Re: Gas Odor

[Godfrey DiGiorgi <ramarren@domain.elided>]

> I get a very strong gas odor which seemingly comes from the trunk area. It
> is most noticeble after a fill up. I checked the hoses and there is no
> evidence of leaks or seepage. One thing I have noticed is that the gauge
> flucuates when cornering and it sounds as though the sending unit is
> rattling in the tank. The gauge is fairly accurate. Any ideas?

I had the gas smell problem for an interminable time in my '78. It was 
driving me crazy. Then I had a huge vacuum buildup in the gas tank happen 
which ended up crushing my fuel tank when I was coming back over the 
Sierra Nevada mountains from a trip to Reno last summer. Luckily I had a 
spare tank, and swapped in a new fuel gauge sending unit, lifter pump and 
sock along the way. 

What I found caused it was the one-way inlet check valve on the 
evaporative emissions system. Even though I'd blown it out dozens of 
times with compressed air, and it seemed to work properly most of the 
time, every so often it would stick and not allow any air back into the 
tank. I ended up just removing the little bastid entirely and snaking a 
tube out from where it had previously been fitted. That eliminated both 
the gassy smell and the sporadic vacuum buildups in the fuel system, 
although it probably put me in arrears with regard to emissions 
inspection.

Godfrey

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