[Scotty Boy]

I'm getting a very strong gas smell within the cabin of the car (1992). There's no leaks anywhere and I just had it serviced for an oil change and an alignment. Since this is my first 968 I'm not sure if this is typical or something I should get checked out. Thx

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[DaveN]

The filler pipe is known to age and crack resulting in exactly your symptoms. Do a search here as there have been quite a few people with this problem.

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[Ryan]

This is very common on these cars and also very hard to track down. There are a ton of vent hoses and connections back at the tank and filler that could be the culprit.



Lots of luck...I have the same problem and can tell the PO had looked for it as well.

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[Byte]

I get this from time to time.

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[durtkillon]

My car does this too. I have a theory that my carbon cannister is saturated because it only happens on hot days when the pressure builds. The smell comes out the vent line in the back as well (to the rear of the gas tank). I have a junked carbon cannister that I'm going to re-fill. If it works, I'll report back. .

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[Rap]

I had Max look at it. No leaks replaced a plate in the trunk, still smells. Seems to be worse in hot sun with full tank. Waiting for cold weather because I didn't have it my first winter

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[Dubai944]

Sounds like a perished vent hose somewhere..



Unlikely you have this problem, but <acronym title='model year'>MY</acronym> car had a strong fuel smell when I first bought it prior to converting it to a race car..... Turned out the previous owner had drilled holes straight through the rear floor into the tank when mounting his subwoofers, definate candidate for the Darwin awards...

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[williamoss]

i also had this problem. In another question that i posted regarding the location of the fuel filter Flash mentioned that there is a woven carpet like piece in the trunk area. I looked under it and can see two tubes coming out of a valve like cylinder. I think this is where the fuel filter is located but have not had a chance to look futher yet. But under the carpet like materieal I found a rubber cap attached to it. It was difficult to get the cap put back in place correctly. But as soon as I did the smell in the cabin went away.

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[flash]

that wasn't me - i said the filter was accessed from underneath the car, behind a plate

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[Peter B]

This is an old posting, but I've been having the same problem. I've opened up the filler tube, taken it out, and inspected it. I've opened up other sections of the car as well. I've found nothing wrong so far, until I got a new seal for the gas cap. I replaced the 7$ seal and the smell is either gone or 99% gone. I filled the tank, cornered hard and went up steep hills. Still no smell raw gas smell. Only the faint smell of spills of yesterday past.



I didn't see any evidence of gas splashing up there. I have noticed that the seal between the filler tube and the car's interior will likely seep gas down the outside of the filler neck into your car. I'm guessing this is what's been happening, but only in small amounts. I've got the cover off in the car to help me really notice if something goes wrong.



Anyway, if you've got this problem, check you gas cap. I also think if you spill gas when filling up onto the rubber gasket between the car and the filler-neck, you'll get gas smell in your car.



I'm going to spread baking soda all around stinky parts, wait a few days, vacuum it up and hope the smell is gone forever.

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[Inkedupfatboy]

I would stop eating the taco bell burrito's - lol

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[Paul W]

I am presently troubleshooting my fuel smell in the cabin....it got really bad on hot days, with the tank more than half full, and driving it hard and left turns. I saved pictures of tanks off ebay, and studied them.



I put everything back together after the stereo install, and found there were no issues (or so I thought) with the filler hose and connections:







I did find a rip in the neck of rubber stopper, bought a used one, and replaced it:







Last night I went to go put gas in the car, as I still had the gas smell, funny (okay, not so funny) thing happened.....I took off the cover for the fuel sending unit and started inspecting....went to the gas station and put in about 10 gallons, had my camera with me....the glass in the back was open....but I wasn't watching it, I was trying to listen for any type of noises I might here, gurgling, etc.



Here is the tank before leaving:







Here it is after putting 10 gallons in:







Oh!!! Maybe I found the source of the leak!



So I swiped my credit card again and started adding more gas so I could watch it.....and I could see little bubbles coming out of the liquid, like it was coming from the tank venting out past the gasket....



Then......OMG.....there is gas leaking on the ground!! WTF? Where did that come from?



Turned the pump off, and saw gas leaking, but it stopped as soon as I stopped filling the tank. Drove carefully home the 1 mile or so, and then dove back into the car.



I inspected under the car, could see that the gas was leaking from the top of the tank....but I KNOW it did not do it before. Tore it apart, and then found when I put the filler tube back on the tank, it was fully on the neck on the inboard side, but not on the outboard side. So the gas was just spilling out of there once the tank got full. I fixed it.



In the end, I think the gas you see around the sending unit just flowed over from neck, but it provided a great clue as I saw the tiny bubbles once I was filling it the second time. Would be a good test for anybody, just bring some water to the gas station with you, fill up the area around the sending unit with water, then fill the tank while inspecting for bubbles. If you see them, you have a bad gasket most likely.



Have a gasket on order and will replace it this upcoming week. With the cover off for the tank sending unit, I basically get no gas smell in the car, I believe because air is flowing from the cabin, past the leaking component and not back into the cabin.

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[flash]

it might have done it before, but evaporated before you got home.





i would NOT be putting water around there. if there is a leak at that gasket, it could easily find its way into the tank, and then you get to drain the tank and dry it out. this is not a fun job, as the transaxle has to come down to get the tank out.

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[Paul W]

I wanted to add some tank pictures to this thread for future readers. Here are some 944 tanks that I saved. You can see where the fuel tank sending unit goes where the two lines are attached:







And I do not agree with Flash about putting water in there.....it is NOT going to go into the tank if you have a bad gasket, it's just going to make a few small bubbles. The tank acts like a stand pipe for any liquid there:







Here is the bottom of the tank, this is the suction for the fuel pump and external fuel filter. There is a suction fuel filter in the tank also for the pump.







I plan on burning some more gas, filling the tank up and watching it again now that I fixed the "gusher" and make sure there is no crazy leak out of the sending unit. I will replace the gasket and update this thread.

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[Peter B]

I think there's another posting about Cab or Coupe. If you want eat @ taco bell, then the choice is obvious.

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[Paul W]

I have also suspected the seal on my gas cap....was thinking of getting a new one....but I will try the seal first as I have this smell with the car just sitting in the sun. If I open the hatch and put my nose near the vent above the rear right wheel well (inside the cabin where the slots are), you can totally smell the fuel. If it was a seal on my gas cap, I don't think it would do this....but I could be wrong.

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[Peter B]

Great update. I really appreciate the pics. If you could take a picture when you replace the gasket, that would be good. I think folks would get a good "picture" of what's going on.



If my car isnt' really fixed, then I'll really appreciate this. I haven't seen another posting on this subject with most of the culprit parts exposed. Thanks

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[Peter B]

I was getting the same kind of smells, down by the base of the filler tube.



The gas-cap seal is like a hollow-oring, with the inside portion removed. When you tighten the cap, the seal colapses. I noticed that my old one was shorter from being squeezed so many times. It's only 7$.



I hope your repair works for you.



Having gas spilling all over the place must have got you going.



I've heard of alot of 944's catching on fire. My understanding of the 944 fires is that the gas-feeds to the fuel injectors in the engine compartment use rubber bits to manage the movement from the engine. Unfortunately, these parts are right over the exhaust manifold. The 968 has the same basic design. I don't know if these linkages were re-engineered or not. Anyway, gas-smells can be serious if you have a leak, especially if you don't notice the ones in the engine compartment. My understanding is that in dry climates, like Phoenix, these parts crack and give way faster.



Good luck and thanks for the update Paul.

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[Inkedupfatboy]

Great photos and update! Thanks.

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[flash]

no way. water vapor absolutely will get into the tank past a leaky gasket. water on top of it will be worse. been there done that. as the tank expands and contracts, which it does with regularity, it will suck in any water.



use air pressure instead.

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