Wisdom

TTT - I had to search through 5 pages to find this post tonight - if I waited until tomorrow night it would've been 15 pages! There are almost too many prolific people on this forum!

I dropped the car back off at COH on Monday morning (yesterday). They were just as surprised as I was that the leak is still there... Since they have my car and want to fix it as much as I want it fixed, I've got to say that I still have confidence in them!

But in the meantime I get to drive either a 2007 Chevy Malibu (rented) or my wife's 2002 Sport Trac. Decisions...decisions...

- Wisdom

aficionado

I have an 01 with a gas smell. I took it in once and they put in under pressure and said they didn't find anything.

But it still happens. 1/2 tank is Ok, but a fill up and bring it home, into the garage, it smells bad.

So, now I took it back and the dealer is pressure testing it again. I suspect they will not find the leak.

The question is: Can it pass a pressure test and still have a leak somewhere in the system???

Wisdom

Mine turned out to be the driver's gas tank. But it's an 04 and they have a slightly different system than yours that seem to be failing faster than other tanks. You should have an external fuel filter that other posters say is difficult to get to. When they leak, the fuel drips down and makes it look like it's coming from the bottom of the fuel tank. So - if you are smelling gas, are you also seeing little drops of moisture on the sheet metal support to the gas tank? At one point I also took out the drivers rear wheel well to look at the filler hose connection to the tank. On my 04 it was OK. But I've read that some of the earlier models did have a problem with kinks in the hose because they were too long. But right now I would lean towards your fuel filter leaking as the source of the gas smell.

- Wisdom

Wisdom

On the other hand, when you fill up, the system fills the driver's tank first and then fills the passenger tank. There's a device of some sort that let's air escape as the passenger tank gets full. I wonder if you have a problem in the passenger tank that doesn't shut off the flow when the tank is full, and allows you to 'overfill' it. If you had a leak in the fuel tank interconnect line then I think it would have shown up in the pressure test. Was the pressure test a smoke test?

- Wisdom

Yello95

Thanks for the link...never realized it was so darn complicated

aficionado

I know they hooked it up and let it set over night. I'm thinking no smoke here, maybe a read out saying the pressure is the same as the night before.

I have yet to hear anything this morning.

But there is absolutly no doubt this smells of gas. I've made sure nothing drips after a fill up and everything. I'm going to have to stay on them if they say the pressure is OK.

But it's only on a fill up. 3/4 is OK, no smell, and if I drive around and burn a few gallons of gas, it's OK.


It's when it totally full and it will smell for days until I drive it to burn some gas out.

Maybe this device that lets air out gets stuck with a full tank ??? and closes after a gallon or two are burned up.

It's something that allows fumes to escape when the tank is full, but doesn't allow fumes to escape when the tank is not full.

I think we are getting somewhere.

Wisdom

I guess the key to the smell is whether or not you see any leakage. From what I've seen on mine and from what I've read, fuel leaks end up showing up as drops on the bottom of the tank shields. One other thing that I saw on mine was that for a long time I had intermittent 'spotting' of some fluid on the rear facia of my car. I can't tell you how many times I crawled under it looking for a leaking differential seal - which I never found. I suspect that my tank was deteriorating and releasing fuel every now and then (for whatever unknown reason, bumps maybe?) and that gas would end up on the facia due to air flow.

Have you suggested that they fill your gas tank to see for themselves?

- Wisdom

Blue award

I had the gas smell about a month ago. Took it to the dealer and they wound up replacing the driver's side gas tank. They had another car in that was out of warranty that had been waiting two months for a tank. Since they had to furnish me a car it only took three days to find me a tank. Thank goodness for the warranty!

aficionado

Yep, I filled it up before I took it in this time. On Wed. he said they smelled gas.

I told him again when it smells, to refresh he memory.

They still have the car.

I'm sure they are calling GM engineers by now. A few years ago my speedometer counsel was acting up. They were talking to GM and GM was having them try everything for a week or so. Finally they gave up and put in a whole new counsel. Mine went back for research. I bet they give up and just replace the tank. My warranty is up on October and I'm not taking that car back unless it's fixed.

Thingobump

i'm have the same problem with a December '03 built 2004. about a month ago i had it in for the gas smell. they replaced the gas cap, it looked as though it had been sucked inward and deformed. still have the gas smell and now the check engine light is on.

Wisdom

Look at the metal support structure that's under your car behind the seats. Those supports hold the fuel tanks in place. If you see fluid drops on them, then it's likely that you have a gas leak. I only say likely because it's only happened once to me and I don't know if something else will cause that same symptom. I was also seeing intermittent spotting on the rear facia of the my 2004. I think that was another symptom that I had a gas leak. I spent many hours looking under the car for a non-existent rear differential leak as the cause of that spotting, when I should have been looking closer to the mid-point of the car! You should check the DIC to see what codes are being thrown. I didn't have any, but if there's something significant enough with yours to turn on the CE light, then there should be codes to read. Good luck!

- Wisdom