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C3 Gas Smell

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  • Martin T.
    Expired
    • May 31, 2006
    • 196

    C3 Gas Smell

    Headlights and wiper door are now working thanks to some helpful direction. Now I have noticed a smell of gasoline when driving. I have checked for any sign of leakage with the engine running and stopped. There does not appear to be anything visible but I can smell a strong fuel smell with the car in motion. There is also alot of heat that comes into the cab without the heater on. Any ideas?
  • Paul L.
    Expired
    • November 1, 2002
    • 1414

    #2
    Re: C3 Gas Smell

    Check the rubber "S" hoses between the steel frame fuel lines and the fuel pump. They tend to crack with time. That's a high-heat area and sometimes a leak is not visible. Wiggle the pump ends (engine off) and look for gas weeping.

    Comment

    • Jack H.
      Extremely Frequent Poster
      • April 1, 1990
      • 9906

      #3
      Re: C3 Gas Smell

      You'll find several prior threads on this subject in the archives with the typical complaint being gas odor in the garage subsequent to warm engine shut down. The obvious places to look are:

      (1) Engine compartment 'plumbing' leaks from the fuel lines to the carb.

      (2) Carb that's warped and leaking only when it heats and body pieces expand.

      (3) Leak(s) at the rear of the car (tank itself, tank to fuel line interconnect)

      Since C3 is a BROAD range of model years, it's hard to comment much further. The early Shark cars were limited in their fuel handling + vapor recovery systems while the design increased in sophistication/complexity through out the '70-80's period generating more things to check & places to look...

      Comment

      • John H.
        Beyond Control Poster
        • December 1, 1997
        • 16513

        #4
        Re: C3 Gas Smell

        Check the full width and height of the firewall from the inside for missing grommets and dash mat retainer plugs; people did a lot of weird things to these cars, and it's very common to find open holes that admit heat and fumes to the cockpit.

        Comment

        • Denny J.
          Very Frequent User
          • November 1, 2000
          • 244

          #5
          Re: C3 Gas Smell

          this happned to me,check the top of the mufler on the pass side if it is wet than check the return hose to the tank.There is a 6" hose that takes a hard bend to the tank that cracks easy.

          Comment

          • Martin T.
            Expired
            • May 31, 2006
            • 196

            #6
            Re: C3 Gas Smell

            Once again, thanks to all for the input. Denny you were on the money. Thanks again. Martin

            Comment

            • Peter B.
              Expired
              • July 31, 2000
              • 155

              #7
              Re: C3 Gas Smell

              Not sure if this helps, but on my C3 I had that problem and the issue was the Fuel Vapor Separator that is on the drivers side of the tank. The ABS plastic weld had worn out and when I ran the car it dripped gas on the Muffler. Whoa!! I could not find one back when I had this problem. No one carried one and I could not find a used one anywhere. Once again, this was about 6 years ago. I ended up finding a fuel compatible epoxy from Loctite and glued it back and actually encapsulated it in epoxy.

              I hope this helps.

              Comment

              • Dick W.
                Former NCRS Director Region IV
                • June 30, 1985
                • 10483

                #8
                Re: C3 Gas Smell

                BTW those vapor separator valves are now available in reproduction
                Dick Whittington

                Comment

                • Lee S.
                  Very Frequent User
                  • September 30, 2002
                  • 156

                  #9
                  Re: C3 Gas Smell

                  Check the hood weatherstrip by sticking a piece of paper between the hood and the weatherstrip and close the hood. If the paper is loose, your weatherstrip is bad or the hood mis-adjusted. This allows any engine compartment fumes and heat to be sucked into the plenum area... that big area where the windshield wiper transmission is located. The HVAC blower motor will now draw the heat and fumes into the car.

                  I've not dealt with gas fumes in my '74 but there are dozens of causes of cockpit heat. Search the archives here and you'll come up with many. You need to take a step by step approach and fix them all. Its not easy. The conditions are far worse on big block cars.

                  Comment

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