Gasoline odor in the morning.

Kevin Lewis · 02-20-2006, 12:56 PM

Please help me before I become Barbecue.
I smell gas every morning I open up the garage, not strong enough to ignite and I do not see any leaking anywhere, floor or engine compartment. I can smell it in the car, but not as strong of an odor as in the garage. Could this be caused by an old gas cap with a worn out gasket or are the tunnel tubes allowing the gas to permeate through the plastic walls? Does anyone know if the tunnel tubes are still available from Porsche or Pelican Parts? I know the gas cap is, but I just need the gasket.

Tobra · Tobra's Garage

There are a number of things that would give you the fuel smell. Some are pretty innoccuous, like the charcoal filter is all done, or the lines to and from it are dried up. Look under the hood at all the rubber fuel lines, are any of them cracked? When they start to crack, they weep a bit, which is not so good. If you are going to do the lines through the tunnel, a good idea, there are a few ways to go. Tougher with motor in car to do stainless lines, and there are replacements available. There has been pretty extensive discussion of this over at 914club.com. I think the gas cap is the same as for a old beetle, but would have to check. It might even be that the injectors are leaking a little, so you get extra fuel in the cylinder, which will give you some odor, along with a few other things.

Check this onefuel line thread

Joe Bob · Joe Bob's Garage

All that and the gasket UNDER the gas cap....when was the last time you checked the lines UNDER the tank.

BTW, have you looked underneath the car for spots? Most 914s like to mark their territory, so you'll need to do the sniff test....

Kevin Lewis · 02-21-2006, 05:01 AM

I have had the car for 4 years now and been working on it ever since I traliered it from CA. I have a kit to move the fuel pump into the front trunk and have been to busy to install the kit, but now smells like a good time to do so. I will look around and sniff until I find the problem, thanks again for the suggestions. I have so much work and new parts in this car I would hate to see it burn up before my eyes. Thanks for the replys.
Kevin

Tobra · Tobra's Garage

While you have the gas tank out, you may want to replace the lines that go from the brake fluid reservoir to the master cylinder, they need to be replaced, trust me

Kevin Lewis · 02-21-2006, 07:16 AM

I just replaced the master cylinder 9/05 to a 19mm and both lines have been replaced along with SS lines at the calipers, new rotors all around and rebuilt the calipers and painted them red (cool) in 6/04. Believe me when I say I have a lot of new parts in this car. It's my daily driver until it gets to 115 degrees here in AZ. It does have a VSP ac unit which I rebuilt last year, but it still doesn't cool the car like my truck ac does. Thanks for the input.

M. Hendrix · 02-22-2006, 12:39 AM

My car needs a tuneup... and injector seals.

Recently, until it's half warm in the morning, it will gag you with fumes, but no dripping.. just weeps a little when cold.

M

smooth_eddy · smooth_eddy's Garage

Are you sure it's not your lawnmower?

I have all new fuel lines now and no longer have a gasoline smell in my garage. I was well worth the hastle. Eddy

Kevin Powers · 02:38 PM

your injector seals will take an hour, tops, miles. scroll up and order today! the gasket on my fuel cap was bad kev. with a tip-topped off tank the stench was great on left hand turns and in the am. the smell went away when i changed caps.

k

rjames · 03-01-2006, 03:17 PM

As previously sated by a couple of people, I bet it's the lines under the gas tank. I had the same problem, gas smell in the garage, gas smell in the car when I first got into it. Finally when I pulled the interior out for rust rerpairs I was able to 'sniff' test where the fumage was coming from- from the lines under the tank. I could detect it from where the lines enter the tunnel from the front firewall. Crawling under the car and looking at the lines going to the tank from the hole in the tank compartment floor shows a little 'weepage' from the line. It really doesn't take much to create that lovely smell.

I also found an old rusty and corroded wrench under the tank. Maybe you'll be more lucky and find some change or something usable.

Kevin Lewis · 03-02-2006, 06:02 AM

Thank you all for the info. I am getting ready to put her up on blocks once again and pull out the gas tank and move the fuel pump and replace all the gas lines from the tank back. I changed the engine compartment gas lines 2 years ago and stopped the gasoline seeping on my engine. It's a wonder this thing hasn't caught on fire yet. The first item I bought after getting the car on the road 4 years ago was a fire extinguisher. Thanks again.

norustscott · norustscott's Garage

Ahh that smell ... that gasoline smell. I love that smell, It smells like.....victory.

RandyLok · 03-06-2006, 11:04 AM

I remember when gas did smell good when you just caught a whiff. Maybe it was the lead or something, I dunno... but pump gas just stinks nowadays.

rjames · 03-06-2006, 12:01 PM

It was the leaded stuff. As a kid I loved that smell...Yikes.

Tobra · Tobra's Garage

I need to do my fuel hoses under the tank, can you get at them without pulling the tank?

rjames · 03-07-2006, 07:09 AM

My guess is no, unless you've got really skinny arms.

Dave at Pelican Parts · Dave at Pelican Parts's Garage

Yes, you can. There is a ~6" hole from the steering rack compartment into the fuel tank compartment. Put the front of the car up in the air (securely!!) and pull off the "gravel pan". That's four bolts, two different sizes. Once that's out of the way, you'll see the large circular hole. Shine a light in there, and you should see the bottom of the fuel tank and the fuel hoses.

I had to cut the hoses--they were very brittle and partway broke when I was messing with them. Dumped a bunch of gasoline on me, too--make sure to have a drain pan ready, wear long sleeves and gloves and a face shield!!! Oh, and that was after jumpering the fuel pump relay to pump the tank "empty"...

It's a PITA to get the old hoses off and the new ones on, but it's a little less of a PITA to do single-handed than pulling the tank and trying to put it back in single-handed.

--DD

rjames · 03-07-2006, 08:31 AM

Wow, I could barely get my hand in there to feel around. I must have fat hands or something.

Dave- is that 'gravel cover' the same one that covers the master cylinder? I'm missing that one- or both of them if they are 2 seperate covers.

Dave at Pelican Parts · Dave at Pelican Parts's Garage

The same cover. It covers the steering rack and the master cylinder, as well as the hole that gives you access to the fuel tank compartment.

I never said it was easy to get in there! I had to work with one hand for just about all of it, because access is so very limited. My wrists were starting to cramp up from the weird angles they had to get into before I was done. (And, as usual, I had to do the job twice. I made the hoses too long the first time, and they kinked and would not let enough fuel through them , starving the engine.)

--DD

byndbad914 · 03-07-2006, 11:53 AM

just another possibility and one that I had a few years back with one of my 914s. I would smell gas in the AM just as you mention; checked the fuel lines under the car etc and just couldn't find it. Then I pulled the tank out completely.

On the underside of the tank (right above the pedals) there is a pad to support/pad the tank - those funky fiberous pads. They absorb moisture and rust the tank. So, mine had finally rusted through and had a little pin hole. I NEVER had gas under the car, as the pad was constantly absorbing a trickle of fuel. Also, the fuel that may have leaked off the pad just ran down the firewall and probably evaporated before getting anywhere near a hole to ground. Leave it overnight with the windows rolled up and would wreak of fuel in the interior compartment.

Sanded around the area and put a nice layer of JB weld on it to get by. Within a few months I came across another tank in good shape dirt cheap and swapped it out. I don't recommend JB weld as a long term fix with fuel involved...