have a 1941 ford truck sbc new tank from tanks,new steel lines, new rubber connector from pump to carb. problem is after driving any distance shut it down and there is a real strong smell of gasoline no signs of flooding or leaks. any thoughts or ideas as to cause of this. just started noticing since we moved into new house and it is stored in attatched garage, before it was stored in separate shed. would shut off and might not revisit for several days. wife does not like smell thanks Tom
Carb may be peculating a bit after you shut the engine off. or the tank vent may be letting off a bit of fumes but my bet is on the carb. If you have an electric fuel pump you might try shutting the pump off and let the carb run out of gas a time or two and see if that does the trick. If it ends up being the tank vent maybe adding a charcoal canister under the hood and running a line up to it like late 70's rigs have and using a non vented cap would fix it. Some of the AD Chevy guys with tanks under the bed at the back have been doing that because they get tired of smelling gas fumes when they are around the back of the truck.
Do you only notice the smell when you park it in the garage? if so, it's just a normal old vented fuel system, they all seem to do that.... Modern cars have evaporative emission controls, which trap the vapors in a charcoal canister, and then release them again into the engine when it runs next time. I've been considering trying to retrofit a system like this...but never got around to it.
thanks for the quick replys I will let you guys know what works Lothiandon 1940 haven't smoked since 2007 heart attack Tom
yes Squirrel as stated never noticed until moved in new house and it lives in garage with wifes daily driver Tom
I get the smell from ours too...we have 6 gars in the garage, a couple are late models, they don't stink after being driven. The old ones all do.
I added vapor canisters to two of my clients cars and solved the problem. If I have time tomorrow I will post modification and photos. Your going to get a little smell from carb when hot and first parked. It goes away in about an hour then the charcoal canister takes over.
My O.T. '66 VW started that in its last 6 months of driving...wife said she smelled gas, so she checked it out. (wife is a 'seasoned' mechanic, very thorough) She did an in-depth check, and with a hand vacuum pump quickly isolated the problem to a crack in the steel gas line. Easy? Not very...the split is inside the tunnel! Engine & transaxle have to come out, and the line pulled out, attached to the new one, pulling it into position. (pulls clear through, inspection plate in front) She said it's 'cool', now she has the opportunity to switch the main gear set to a close ratio '68 type, and change final drive to 3.78! Love that gal...
I had one do that several years ago, but I took the easy way out. Bought new gas line, some rubber coated clamps, and run it under the pan. Was still fine when I got rid of it a few years later.
My truck did the same thing, smelled for a couple hours after driving. The hotter it was, the worse it smelled. I found a couple of charcoal canisters from the early 80's and dumped all the charcoal in to glass jar big enough to hold all of it. I then soldered tubes into the lid, one going to the bottom, the other just inside. On the long tube I slide a small fuel filter on to keep the charcoal from getting in the line. I hooked the tank vent line to the long line, then ran a new line up to the bottom of the bed in a series of loops. This now captures all the vapors coming from the fuel tank and as you drive, the fresh air being pulled in flushes the charcoal so it never gets saturated. 80% of the smell has gone away since adding this. I also made sure the carburetors ( two in my case ) are jetted properly so the intake is not full of fuel when I shut it down. Ten minutes setting outside after a drive also helps, then a quick fire up and into the garage. Joe
It did it in the old shed too. You just didn't realize it because you parked it and walked away. My hot rod does the same thing, worse if it's hot as Hell out. I run an oscillating fan and leave the garage doors open for a couple of hours after coming home. If it's to late at night, I'll do it the next morning. Prior old cars I had did the same thing. It's probably attributable to the old style fuel delivery systems and carbs, as Squirrel stated. If it bothers you to much, sell it and buy a modern factory go fast car (Stang, Camaro, Challenger).
Ok, I am going to try and muddle thru this. The two Hobby members were having the fuel smell issue. One has a 1957 F100 with a straight six and pretty much stock. The other is an E Code 1957 Thunderbird, one of the original 50's muscle cars. First the 57 F100. I removed the valve cover from the engine, drilled a hole in the top rear of the cover and made a small aluminum baffle to keep the oil from splashing up on the PCV valve. (Standard Motor Products V204) Next I mounted the canister (AC Delco 215-153) to the fender well and added the control valve (Standard Motor Products CP109) I then removed the fuel tank sender unit and added an AN bung and steel line with a loop to contain splashed fuel. Line runs along tank under floor and is connected to the tank port on the vapor canister. Now the vapor port on the canister is connected to the control valve and then to the small top fitting on the PCV valve. The larger port on the PCV valve is connected to intake manifold vacuum. I made a T fitting in the large line and connected the small port on the T to the control side of the vacuum valve. Now an important part is to get the correct gas cap. I can't find the number of the one I used but it is a non vented cap that can suck air into the tank but only vents above 3 to 4 psi. Also you have to find a PCV valve that is used on approximately the same cubic inch engine. There are a few variations to this set up depending on your carb vacuum ports and location of PCV valve. Also fuel tank vents are in different locations. My Hobby member is happy as a clam. His better half is too. He has some fuel smell when he first puts it away hot, but says after an hour it goes away and the vapor canister retains the tank fumes until the truck is started and they are sucked into the intake manifold. I cannot find my photos of the 57 Bird installation. When I do I will post that also.
Had the same problem on my 40 ford coupe. Turned out to be the steel braided fuel line seeping. Found it with air pressure in a bucket of water . Replaced the line from tank to pump .It showed no signs of leaking before I tested it.
Somebody has a great opportunity to create and sell kits to do this. I found this on another site. "* You can, in Ontario, Canada, get a historic vehicle designation but you still have to meet the emissions standard for the year of the engine. (NOTE that this is a big problem here, you NEED to meet the emissions for the year of the engine so if you buy a new 2016 crate motor for your 1966 impala you have one heck of an emissions issue to address). * Currently, the way I understand it from others who have been pulled over, they look to see if you 'appear' to have all the required pieces; they aren't allowed to pull them apart or test them out and they don't check to see what it should look like (All of the people I know do not have the vacuum/EGR stickers anymore so that I can see them using to compare)" http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/aftermarket-fuel-evap-kit-453618.html
after a lot of reading these post and thinking about the occurance of this happening. I have come the conclusion this really only happens on full tank of gas that and we are having a heatwave in heartland. so rather than reengineer the fuel system I have decide not to park it with extremely full tank nd leave doors partially up for a while thanks for all the great replys and suggestions. Tom
I have the same issue with a gasoline odor with my 56 Fairlane. I installed a pcv valve and blocked off the crank vent to eliminate the engine fumes. I guess the engine fumes masked gasoline odor.
My 55 was doing this. I rebuilt the carb and the issue went away. How familiar are you with carbureted engines? Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk
Maybe for you. It is an ongoing issue with every vehicle that I own, or have built, that has a vented fuel tank cap, regardless of fuel quantity, or temperature.
My Falcon smelled of fuel when it had a carburetor. Now that it has EFI, it still smells of fuel. It will be getting a charcoal canister.
Sometimes I wonder if you guys (efi, disc brakes, etc. etc.) even like old cars? Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk
I like cars that work. I live in a neighborhood of millionaires and billionaires, who can handily afford to ruin my life, when I hit their boutique supercar. My driving area includes over 10,000 feet of elevation change. Do that with a carburetor (without three stops, per grade, to re-tune). My garage is rented, and underneath an apartment building. Fuel vapor gets you kicked out. Reality dictates function. Not all of us live in forgotten flyoverland.
I've been doing that for decades. And I don't recall my dad ever touching a carb adjustment on any of our road trips through the Rockies, when I was a kid. But hey, we can't all take the easy way out
Well less gas in the tank might help but it doesn't do what installing the setup that I first suggested in post 2 and Angeldrive kindly shared the photos and part numbers in post 18. That is a real inexpensive setup to do and it doesn't take rocket science to do it.
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