Hello everyone. I'm a new owner of a 1975 914 1.8l (pictures shortly) with 75,000 miles. It was converted professionally to dual carbs from the original bosch fuel injection system. The car drives well but have noticed that when I park it in the garage after driving that a very strong gas smell lingers for days. I don't see any fuel leak. Is there a charcoal filter I've missed that needs replacing or can anyone recommend some items to check.

Pictures soon as I start the restore this winter, I'm a restore newbie so it should be painfully fun.

Cheers,

David

and the madness that goes when you buy these neat old cars.
Start with the filter neck seal then the gas cap seal,they don't last for ever,cheap enough to buy,then move on to the lines that exit the tank filler to the charcoal canister on the drivers side there and then go on from there,pretty sure your car has the canister,mine didn't.

Good luck you will get there,others on here will have other helpful tips also.

75, so your filter is up front, check the hoses and see if they are moist. The ethanol eats the older style hoses. You will want to check these out through the inspection panel wit the fuel pump mounted to it at the rear of the spare tire. Remove the panel and reach in to feel the hoses. You will know pretty quickly if this is the problem as the gas small will get stronger when you open the panel.
That and the other seals in the gas cap, and vent tank as common.
Welcome to the fun! At least it's a car you can do most of the work yourself on.

Don't forget the fuel line in the transmission tunnel!

And don't over fill, gas expands into the charcoal canister. Best, Mark

Your most likely culprit is the hoses on the bottom of the tank. They are cloth covered hoses that breakdown with ethanol fuel use. The gas will seep through the deteriorated rubber and the cloth covering. Remove the inspection panel from beneath the car and look up through the round hole at the hoses. If they are wet you've found your smell.

It's possible the small line from the canister to the tank vent is wide open. The gas smell is not uncommon with cars switched to carbs. More so the norm. How do factory 6s deal with fume draw off and not have wide open vacuum lines?

I have also found that penetrations drilled into the bulkhead between the passenger compartment by previous owners have a lot to do with gas smells in the cabin. Over the years mine had a handful of screw holes as well as one big hole in the middle where some dunce tried to mount a middle speaker and then removed it. it was like having the gas tank inside the car....

"Switched to carbs". That's most likely the cause right there...

--DD

I had a strong gas smell when I got my 914. It had original lines and the 3 original seals on the gas tank. I went through and replaced all the rubber lines, seals and hooked back up all the lines to the charcoal tank. The smell is now very faint.

Thanks Mikey, will do that this weekend.

https://www.google.ca/webhp?sourceid=chrome...lasses+gasoline

Installed in the garage,a decent way to protect the house.
/

One of the many reasons I like the factory FI setup. But really it is probably an old line or a disconnected line from the carb conversion. Best wishes and have fun.

Carbs are vented to the atmosphere, you’ll always get a little bit of a smell. What you are willing to tolerate is up to you. As others have stated, one of the reasons a properly maintained FI system is nice.

Even if you DON't expose them to ethanol... these cars are now ancient, and rubber is only good for max 20 years.

Drain your tank and remove it. Replace ALL fuel hoses and GERMAN fuel line (NOT AMERICAN). Use DOUBLE fuel line clamps not Hose Clamps.

Total parts cost.. under $80.
Benefits:

House won't burn down

Car won't burn down.

The left over fuel in the carb bowls evaporates into the atmosphere ( read: your garage). The MFI cars have closed systems and do not vent into the air like carbs. I have had MFI and CIS 911s and never experienced a strong gas smell until I brought home my MFI 914 converted to Carbs. Since we have a dog door into th garage, the gas odor was coming into the house which was a big no Bueno.

I installed an exhaust fan in the wall of the garage bay where the 914 lives which pretty much runs 24X7. No gas odor in the house and only mild smell in the garage.

You might need to do the same or convert back. It unfortunately is the nature of the carbed beast.

No pun but care to expand on that?

Many carb conversions on 914s wind up with fuel odors. Causes vary, but if you want to eliminate the odors you have to do a lot more work than most people who are just "switching to carbs" are likely to do.

You need to deal with the evap system and/or fuel tank ventilation, you need a good air-cleaner setup, and so on.

--DD

When my car got converted to carb by a "professional garage", they forgot to close the fuel return line. I had a strong gas smell and since gas evaporates fairly quickly, I did not notice it was leaking until I had a buddy check it out. I have a 75 as well.
Just sharing my first experience.

Good luck and be safe.
Abe

I am pretty sure the charcoal canister is located in the engine compartment on the battery tray. I have a 75 1.8 also but my canister is missing. FRom pics I have seen it should be in the engine compartment not the front trunk as earlier cars used to have.

Brett

Above & beyond the obvious center tunnel lines as mentioned above:

There are two black plastic hoses that come up into the engine bay under the relay board.
What was done with these hoses after the conversion?
They lead to the charcoal system in the front via the drivers side long.

The stock fuel system had TWO lines that ran front to back via the amber plastic lines in the center tunnel.
Carbs only need one of these two.
1 - Did the correct line get used (previously pump IN)
2 - did the other line (pump return line) get terminated at the front? (or even at the rear)

And finally (as said above) carbs have float bowls that are open to the air.
They were full when you drove the car in the garage.
You will smell gas until all of the gas evaporates leaving the bowls dry.
And they will refill every time you turn on the fuel pump even if you dont start the car.

Up through early 1974 model year, the car had the charcoal canister mounted above the fuel tank. In mid-74, they moved the tank back into the engine bay. One of my 74s (the 1.8) had the engine-bay-mounted one, my 74 2.0 has the front-mounted one.

Note that only the front-mounted canister cars have two plastic lines running through the rocker panel. The engine-bay canister cars have a single smaller line that runs through the center tunnel.

--DD

I also had fuel smell similar to what you described.

I replaced al, the lines, clamps, etc from front to back. Also opened up charcoal canister and replaced the media. No fuel odor since then.

i do not think German vs American hose matters. You do want fuel injection rates barrier hose as that is the only thing that will stand up to ethanol. The old braided German stuff is obsolete.

What should be done here?:

There are two black plastic hoses that come up into the engine bay under the relay board.
What was done with these hoses after the conversion?
They lead to the charcoal system in the front via the drivers side long.

I have the same strong gas smell on my 75...

Ill take a closer look when I get home next week...

Thanks,

Steve

I deleted my evap tank and ran the breather line into a fuel filter close by,fumes are gone ,I carried the vent line back to one of my Zeniths to draw off any fumes while engine is running...not sure if I needed to.
Click to view attachment
Fumes in the enginebay ??? don't have any.