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fuel smell inside the cabin


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I've done abunch of searching and can't find what I'm looking for. There is a gas smell inside the cabin of my wagon. It's a 85 Weber conversion, it smells like gas when driving and after it sits, no leaks i can see under the hood and it doesn't smell like gas under there. no puddles under the car. Doesn't smell outside the car. Runs fine.

 

Any ideas? It really sucks to have drive with the windows down in the cold, luckily we haven't had too much rain yet.

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Slight fuel line leak, but it would start by looking at the charcoal canister, purge valave, evap system.

 

This one has none of that stuff - it's a Weber swap.

 

Check the fuel lines at the firewall? Maybe a hose clamp is leaking and the fuel is running back into the cabin there?

 

Are you sure it's not an exhaust leak that you smell? Sometimes when running rich (choke on, etc) exhaust can smell of gasoline....

 

:confused:

 

That's weird - if you get a chance to bring it by I can look it over.

 

GD

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I thought of the running rich angle too, I haven't changed anything carb wise

and the choke is all the way open.

 

I'll check the line at the firewall, sounds likely since the car smells whether it's running or not.

 

thanks

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I've done abunch of searching and can't find what I'm looking for. There is a gas smell inside the cabin of my wagon. It's a 85 Weber conversion, it smells like gas when driving and after it sits, no leaks i can see under the hood and it doesn't smell like gas under there. no puddles under the car. Doesn't smell outside the car. Runs fine.

 

Any ideas? It really sucks to have drive with the windows down in the cold, luckily we haven't had too much rain yet.

 

hi, you might look at the lines and canister in the pass side rear compartment, its inside the fender betweet the trim panel and fender. looks like a big plastic tank with lines attached, even though you disconnected the stuff up front this is still connected to the tank, and i had one that was cracked once that smelled gas inside the car. just my 2cents.

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My '78 brat had the same problem. I noticed a wet spot on the lower weld for the back right fender. Opened up the panel and noticed a vent line ? end was wet. I ended up daylighting that hose and all was well. (It didn't drip all that much)

dp

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  • 3 months later...

I'm having a similar problem. The interior smells of gasoline weather it has been sitting or while driving. It started abruptly a week ago and is continuous. We've been having sub-zero temps. Maybe that cracked that rear vapor canister or something else plastic.

 

My EA82 is weber-ed and is stripped of all the charcoal canister stuff and what not just like dwuollet. There are also no visible signs of fuel leaks on any of the rubber fuel hoses. I'll check under the back seat and the canister in the rear of the car...

 

On another note, when I pulled it into my warm garage and it sat for a while, the smell had mostly gone away. I'm thinking it has something to do with the extreme outside temps.

 

Should the fuel return lines and the return vent line by the brake booster be capped off? I figure cap the fuel return, but let the vent be open to breath. What do you guys think?

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I left my charcoal canister with my weber, for the vent. Gas expands and contracts with the temp and I wanted to be safe. I also put a return on the carb. Could it be pressure related?

 

Are the vent and return lines just kind of pointed up, so gas might drip in, capped or not?

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Mine are just sticking out of the firewall uncapped. I was toying with the idea of reinstalling the charcoal canister with the weber and using the vent line from the tank, again. Also I have a fuel fitting with a 1/8" barb for the return line to install that, too

 

Do you guys know wich one is the fuel return hard line and the vent hard line next to the brake booster? I can't remember.

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hi, you might look at the lines and canister in the pass side rear compartment, its inside the fender betweet the trim panel and fender. looks like a big plastic tank with lines attached, even though you disconnected the stuff up front this is still connected to the tank, and i had one that was cracked once that smelled gas inside the car. just my 2cents.

 

I had the same problem on my stock EA81 wagon, turns out the plastic canister in the back had a broken nipple. I got another one but as my car is an odd year I had to retrofit a bigger line size canister. Kinda annoying but not difficult.

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From what I can tell, fuel vapor is not coming from the rear canister. I think it's accumulating from the weber vapor vent and the problem is exacerbated by the cold temps.

 

This is all the more reason to put the charcoal canister back in. I think I'll actuate it off of the EGR vac line.

 

Yo'j, how do you actuate yours?

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Cool, thanks Yo. I was thinking that the EGR activates when the engine isn't in a sensitive state, off of the Weber. This is also a good time to introduce the vapors stored in the charcoal canister.

 

So far, plugging the vent port on the carb (I know, not a great long term idea) has stopped the fuel smell.

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