Wow, smell of gas BAD

It's never been this bad, but it also is near 100 degrees outside.

When sitting at idle, with windows down/AC off or with windows up/AC on, it smells like you have gas all over your face.

No smoke though.

I know its a general question, but I havnt a clue where to check. The smell is highly concentrated near the front of the vehicle.

Any ideas? :cry:

is it more on the Dirvers side? by the door????

Park the car on a piece of cardboard if you park it on gravel or grass. then see where its coming from if theres a leak.

Why was the drivers side door your first impression?
A friend was driving with me, and he could smell it as well.

The Fuel Filter is under the Drivers door thats why.

Funny, I was thinking about changing it a couple of days ago.

Remember - Iv only had this car for 2 weeks, so havnt even done the little things on it yet.

Drove some more.... no leaks anywhere, but exhaust does resemble running rich. Best way to check why?

Owner before me said he had just changed the plugs and wires before selling it to me.

BTW, I would run diagnostics on it, but cant even find the damn ECM terminal. Book says it should be drivers side, below and to the right of the steering wheel...

Yes its under the Dash next to where the Radio set up is its just a little box with a cover over it.

Oh, hmmm. There it is. Needs help.


ftp://68.1.231.79/camaro/sick.jpg

that car looks like it needs some serious work and thats scary that i can say that by looking under where the drivers feet would be. Anyways how does the car run does it have any problems? If the car is running really rich you will be able to smell it. If it is running rich chances are its a sensor but running the codes should tell you if a sensor has gone bad. Could very easily be a bad O2 sensor those are cheap and fail every now and then.

Thanks for the info dudes.

The only thing really underneath there that looks like needs replacing is the plastic covering (underdash?). He has some wires and crap that doesnt need to be routed in that fashon but that can change. Looks likes a simple cleanup actually.

Once I get the alarm out (I prefer factory items), most of those wires will disappear.

The car runs really well. The idle is great, smooth at higher rpms, tranny shifts are good... Mechanically and body/paint wise, the car is excellent. It need some interior work, obviously. Things like door/window seals replace, new front seats, dash, etc.

How many O2 sensors are there? I would assume 2 being there are two cats?

BTW, my profile has a link to my webpage... should be more pics of the car there.

what car is it? I'm sorry i cant explain exactly where it is i know i can find it if i need to but its on the right side of your engine near the middle (like from front to back) and you can only really get at it from under the car. Even if this isnt the problem id change the o2 if it hasnt been replaced in a while just because its something you do. Also you only have 1. Run the codes and see if you get any bad sensors popping up because thats probably your problem. Also go to www.helminc.com and buy the service manual for your car. This thing will tell you how to do everything from replacing sensor and checking codes to how to completly dissassemble and rebuild your a/c compressor. The thing is incredible and is over 3000 pages thick. Its what your gm dealership mechanic would use to do work on your car! Youll never have to ask silly little questions on here again because youll have all of the assembly/dissassebly info you will need for ALMOST any cenario.

Doug, its a 91 Z28 with 5.7
I ran a search on the board and someone mentioned something about a canister line being clogged and pressure building up in the system.
When I was out driving it, I had pulled over to get some gas. I unscrewed the gas cap, and it took at least 30 seconds or so before the pressure was finally gone.

I was about to tell tell you that it is more than likely your evap canister line getting clogged up and spitting the fuel vapors back out instead of being filtered through. Repair the line and that should do it.

WEll, I had to make a run out on the highway. So I drove about 15 miles to my destination - no problem at all.

Came back, about half way there, the engine light comes on. I get home, and diag tells me code 32. I read to understand that its the EGR problem. Could this be causing the problems I listed above?

Also, what should I check? Haynes manual only says so much. Thanks

I don't see how an egr would effect your bad gas smell. I'm pretty sure that is a different problem. Did try replacing the hose to the evap canister? Try that first, if you have pure fuel going into the lines and canister then you have serious problems. But if it is clogged the fumes will concentrate and look like mass amounts of fuel building up. Replace the line, a pain in the azz i know, and then tell us what is going on. Also make sure that there is a line going to the canister that may be a problem too. Just did the same repair on my friends Dakota. Too save money on the egr try cleaning it first with brake cleaner. Brake cleaner has more pressure and cleans better than carb cleaner. Watch your eyes, trust me! LOL:D

I havnt tried the hoses yet.

Scoggin Dickey didnt have the canister in stock, so I said screw it for now, Ill just mess with the hoses. Well, when making a short trip down the road, code 32 pops up (along with the terrible smell) so I just put the two together.

Ill rip off the hoses tomorrow if I have time and see whats up.

BTW, in order to get the EGR valve off, am I going to have to take the whole damn intake off? Almost looks like it.