Gasoline smell

Ricosan

Ricosan

Senior Member
Hey Guys,

Since I brought home my ‘33 woodie six months ago, there has been a constant smell of gasoline. It doesn’t bother me a lot but everyone who enters comments on the strong smell of gasoline. I have checked the fuel line from the top of the gas tank to the carburetors. Dry as a bone. I touched all the areas that had a connection. No residue or smell on my fingers. I closely examined the fuel line from the tank (one piece) and I found no sign of a leak.
Any ideas where Else I need to check?

Richard
 
Richard, first thing to do is to raise your garage door several inches and keep it there day and night till you solve the problem. Next is to ensure that your water heater is raised at least 18” off the floor. If you don’t do these two safety items, you may not live long enough to solve the gas smell problem.
 
Thanks Vilinar, I haven’t checked that. Tomorrow I’ll see if I can under it.

Alan, I would leave the garage doors cracked but here in N Florida I would return to a garage full of mosquitoes! But seriously thanks for the heads up. I have 2 windows that I can crack to reduce the fumes and I don’t have a water heater.

Richard
 
Power valve on the carburetor/carburetors? Are you seeing any signs of drips on your intake manifold?
 
Could the gasket between the gas tank sending unit and the tank be leaking so gas fumes seep out. Is the fuel pump diafragam in good condition.
Smell your dipstick to see if it smells like gas.
 
Almost always the gasoline odor is caused by pin holes on the top of the gas tank caused by rust. The top of the tank collects road dust which gets wet from driving on wet roads, resulting in rust. This is a common problem in old cars. When it happened to my '47, I installed a plastic tank.
 
Rock, I’ve checked carburetors several times and find no leaks. Just purchased the carburetors from Charlie a couple of months ago.
19Fordy, the fuel pump is new (3 months) and it has smelled like gas since I took delivery of the car in January. The gasket at the tank needs to be checked. I’ll smell the dipstick tomorrow.
Supereal, my gas tank is new so I hope we can rule that out. I will check just the same when I gain access to that area.
Richard
 
check fuel pump pressure. too high and it can overpower the float seat and cause a gassy smell when sitting. .
 
My tank was also new and the fill tube flange had so narrow sealing surface that I had to tig weld a bead and surface it. Problem solved....
 
Vilanar, I got under the car yesterday but only found that the filler neck disappears into what appears to be an enclosed area. Is the filler neck and gas tank one piece?
I plan to put the car on jack stands today so that I can get a better view.

Richard
 
How does your plugs look?


Went out to a mid sandbar (inland) florida place to check out a 4hp witte. Guy had a huge 10hp hit miss. We pulled it out. He said before we started it. Get ready for the love bugs. What?? Sure enough they are attracted to co3. Why they gather all along the roads. Carbon monoxide. mosquitoes are attracted to carbon dioxide and monoxide. Which we breath out (minus monoxide). One of they ways mosquitoes find you. or not...


Difference is co3 will kill you. co2 won't, less it over whelms the concentration of oxygen. co2 is probably only an issue with astronauts. :)






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OK, got it up on jack stands and had a good look. The filler neck doesn’t appear anywhere from the underside.

Looking at the back, looks like the floor will come up if I can remove the coke box that houses the battery. I’m going to need to find help for this job. My back is already killing me.
 

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You should be able to pin point the smell just by going over the entire car. My wife has a nose like a drug smelling dog. I walk in the house and 20 feet away she tells me what I had for lunch. True story. Lol. But short story long- I have taken 3 or 4 old T shirts and covered the carburetors of several cars to be able to store them into the house garage.
 
My wife is like GSCOV's wife, but more like a bloodhound. Long story. There used to be a great restaurant in Atlanta, GA called Leb's. It was a favorite lunch spot for years. It is closed now, since the 60s, but I can't go into the reason for fear of being banned. Anyhow, among other things, they served pickles with their sandwiches. You could smell those wonderful pickles a block away. One night the wife and I were sort of snuggled up in bed and she said "You had lunch at Leb's today. I can smell the pickles." I said "No, I had lunch at Leb's YESTERDAY." The smell of pickles was just working its way out I guess.

Anyhow, I park Apatchy in the garage at the house. She constantly complains of smelling gas. I'll admit, the truck does have a slight smell of gas and grease, like any old car does, regardless of how spotless it is, but not straight out gas. There is a big difference.
 
Lawson a good deli is a great thing. A stacked high roast beef ruben with a deli pickle on the side is one of the little things that make life nice.


Ricosan I hope you figure out your fuel issue!
 
Hey Guys,

Just as I was about to convince myself that I had solved the leaky gas smell I stumbled across a strong gas smell as I was pushing jack stands under the rear axle. Upon closer examination I saw that it was wet around this area. Gasoline.

I took the car out for a ride this morning to my favorite non ethanol gas pump and top the tank off. I guess that filling the tank was what forced this gas to the surface.

I was hoping I could avoid it but it looks like I’m going to have to deconstruct the rear compartment under the cooler.

Richard
 
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