Gas smell in garage

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Rubydaddio

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Hello everyone I’m trying to sort out a problem with my 73 cs. There is a strong smell of gas in the garage which is more noticeable when the tank is full or close to full. So far a new sending unit with gasket has been installed, new charcoal canister, and line up to air cleaner. Still strong smell. Any thoughts on where to go next? Thanks
 
the 1st two thoughts would be the gas cap and the overflow hose in filler neck ... that runs to the canister. the next items are less probable, such as the seal at the sender or a leak in the tank itself. the most obvious thing is to check your rubber gas lines ... look for cracks or deterioration in the lines.
 
The other item to check is the plastic bushing that (on early cs's) is on the pick-up tube of the fuel sending unit. That part cracks and allows fuel to drip out of the connection between the rubber fuel line and the metal pick-up line. Will look for a picture.

Not sure if this was present on 1973 models.
 
grabbed this picture that was from a post by @eriknetherlands .

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boonies said:
The other item to check is the plastic bushing that (on early cs's) is on the pick-up tube of the fuel sending unit. That part cracks and allows fuel to drip out of the connection between the rubber fuel line and the metal pick-up line. Will look for a picture.

Not sure if this was present on 1973 models.
Click to expand...
My 1973 2002 had this problem.... Took me FOREVER to figure it out.....
I ended up putting on a short piece of small diameter fuel line and then the 'regular' fuel line over it.
Yeah - a garage hack. But then, what did you expect from a broke college student in 1985? LOL
 
I too had this problem, and we wound up tracing it the fuel filler hose that came from the gas filler to the top of the tank. Hope this helps!
 
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You may want to check the set up of your carburetors. My Webers were producing light fuel spray due to one of the floats no longer functioning leading to gasoline smell and more importantly, a potential fire hazard. Checking the weight of the floats revealed that one had absorbed fuel over the years and was no longer functioning properly. Once we replaced the float, safety was restored and the gas smell went away.
 
LOL - All sorts of good suggestions.

The thing is that it takes a VERY small amount of fuel to make a decent smell in a garage (or other enclosed space).
On my 2002, I had a decent smell in the trunk. I had a bad (very old) rubber filler neck that leaked just a small amount. After replacing that - I still had a bit of a smell. Then I replaced the bushing around the sending unit pipe (similar to what is shown above). That solved it for me - at least on the 2002....

Many years later, after I got the Mustang restored I had a fuel smell back - and in spades!
Turned out that the carb in that car was just 'stinky' (at least as it was set up originally) . My wife hated it as every time I took that car out - it stunk in the garage for a few days or so (till the fumes went away). I have to agree that it did (and depending on the winds and such - it kinda spread to the house up for a bit also).

I had some work done to the Mustang a couple of years back and mentioned that the car often really smells of fuel. Not sure what he did, but it is 90% better now.
Good luck.
 
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in my e3, i had a similar smell, but that turned out to be a cracked fuel line going to the carbs. but that didn't matter if the fuel tank was low or full ... the smell was there. i think you should try pressurizing your tank and see if you find fuel being forced out - whether its the seams, the sender gasket, the fuel lines going to the fuel filter or the filler tube itself. but the chances are, its one of those things.
 
Yeah, as Boonies has suggested, that fragile plastic "bushing" on the end of the fuel tank pickup is pretty vulnerable, especially after 50 years or so. Great first step I would think.
Good luck. Let us know. :) Mike
 
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