Gasoline fumes

[MarkD]

Newbie question here...

My garage always seems to smell of gasoline when the mini's there at least overnight. I haven't thought much of it other than it's an older car and older cars probably smell of gasoline. It also smells a good deal of gasoline inside the car, too, if I haven't driven it for a few days. I only noticed it recently because my father mentioned it and said he worried about the fumes potentially igniting with a gas water heater in the garage (is this even possible?)

I checked that the plastic tubing is on the the venting connection at the top of the tank, but other than that, what else should I be looking for?

[James T]

Check all flexible fuel lines for wetness, you might also want to put a newspaper under the fuel tank and engine..let it sit for a day. then look for drip marks on the paper. Just because it's old...dosen't mean it's ok to smell like fuel. Find the leak.

[Mark]

Hi,
Depending on the amount of fumes in your garage, and the height of the pilot light on your water heaters and furnace ( Newer codes required that garage located nat gas appliances be up a certain distance, say 18-24" off of the floor, something like that ) you Could have a potential for a problem.

Like James says, find the leak. First, check the soft lines between the fuel tank and the hard line that runs the back to front distance. Then, check any inline filters and their connections. Then, check the connections of soft lines to fuel pump, ( on your car, most likely mechanically driven off of the carb/intake/exhaust side of the block, and below the exhaust manifold) and then, from the fuel pump to the carb/s. If you have any question about the line, replace it and the clamps with Fuel line. ( some try to use the wrong hoses )

The natural gas itself is hard to get incidental combustion, but your cars gasoline is Very flammable, so please do this quickly, and consider leaving the car outside if you do have nat gas appliances in the same storage room / garage.

Phone me if you need any help.

Best regards,
MSH

[MarkD]

Thanks, James and Mark for your replies. My house was built two years ago but the water heater sits right on the garage floor. I think I'm going to risk waking the baby girl and roll the mini outside now...

MarkD

[Nimbits]

Mark,
Last week I took my mini out for the first time in a month and I too smelled gas. I didn’t think too much about it and stopped by my friends shop so I could use his hoist to change the oil. My friend Matt noticed a little drip coming from one of the carburetors vent hole. Matt took the float bowl off the carburetor and reset the float and the drip stopped. I’m not saying this is what’s wrong with your mini, but it’s easy to see just under the carburetor inlet hose above the float bowl.
Tim

[MarkD]

I think I figured out what was wrong. Thursday morning, upon startup, the mini was having a heck of a time holding idle. I, of course, was pulling the choke, pressing the gas...whatever to keep it running. Turns out a hose connection from the fuel filter came loose and spurted gasoline everywhere. I'm not sure this is the cause of the smell, but Chuck and I checked all the connections today and tightened a few of them. Here's hoping that will be the end of this issue.