Horrible fuel smell...

['STANGETR]

what a year it has been on my car, som many things have gone wrong, now another? This problem has gone on a little while, didn't think anything of it until now. There is an aweful raw fuel smell inside the car, obviously while I'm driving it, and has gotten worse especially this week. It was so bad today while driving I just had to put the window down. There is nothing leaking on the ground, but I have noticed some drop in gas mileage (avg. 17 mpg in the city, now down to 14 mpg). Has anybody else had this type of problem? Someone told me about an evaporitive emissions canister (?) that might be clogged? Any ideas greatly appreciated, it's smelly!!

[Injuneer]

I had terrible fuel smell when the lines between the tank and the canister rotted and cracked. With C16 racing fuel in the tank, my eyes were burning. Replacing the cracked lines solved the problem.

It may also be the canister being saturated with fuel. It's only supposed to absorb fuel vapor on the charcoal, but repeatedly over-filling the tank may cause it to collect raw liquid fuel.

The EVAP canister is in the drivers side rear fender, near the fill pipe. It is accessed by removing a plastic panel in the fender liner. The rubber hoses unfortunately are sandwiched between the top of the fuel tank and the body, and require dropping the tank to access (or possibly cutting an access hatch in the chassis).

Neither of the above would cause a dramatic (15-20%) drop in gas mileage. That may indicate an issue with the A/F ratio control. Could be something like faulty O2 sensors, misfires or leaks in the exhaust before the O2 sensors.

['STANGETR]

That completely sounds like me, I am NOTORIOUS for overfilling, not to the point the gas spills all over, but just trying to get as much as I can, or rounding up to the next dollar. I have always done this, ever since owning the car. That is a good possibility that it is the canister. Also, if the O2 sensors were faulty, wouldn't that trip the SES light? Not sure. But the SES light isn't on (yet!).

[Disifer]

When I first got my TA it would reek of gas right after I filled it up. After about 50 miles it would go away. I didn't notice a decrease in mpg though. It turned out that the o-ring on my gas cap wasn't sealing tightly. A new gas cap fixed that.

['STANGETR]

O.K., well, a quick pop of the hood and we found "a" problem. One of the lines that is part of three contained in the "Caution Fuel Lines" (bear with me here, I'm tired) is broke in half over the right valve cover. Completely seperated. Looks like the line connects somewhere in the throttle body area. I don't know what it does, maybe somebody knows here, but it doesn't look like it is a line that would actually carry fuel because it would be all over the place. But it would be a good start for my aweful fuel smell in the car. Anybody know what this line does and what'll need to be done to replace it? Thanks guys!

[Injuneer]

The "third line" in the fuel line bundle is the line that pulls the vapor from the EVAP canister in the rear fender. It follows the bundle of fuel lines all the way to the middle of the intake manifold, where it peals off and connects to a metal U-tube, that reverses direction, runs along the side of the manifold, around the front of the manifold under the throttle body, then along the passenger side of the intake, where it connects to the EVAP purge solenoid on a bracket on the side of the manifold. The line should only flow fuel vapor and air, pulled through the line by intake manifold vacuum.

The three-line bundle of plastic lines starts at three metal lines, under the floor below the driver's seat. It can be purchased for a fairly reasonable price - about $20 based on the info on Shoebox's website. Shoebox has the part #, and a diagram of the system.

You should be able to make a temporary repair with a piece of rubber hose, since it never has any real pressure in it, just a vacuum.

['STANGETR]

Thank you, Injuneer! Much appreciated. Hopefully we can make a temporary fix today to get rid of the smell, and then replace the line next week.