I just pulled into my garage letting my car cool down and I noticed a strong gas or fuel smell coming from my rear driver side wheel, which is right next to the fuel tank. Do you guys have any ideas what this could be or if I should even care about it?

 

Well, if your fuel tank IS leaking, perhaps you SHOULD be concernd?

Have you jacked up the car to take a peak? I think the hose from the fuel filler tube is connected to the tank via rubber coupling, but I haven't been down there in a while.

Also, check the fuel lines going to the fuel filter. The fuel filter is located right above the diff.

 

I had the same problem and was worried it was something serious. Do you know what it turned out to be? The fuel cap.
I had twisted it on too hard, past the click stop. That was enough to allow vapors to escape the tank when the car was warm.

Do what I did....buy a new gas cap at the dealer. It's only around
$15. Then be careful when putting the cap back on after refueling. When you feel resistance, stop twisting it.

There's also a way to test if it's your fuel cap. On a warm day, after driving, when you go to take the gas cap off, you should hear the woosh of pressure coming out of the tank. If the tank is fairly full, it's a relatively warm day and the car has had time to heat up, and you take off the cap and you don't hear pressure escaping....then your gas cap probably has gone bad.

 

Thanks guys I appreciate the help it was the gas cap that I turned to much.

 

You guys don't know your own strength :p

 

AHHH. awesome! I found this thread!! Just had this problem today and I gotta go check my gas cap now! I know the gas attendant turned until it clicked like 6 times after my last fuel fill up.

 

since our cars are pre OBD-II they wont throw a code for a loose or over tight fuel cap, as stated check your cap if that does not solve the problem do not drive the car until the issues is resolved. all we need is another my FD caught on fire thread.

 

Do we still live in a day of age where other people are filling our cars up? I havent been to a gas station like that in..ever.

 

Certain states dont allow you to pump your own gas.. its the law. ( A stupid one..).

 

^ New Jersey is one of them. Also, some towns require full service stations and do not allow self service, I live in one such town

 

You may want to check out the charcoal canister - it is on the drivers side, above on the drivers side of the differential.

 

Let us know if the cap replacement works as I have the same issue. I can tell you the cap seals well though because when I open the tank it is pressurized.

 

In NJ its illegal. However the gas station 3 blocks from my house lets me pump my own gas.

Everytime they see me they don't even attend to me. They just smile and nod I guess telling me yeah go ahead Do your thing lol. Unless I pay cash then I have to signal them over cause they have to accept the cash. But even then I do my own work mostly. Undo my cap, take off the nozzle when its done and the attendants are busy etc.

I tell people i do this and some reason they get extremely mad like I committed murder. They're like dude wtf that's illegal!! What are you doing you can't do that!!

I tell them I think ill only get in trouble if the attendants report me. But since they let me I can't get in trouble. Or if someone else getting gas and they see me and take a pic and send it in. But I highly doubt anyone would go through all that to put someone they don't know in trouble.

Anyway I been doing this a good 2 and a half years so yeah lol.

 

Agreed. For me it was a strong fuel smell on shutdown near the drivers side rear. Ended up being the cannister. Another thing to check of you get strong fuel smell.

 

Was it cracked? What was the problem?