Gas smell

[lazybones]

My car smells like gas a lot..not at any specific time, just in general. It's always distinctly been there since I got the car, even after I passed emissions, but today on my 45 minutes drive home from school, I even had the top down but couldn't smell any of that "fresh air" all I could smell was gas. It seemed much stronger today than usual. I notice it the second I sit in the car. I know I'm missing the 'charcoal can'..but would that even matter? I mean what could cause my car to smell like this? bleck

[RotorNutFD3S]

Are the lines that used to go to the charcoal canister still unhooked?
Is the smell coming from the engine bay or the trunk?

[lazybones]

I'm not sure. No I think Brad looked at the canister and the lines were hooked to somewhere else. I'm not sure exactly where the smell comes from, like I said, it's pretty much like an air freshner, the second i sit in my car I smell it just in general. But I do know my trunk wreaks of gas, but I always just figured it was because the fuel lines are back there.

[RotorNutFD3S]

Ah. Good place to start then. It shouldn't smell like gas back there, at least not strongly. Some common causes are: the spare tire (believe it or not, there was a service bulletin out on this), leaking hoses, overfilling the gas tank when the pump automatically shuts off, or the vapor valve on top of the tank (least likely).

[lazybones]

Hmmm alright. I guess I can start by taking out the spare tire and see if the problem continues. I don't ever top off my tank, so I don't think I'm overfilling it, and I really hope I don't have any leaky hoses. Isn't that something I'd notice? Like wouldn't I be leaking in the car or see it in the driveway?

[Stealth97]

I read in another post you have your charcoal canister removed. the best solution to the problem is to replace it. I had the same issue with mine, but I just capped off the gas tank vent line... while that resolved the smell issue, the pressure would build so high in the tank, I could hear the metal tank popping and contracting when I opened the gas lid, along with a TON of air pressure coming out. The fuel tank should be able to vent fumes through to the atmosphere, via the charcoal canister, as it was designed.

[lazybones]

Yeah..I figured it was probably there for a reason, I literally just noticed it was missing like a week ago. I just have no idea where the lines have been redirected to and how to connect them back :/

[Stealth97]

just check out someone elses lines next time you go to a meet and pick a canister up from one of the guys on here, I'm sure metalman has one or 20. The vacuum line diagram should be on the underside of the hood

[darknessprevails]

I can take a look in the truck for ya if you would like friday if your still comeing out. all your gas lines back there are behing that little metal shield. i dont think i have a "Can" i belive the one on my parts car got smashed : (.

[RotorNutFD3S]

I don't have the canister in my car. The lines were connected (because I was getting the gas smell in the engine bay) with some hose and the smell went away. No weird popping as Stealth describes, but it seems everyone has had different results.

[lazybones]

Yeah I haven't heard any weird popping or anything. Just a lovely gas smell. I'd really like to figure out why I'm smelling this! And yeah brad that'd be great! I'm definitely still down for the meet to get the compressor!

[mustangtomiata]

maybe leaky injectors?

[Mazdababy]

I doubt it's the canister, I removed mine and I've had it removed for a few months now without any problem at all.

[lazybones]

How would I know if it's leaky injectors? I mean I've smelled gas since I got the car, which was back in may, and have been driving it around fine

[b1rider]

I found this in miata.net forums and it might be helpful. One guy, texlabo, found a vacuum valve under the package tray that was not working properly and once cleaned his gas smell went away. This was under the NB threads but they were also taking about NA's as well. I am having a gas odor in my trunk and will give this a try.






http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=327186&highlight=gas+smell

[RotorNutFD3S]

That was the vapor valve I mentioned. The fix seems to help NBs with this issue (and apparently so does tightening the clamps around the hoses in the trunk!), but the valve has not seemed to affect the NAs in number.

[lazybones]

Well I took the spare tire out yesterday evening, and this morning when I got in, I didn't seem to notice the gas smell. So whenever I get out of class I'll see if the trunk still smells gassy.

[mustangtomiata]

You can't see the injector all that well but me and my friend were given and old sonoma(fancy s10) with 200000 on the clock and it always had a gassy smell and we never knew what it was til it got really bad and we finally realized it had an injector leaking.

[Mazdababy]

When I replaced my fuel pump I started smelling gas. I forgot the little gromets that go in the unused holes and then put them in and replace the hose clamps. Maybe the PO changed the fuel pump?

[lazybones]

Not sure if he did or not :/

[lazybones]

Okay yeah...my car is still a gas chamber. Taking out the spare tire didn't solve anything. Soo how do I figure out if I've got some leakage?

[metalman]

Other then items already mentioned, I'd be checking the lines in the fuel filter area, the filler tube and related, and under the rear panel in the fuel pump area.

[Mazdababy]

Check dat fuel pump! We can look at it when I take a look at that dashpot if you want, takes maybe 5 minutes.

[lazybones]

okay! i'll let ya know when.

well there is a small leak around the hose where it connects into the spout of the gas tank. it's a little wet around that area. so derek loosened and re-tightened the clamp on the hose, so now i guess it's just a wait and see if i still smell gas. otherwise maybe the tank is split somehow?

[RotorNutFD3S]

Tanks can have issues, it's not a commonly reported problem, but there are noted cases. I bet that leak was the primary cause of the smell though. Be sure to let everything air out really well.

[lazybones]

Yeah the trunk was open for a bit, and i had my windows down and zip window down too. So we'll see if the smell still lingers or not, i'm really hoping that clamp is tight enough and was the issue, not the tank :( i wish there was a way I could REALLY tell too without having to take out the gas tank

[metalman]

It may be the seal where the filler tube enters the tank.
When gas sloshes around it would likely leak vapor if nothing else.

[4sevens.com]

where is the charcoal canister located?

[RotorNutFD3S]

Circled in yellow (this is a 1.6, 1.8s were in the same location though):

[ben91]

And NB's have what looks like a charcoal can in basically the same spot, but it's an empty tank and the charcoal filter is actually by the fuel filter. Messed up huh!