Replace O-ring. Assembly opposite as disassembly. Check connections.

In the meantime you may want to keep from topping off your tank. Fill it to no more than 3/4 full to prevent seepage. Fairly easy once you've done it. Work in ventilated garage.

[AlfaEric]

everytime i put gas it the car it smells up the interior soooo bad like gas...can anyone help. any suggestions would be great thanks

Most likely what IslandS52 wrote... or it could be a problem with a breather tube (or a leaking tank). Also check your filler neck to see if it has rusted.

---Eric

[sheepdog43]

I just went through this.

Look around teh top of the tank, use some small mirrors.

There is a breather tube that runs across and enters the tank on the front drivers side on toop, it is recessed and a trap for water.

Also, between the 2 acccess ports the lines are tack welded, they rot here as well.


Look around the seem of your tank from below.


If any looks bad, start looking for a new tank.
Pelican wants $4000 for a 91 IS tank.
1aauto.com has one for $140, with shipping (it says $140 plus shipping, but their prices recently dropped and it did not reflect on the product page)

I got mine there. Its a tad taller, but not so much as to be a problem. Considering the price difference, I do not mind (I cannot put one screw in one access cover because it would rub, everything else is fine).


Its a big job to replace a tank and I would not want to pay somone to do it. Be prepared to lift the entire car off the ground (jackstands and ramps for me).

May want some new header bolts (exhaust system to manifold), drive shaft support bearing (since your driveshaft is out, do it now), order a new crossover tube (make sure you use that name, or the dealer will likely say "a what?"), some sort of liquid wrench (PB I think is what I used, check Napa, this stuff works well), some new hose (high pressure 5/16 worked instead of the stock metric), about 10 new hose clamps too, and another person handy.


This tank came with a new sending unit O-ring, but not for the level indicator gasket, which I had to pull to get my sending unit out.

Don't forget to disconnect the battery.


Good luck, hopefully yours is just a hose or gasket.

[jay diemme]

hey, check the fuel pump gasket, i was talking to the previous owners of your car the other day and they said that the fuel smell is comming from a nonexistant fuel pump gasket, they guy who worked on it said he used silicone to seal it which probably isnt there anymore. he also said that around the time he was fiddling with the fuel pump the gas guage stopped working.

So you can probably just replace the gasket with a new one and check all the wiring for the fuel level sender