Gas Fumes

[Rtrorkt]

Group, have an RS clone based on a 69 912 tub. Stock 3.2. Had some work done on the car including (or so I am told) new bottle under the dash, replace hard fuel lines, etc. Drove it back to Scottsdale from Rennsport yesterday, 11 hours and could almost not sit in the car due to the fuel fumes. I am told the last part of the system, the charcoal canister, still needs to be installed.

Would that solve this problem? I must say that this is a I need to get it done ASAP issue. Any thoughts are appreciated.

I did not have this issue prior to the work being done

[PeteKz]

You need to get it done ASAP. I don't know if it's a fire hazard, but you don't want to find out the hard way.

The "bottle" (actually a rectangular box) up under the dash commonly cracks and leaks at this age, causing nauseating fumes, however you said that was already replaced. Yes, get the charcoal canister installed, or route the loose hose to the outside of the car and see if that gets the fumes out of your face.

[EC900]

I ran for a while with my 77 while doing other work with the washer tank and without the expansion tank hoses that were left open to the atmosphere under the fender. The fumes were present but certainly not overwhelming inside the cabin, just a little wafting could be detected at times.

Safety first: certainly make sure there no gasoline leaks underneath or engine compartment from the new replacement lines, also check if any holes in the filler neck, all/any clamps tight.

Loose, worn gasket or no gas cap at all will cause overwhelming (raw gas) fumes. Likely the fumes are in trunk and entering the cabin. Not sure which tank you have but need to find the main evap hose line and have it exit out thru the fender until complete repair is made. A lot depends on what (vent) hose was removed and where they were left that’s drawing fumes from the trunk and into the cabin.

[EC900]

Here’s a reference:

tank ventilation-MFI diagrams

[pampadori]

Does your car have heat? If yes proceed to the next question.
Does your intake setup ingest the crankcase ventilation gases that come out of the oil tank?

[Discseven]

Have a look at the area around the fuel level sender.

[Rtrorkt]

Box in dash was replaced as were the fuel lines

[ericwitte]

As a test, cover up all of the holes in the frunk with tape, as others said, check or replace gas cap and check if there are any other hoses venting to atmosphere around the gas cap area. I put a 3.2 in my 72 and had similar issues until I replaced all of the hoses and now have the gas tank breather going to charcoal canister which has an exit hose going to exterior. No issue, even when filling tank to top


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[Bill Douglas]

My SC had strong fuel smells. I replaced the washer/seal on the gas cap and no smells since. A cheap and easy thing to try.

[HarryD]

Originally Posted by EC900

Here’s a reference:

tank ventilation-MFI diagrams

Check post #14 of the link above.

This thread is informative as well. Fuel tank venting system question

[scottb]

FWIW, I recently had a strong smell of gas coming from the front of the car. It turned out to be a leaky fuel pump.

[Rtrorkt]

Not that this is important, but installing a new cork gasket on my fuel cap (which is under my hood) and a new sending unit gasket. Need to drive it some more, but I think these two fixes worked