Hey all, has anyone ever experienced a gas smell in the cockpit of their car? I have had my car in storage over the winter. I stopped it to check on the car, and to retrieve some parts, noticed the smell. It was weeks later after it was parked for the season. I did check the engine bay, everything looked dry. Checked the gas cap, it was tight.
My concern is a line may be leaking in the tunnel. The interior had the strongest odor.
I am going to put the battery back in and prime the pump without starting it. Then check for any leaking fuel.
Any ideas on what it could be? How to check the tunnel?
I fully intend to buy the tangerine fuel lines etc. sometime this year, but looking to try to resolve this currently.
Any advice or info would be much appreciated. Thank you.
Lance

When did you last service your charcoal canister?

Does it correlate with fuel level? For example, more with a higher fuel level (did you just fill up)?

If so, you may have a rust pinhole on the side of the tank where the carpet-like pads are. It's a reasonably-common problem (I had it; leaked every time I filled more than about halfway. Leaked fuel into the floorboard inside, behind the pedals).

Most likely the fuelhoses that connect the tank to the fuel lines in the tunnel are leaking (porous over time). Pull out the tank and replace those two lines, and while youre at it replace the fuelfilter in the tank ;-).
Tank comes easily out without removing the hood, should take no more then 15-20 minutes ( a pair of extra hands is very helpfull)

As you said, it could also be the lines through the tunnel of the car. For that you need more time and help and the stainless steel kit a good choice.
Did all fuel lines from back to front, including on the engine last year and took me about 4 hours ( with help of a friend)

Good luck, hope this helps

Inspect and fix before you start it

I am sure it has never been serviced. PO owned the car since 79, but did the bare minimum on the maintenance. I hope to do better on maintenance.

I do try to top fuel off before storage. Will hopefully check fuel level later today.

Going to be installing a front sway bar, the tank will be pulled then for sure. Will inspect and repair or replace.

Thank you all for the advice and replies.

Often after topping off the tank if the car is parked on an uneven surface, ie at the curb of a road that has a high peak in the center causes fuel to flow into the expansion tank, this will cause the car to smell like a serious fuel leak.

While finding the exact cause has appeal, considering that these are 50 year-old cars and your PO did minimal maintenance, you might want to take a more comprehensive approach to dealing with this issue, and do a full restoration of the fuel system, all the way back to the injectors.

Major things I'd do:

* All new gaskets and seals (e.g. filler flange, sender, etc.)
* New sender (if yours hasn't ever been replaced)
* New fuel tank sock
* New fuel cap rubber seal (that's what fixed my fuel smell, and cap was tight before)
* Clean tank, treat interior, paint exterior
* Re-charged charcoal canister. Get a later plastic one, pop off the cap, refill with just under 2 lb of activated charcoal pellets (Amazon, like $20).
* Tangerine SS lines
* All new FI grade hoses and FI hose clamps
* New fuel filter

I'm sure there's more to add to the list. Considering that fuel fires have been a major issue with 914's since they started making them, and that they're 50 years old now, a full refub is probably in order.

Also check the tank where it contacts the carpet pads. Betty's car had the tank rust out there from contact from the damp pads. It took years, and then became porus. I chased it for weeks before finding out it was seeping through the rust on the side of the tank.


Clay

Thank you all for the replies.

Update: smell definitely in the cabin. It appears a fuel line in the tunnel must be leaking, smell is strongest in the interior of the car.
Did a quick inspection of the rear tunnel under center pad. Looked wet. Haven’t started or turned the key since October.
Does anyone know if the Tangerine full kit comes with pre bent rubber lines for running fuel rail to injectors?
Plan to buy the full car kit from Chris sometime this week.

Tagnerines kit includes the stainless lines and I think the grommets. They do sell the rubber lines too, but they are not included in the kit.

Autoatlanta has a upper and lower fuel line kit with all the hoses cut to the right length... that is a concours way to go. Or you can go to your FLAPS and just get FI grade hoses in the right sizes and cut them to length yourself. Exception being the hoses that go from the fuel injectors to the fuel rail, these are special curved hoses you have to buy.

Update:
Officially ordered an entire fuel line kit for my car. Found the leak. Leaking at the fuel pump. Was by myself so couldn’t tell were it was from exactly, just seen a puddle forming under the car, shut it off and looked.
Appeared to be wet near electrical connections. Is there a gasket or seal near by that could be replaced?
I have read and heard sometimes these will seal back up. But if at all possible, would like to try and repair properly. Going to try and get a better look, maybe a loose clamp, cracked line…

Stinking screw clamps. Get shouldered ones for every connection point. Ancient braided fuel line. Replace every MM with line designed for modern fuels. Or chase leaks forever.

fuel pump is probably leaking out of the electrical plug gasket if its wet around that electrical connection. and it would be rare for one to re-seal itself.
looking at the photo, despite the suss clamps on the fuel lines, they don't look to be leaking. one way to find out is to get the car up in the air enough for you to get under and start it up. look for the leaks. probably will be evident with system under pressure.
try and do it quickly. with a fire extinguisher around.

i have managed to fix two of these original fuel pumps.

if you are up for it - its all here.

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=350416

not a job for the fainted hearted. you need time and patience.

or just buy a new fuel pump of the modern type.
which will be a two port pump rather than one of these old three ports.

if you do go replacement route, don't throw away that old pump.
it can probably be reconditioned and its a valuable core.
they are worth money when fixed up.

---

if you are really lucky it might be just leaking out of the top section where the port housing is. thats a relatively easy fix as you don't have to open the pump casing itself.
you will find that in the thread i have linked to as part of the procedure.

Thank you the quick replies, going to dig a bit deeper tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully not a serious issue. Thank you all again.

Glad you are getting it sorted. I also had a mystery gas smell yesterday. I was returning from my first long distance trip since putting my resto back on the road last year. After 300 miles of non-stop driving, I pulled into a tiny town to fill up. I kid walks out of the garage and starts looking for the fuel filler. Yes, it was an old time full service gas station! Hadn't seen one of those since a trip to Oregon quite a few years ago. Anyway, I was kinda amused by the trip down Memory Lane and hit the road again. The smell of fuel became noticeable after 5 miles but I thought maybe the kid just spilled a little gas pulling the nozzle out. At 10 miles the fumes were getting stronger and I pulled over and popped open the frunk. No gas cap! This jogged my memory of having to watch gas station attendants like a hawk back in the day to make sure they got the cap back on, and more important, didn't try to shut the hood with the gas cap sitting on the expansion tank. I was clearly out of practice.

Anyway, I turn around and drive back thinking I'd find the cap sitting on the pump, but no. Both the owner and kid helped look all over but no cap. The kid felt terrible and kept offering to pay for the cap. I wouldn't let him but did let him top off the half gallon of fuel I burned. I left again keeping my eyes peeled for a vintage cap and found it in the road at the second turn after the station. It has a few "story marks" in the fresh plating I did during the resto but otherwise functional. Screwed it back on and the smell magically disappeared.

Glad to hear it was found, but sorry it got a rash. I know by your build thread on the effort you put in on all aspects of the build. I love hearing all the stories of these cars and their owners!

All is well that ends well, glad you made it home without incident.

I would leave the cap as is, part of the story of your build

FWIW, notice the notch in the pump clamp. This is where the electrical connector should go. If anything does leak, at least this connector & cover boot won't get damaged. Happy 4th to you & yours!

As noted above, the Bosch pumps can leak. The pump bossy and the electrical connection are the two usual spots. There are O rings in those places that get old / rot, and then you get leaks. Not trivial to replace but doable. There are guys on the Pelican board who used to offer kits and even rebuild them. The 914 pump is similar to the 911 MFI ‘69-‘73 fuel pump, so parts may be interchangeable.

As others have noted ...

Your fuel system has 40 year old hoses, gaskets, lines, seals, pump, etc. Likely multiple leaks or weepy connections. Pull the tank, and do everything from tank back to injectors. Could save your car from going up in flames as many have.

Drove the car on to a trailer to get it home from storage, then off the trailer to the the garage. Pump leak sealed itself back up. At the moment car is just waiting for the fuel line kit to arrive, then the work will begin.
Planning to try and replace whatever o rings I can on the pump.

Thank you all again for the tips, insight and encouragement. I appreciate it.

I will keep you all posted.