When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Is it normal the smell of gas in my garage, after it have been parked for a while?
Just got my car a few days ago (Cutlass Supreme ‘72) and i am wondering if something needs to be adjusted or if its a normal thing for that type of engine…or exhaust?
Old cars have the smell of uncatalyzed exhaust, sometimes burnt oil, and a little gasoline evaporating out the bowl of the carb. This fuel will completely evaporate in a week or so. This is "a whiff." If it reeks, you may have a leak, look for puddles.
Not my era of expertise but you need to find out why it smells as it does soon. My first guess after a good inspection of the obvious would be your charcoal canister maybe defunct or missing altogether or the return vent gas line from it has cracked but I will let someone who is better at diagnosing these newer cars than me take over....Tedd
See, that’s what im talking about! Never knew anything in cars, and now, so damm eager to learn! Charcoal? Amazing! Will see the insurance appraisal expert tonight, and i will ask him the garage that he would recommend! The car is 50 years old, and most mecanics are not old enough to have worked on a carburator! If its gas line, will go to closer places. If something else, need the pros for it! The car deserves that respect! 😉😆
I like the sound and smell of it…but the smell of gas in the garage: more like smelling a gas canister…reeking i guess! I will have it checked! Thanks!
While a certain amount of fuel smell is normal. It never hurts to inspect all the rubber lines in the fuel system.
^x2^ Check every line with a flashlight - get up close & real personal with each & every fuel line. Check the entire length of each line. If you see no puddles it does not mean you do not have leaking of fuel. Often times once the engine is running and you're driving, minor amounts of fuel will leak (from the fuel tank to the mechanical fuel pump) as fuel is pulled from the tank to the fuel pump. After the fuel pump, it will be pressurized to the carburetor. When you stop the engine and car, you'll often notice the smell of fuel but won't see signs (like a puddle) because you're not pulling/pushing fuel through the lines. Check rubber fuel lines for cracks, erosion of the rubber where a clamp holds rubber fuel line to metal fuel line. And, as has been suggested the vent lines from the fuel tank and the charcoal canister need to be checked.
If you don't own one already, you should purchase a paperback copy of the original CSM for your car.
First thing I would do is take off the air cleaner and look around the carburetor to see if there is any dampness on the sides of the carb and /or the intake manifold. That's easy and quick, and doesn't require lying on your back underneath the car while holding a flashlight.
Your best method to check the integrity of your fuel lines is to lay on your back under your car and validate your fuel lines have no cracks or issues on a 50 year old vehicle.
Gasoline is very volatile with a pungent odor. It takes very little of it to smell like a refinery, and it will smell like a refinery long before there is enough of a leak to actually cause a puddle. A small seepage leak that just dampens the area around the leak will be enough to cause a strong gasoline smell.
Start with the sensor that you were born with, your NOSE. When you come back from a drive, park the car, and notice the fuel smell, walk around the car and sniff. Is the smell stronger towards the front of the car or towards the rear? If it's the rear, sniff around the fuel filler neck. Is the cap on tight? Is it defective in any way? Get under the rear of the car and sniff towards the front of the tank, where the vent might be. Are the vent tubes in place (assuming there are any)? If they are and you still smell fuel, it could be a leak in the rubber line connecting the fuel tank sending unit with the steel line running to the front of the car.
If the smell is more towards the front of the car, smell around the hood even before you lift it. The fuel vapor has to come through the gap between the hood and the fenders, so it has to be concentrated somewhat, and that makes the odor stronger near the source of it. Then lift the hood and smell around before removing the air cleaner or anything. Is the smell stronger toward the front of the engine? If so, look at the fuel pump for dampness. Look at the connection where the fuel line attaches to the carb. On either side of the engine? If passenger side, could be a leak where the fuel line from the rear attaches to the fuel pump. If stronger on the driver's side, could be an issue with the charcoal canister as mentioned earlier. If stronger right at the top, take the air cleaner off and see if you don't get overwhelmed with a strong smell. If so, then you have a carburetor issue.
With a good nose, you can probably find the source of the leak without having to take the car anywhere or having to involve any more sophisticated equipment. The human nose is amazingly able to detect differences in the strength of odors, especially a very volatile one like gasoline.
Were are you located in the province of Quebec
Maybe able to help
Alain
Red W-31
Originally Posted by jaunty75
Gasoline is very volatile with a pungent odor. It takes very little of it to smell like a refinery, and it will smell like a refinery long before there is enough of a leak to actually cause a puddle. A small seepage leak that just dampens the area around the leak will be enough to cause a strong gasoline smell.
Start with the sensor that you were born with, your NOSE. When you come back from a drive, park the car, and notice the fuel smell, walk around the car and sniff. Is the smell stronger towards the front of the car or towards the rear? If it's the rear, sniff around the fuel filler neck. Is the cap on tight? Is it defective in any way? Get under the rear of the car and sniff towards the front of the tank, where the vent might be. Are the vent tubes in place (assuming there are any)? If they are and you still smell fuel, it could be a leak in the rubber line connecting the fuel tank sending unit with the steel line running to the front of the car.
If the smell is more towards the front of the car, smell around the hood even before you lift it. The fuel vapor has to come through the gap between the hood and the fenders, so it has to be concentrated somewhat, and that makes the odor stronger near the source of it. Then lift the hood and smell around before removing the air cleaner or anything. Is the smell stronger toward the front of the engine? If so, look at the fuel pump for dampness. Look at the connection where the fuel line attaches to the carb. On either side of the engine? If passenger side, could be a leak where the fuel line from the rear attaches to the fuel pump. If stronger on the driver's side, could be an issue with the charcoal canister as mentioned earlier. If stronger right at the top, take the air cleaner off and see if you don't get overwhelmed with a strong smell. If so, then you have a carburetor issue.
With a good nose, you can probably find the source of the leak without having to take the car anywhere or having to involve any more sophisticated equipment. The human nose is amazingly able to detect differences in the strength of odors, especially a very volatile one like gasoline.
And, don't forget to purchase an original General Motors paperback edition of the 1972 CSM (if you don't own one as I suggested above). It is the bible for your automobile & includes a color wiring diagram. Additionally, the CSM has excellent diagrams of each fuel line including the vent lines, location of the standpipe & charcoal canister routing. In this way you'll know each fuel line location/routing and fuel vent line routing/location. You might research more on the Internet for a lower price, but I wouldn't wait on finding an inexpensive CSM. Buy one ASAP.
Your probably not going to see a leak, unless it’s leaving a puddle. Inspect the fuel lines, pay close attention to the clamps that hold the lines to the frame. Look for discoloration or staining around the frame, the lines themselves, the fuel tank, fuel pump, etc.
On old iron like this, your going to smell a LITTLE gas, especially parking it after a drive. That’s just normal fuel evaporation from the float bowl of the carb. Once the engine cooks off, the smell should be gone.
Many good suggestions already listed. I've had this smell around several of my cars over the years, most of the time it's a rubber fuel line deteriorated, cracked steel fuel line from pump to carburetor, carburetor slightly dripping after a drive but evaporates off the intake too quickly to catch it until it sits for a couple of hours, or as several have stated charcoal filter issue. I did want to add my last find a couple of years ago that took me months to find. My 76 Cutlass had the smell in the garage. I had it up on the lift numerous times and never found it until the last time I checked. It had a very small weep around the neck where it was soldered into the tank. No drips, no puddles, just the smell. I guess years of bumping the neck while filling up eventually caused a crack in the joint. Good luck with it!
I had a strange experience with the blue 66. It would stink up the garage with strong gas smell when I filled it up with gas. I knew it had a leak but tried many times to find it with no luck. It was definitely leaking as the smell was strong. It was really pissing me off that I couldn't find it. I went over the entire system more than once and just could not see a thing. But I could certainly smell it. There is one place where I couldn't get close enough to inspect it as well as I had all the other areas. Where the gas pick-up, fuel gauge went into the tank. On a 66 it goes in the front of the tank. I used mirrors and lights and just could not see a leak. I just decided that that area was causing the stink. I emptied the tank as much as I could, turned on a fan sitting on the floor to keep the fumes down, then took the sending unit/pick-up out of the tank. In the "light", being able to really inspect the thing, the pipe going through the large flange into the tank had become loose. It was soldered where it went through the flange but had lost the seal and was seeping fuel, leaking enough fuel to stink up the entire garage but not actually dripping. The gas was evaporating immediately as it seeped out around the pipe/flange. So I took the stinking pick-up assembly to my local radiator shop and had it soldered well, reinstalled it and all has been well since, no more gas smell.
We have owned that car since 1993, and have touched most everything on it, some a lot more than others, but that was the only time I have had the pick-up out of the tank.
Moral to the story, if you really want to find the source of the smell you can. It may not be easy but it can be found. I had to jack the car up and put jack stands in place to get room to inspect/remove/reinstall the fuel pickup. Keep at it. Or seek professional help.
Good luck, Mike
There are three gaskets on the Quadrajet. From the top down: (1) Air Horn gasket between the air horn & carburetor body; (2) Throttle body gasket between the carburetor body & the base plate of the carburetor; and, (3) the base plate gasket which mounts the carburetor to the intake manifold. Any of these gaskets can become soaked with gasoline over a long period of time for any number of reasons (a) sometimes the fuel float in the fuel bowl is set a little too high and fuel seeps after shut down or during operation saturating the gasket; (b) evaporate fumes eventually condense onto the gaskets & soak the gaskets; (c) the carburetor bolts holding the carburetor to the intake manifold become loose & fuel saturates the gaskets; &/or (d) the gaskets eventually wear out. If any or all the gaskets become soaked with fuel you may to change any or all the gaskets - a simple job and gaskets are readily available. Gaskets saturated w/ fuel take forever to evaporate and may never evaporate all the fuel saturated within them. Ensure the carburetor bolts tightly secure the carburetor to the intake manifold.
Ensure the fuel filter housing/fuel inlet line is secured tightly to the carburetor.
Not my era of expertise but you need to find out why it smells as it does soon. My first guess after a good inspection of the obvious would be your charcoal canister maybe defunct or missing altogether or the return vent gas line from it has cracked but I will let someone who is better at diagnosing these newer cars than me take over....Tedd
Cars from the beginning of time until the early 1970's were manufactured without a charcoal canister and basically the gas tank just vents to atmosphere. It is like having a 5 gallon gas can in your garage and you just leave the cap off it. Because of the weather, temperature and the tank normally breathing in and out to adjust to these conditions, you get a strong gas odor. Even in the early beginnings of Charcoal vapor canisters, there was a bit of trial and error. Not all systems (even today) are designed to be 100% effective. You need to first understand that all liquid finds its own level. If you over fill your fuel tank, and the gas level goes higher than the charcoal canister, it will fill up and then become ineffective and need to be replace. We always recommend you install a charcoal canister on any vehicle that does not have one and this will immediately eliminate the gas smell. You can find an aftermarket charcoal vapor canister online. We could never find one that was rechargeable so it could be serviced (most you just throw away when they are saturated) and easy to install so we just made one. Once you install these on ANY vehicle, the gas smell just goes away!
I noticed a bad gas smell a while back on my 70 Supreme and thought something was up. I checked everywhere for leaks - then I realized I had filled the tank with gas and drove straight home so the gas was still so full the smell was overtaking the entire garage. I went out and drove a few miles and no more smell. Now anytime i fill up I always drive a little before pulling it back in. It's probably not that if you didn't just fill it up but just throwing it out there just in case,
Were are you located in the province of Quebec
