Gas smell.... Options

[quadracerx]

Hey Guys,

I know this has been talked about many times, but I cant find any posts with photos?

My red 914 has a terrible gas smell in the cockpit. It has carbs not FI... I remember mention of venting the charcoal canister differently by changing one of the hoses to go through the front trunk or something?

Any help would be appreciated. And of course photos are best because Im old and have a 3rd grade education...

I just need to rebuild the front calipers and put new stainless fuel lines in and she will be drivable!!

HELP!! Spring will be here soon and this year I want to be ready!!

Thanks,

Steve

[GregAmy]

Is it worse with the tank full? If so, could be a hole rubbed/rusted into the area where the back of the tank lies. That was my issue last year.

Pull the driver's side carpet back, maybe even remove the foot board, see if there's any evidence of fuel up there.

My tank does not have the charcoal canister at all; my fuel smell went away when I replaced the tank.

[quadracerx]

Is it worse with the tank full? If so, could be a hole rubbed/rusted into the area where the back of the tank lies. That was my issue last year.

Pull the driver's side carpet back, maybe even remove the foot board, see if there's any evidence of fuel up there.

My tank does not have the charcoal canister at all; my fuel smell went away when I replaced the tank.

No evidence of fuel in the drivers side, no evidence of fuel in the tunnel under the center console... I have never had a full tank of gas in the car so I cant answer that...

Thanks for the reply and the help..

Steve

[mountainroads]

Is it worse with the tank full? If so, could be a hole rubbed/rusted into the area where the back of the tank lies. That was my issue last year.

Pull the driver's side carpet back, maybe even remove the foot board, see if there's any evidence of fuel up there.

My tank does not have the charcoal canister at all; my fuel smell went away when I replaced the tank.

No evidence of fuel in the drivers side, no evidence of fuel in the tunnel under the center console... I have never had a full tank of gas in the car so I cant answer that...

Thanks for the reply and the help..

Steve

I went through this myself, a couple of years ago. I don't have the charcoal canister, either. A couple of other "minor" issues conspired to provide a noticeable cockpit smell. It doesn't take much.

1) Mis-routed overflow/vent hose.
2) PO had drilled an additional one inch hole under dash to run some extra wiring.
3) Check the filler cap gasket. That cork can get old and dry after 40+ years.
4) I also replaced the fuel lines with braided SS even though there was no indication they were the source. Just seemed like a good idea. That plastic looked old and brittle.

Item #1 combined with #2 was the biggest contributor. Hope that helps. Happy hunting.

- MR

[Amphicar770]

My tank looked fine albeit rusty in the inside. When I took it to have gastankrenu service they found a leak that they soldered up. Also, while I never saw leaking even with uv dye, when I replaced the lines and hoses I noticed slight weeping at the hose clamp area. It does not take much to reach the cabin.

[quadracerx]

Is there a hose coming from the charcoal canister that needs to be re-routed because I have carbs?

[7TPorsh]

I had this same issue....cockpit gas smell. Replace your plastic fuel lines with steel even if they aren't leaking. They get saturated and smell.

[SLITS]

Is there a hose coming from the charcoal canister that needs to be re-routed because I have carbs?

Fuel tank vent to expansion chamber to charcoal canister. Two hoses run down the drivers side to the charcoal canister. One is supply air from the engine fan to purge the canister and the other is a return to the air cleaner.

With carbs, you would tap the top cover with an elbow fitting to allow for suction and connect it to the return line from the canister.

[maf914]

In the past I have had a raw gas smell in the cockpit and it turned out to be from the fuel filler neck on the fuel tank. My car is a 76, so there is the fuel tank, gasket, and plastic fuel vapor tank, all held with eight hex head bolts. I was able to eliminate the leak by loosening the eight bolts and retightening them in an alternating pattern. Not easy, because some of the hex heads were tight against the filler neck, which made it difficult to get a socket on them. The assembly line must have had some very thin wall sockets. I have had to do this a couple of times over the life of my car. I don't know if the gasket is shrinking or some vibration is loosening the bolts? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif)

[somd914]

My car has carbs and charcoal canister is removed. When I purchased the car I had an occasional fuel smell, began wondering about the lack of the charcoal canister or rusted tank, etc... Anyway, for me it turned out to be a bad fuel tank cap gasket.