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Gas Odour

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Alex_McMillin

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I know I know, it's a British car, it smells. But if I don't do something about it, someone's going to be very unpleasant to live with. That being said, I do have a very noticeable fuel odour coming from my TR4 that mysteriously finds its way from the garage into the house, and thet's when I hear about it. I guess I'm looking for possible remedies, areas to look, or things I can do to eliminate (or at least reduce) the odour. Should I drain the tank for the winter? Should I clean and reseal the tank? Carbs? Fuel lines? Any suggestions, other than the obvious, and be nice people she's not going anywhere, to help with this problem......on the car.

..........Cheers, Alex
 
so you have no idea if the carbs are leaking because of a stuck float ? a fuel line is leaking or the tank is leaking? You got to help us narrow it down, other wise you will have to drain the tank for the winter to keep the peace

Hondo
 
You know, I just got mine back together, and I have the same thing happening. I forgot how bad these cars smell! There are absolutely no leaks in my fuel system. It seems to be the bowls boiling off as the car cools down, and the vapor comes out the vents. When I get caught up, I plan to run the vents into a single line, and see if I can't put a filter or something on that.

I am curious if anybody else has had luck...like maybe adding a charcoal canister??

John
 
Hondo, I don't see any FUEL leaks. Oil leaks, well that's another story. I am kind of leaning towards the fuel tank, but wouldn't I see a pool of gas sitting in the bottom of the boot? I guess I could change the fuel line, but I don't have any gas on the garage floor anywhere. That's what bothers me. I can't find any fuel leaks. So why the strong odour.

......Alex
 
Even a very small leak will cause a significant odor, and a small leak could evaporate before ever dripping on the ground.

Does the odor persist long after running the car? Gas evaporating out of the float chambers is once source, but that would dry up at some point.
 
If your carbs are the SU H series, check the cork seals (Item # 97 here ). They are prone to drying out, and are usual suspects.
 
I think it may be time to make the hard choice. Tell the person your trying to make happy it is either her or the car, and let it be know that the car will be the answer. The garage is your space and if the car decides to send some of its perfume your way while in the house you can't be responsible. I think it is just telling you that its needs some more attention then the person that lives in the house.

That being said here is some areas that I tend to find have leaks that don't drip but leave a smell.

Check all connections that you have rubber to metal. Most of the time a bit of gas sits in the rubber end but will not drip. So with a paper towel squeeze around the carbs, fuel pump and gas tank to outlet.

Check to seal at the cap to filler for the tank.

Or there are other good areas that it could be also that others have already talked about.
 
Try capping off the vent tube on the tank that goes through the floor. It worked for me on the TR3. Just be sure to uncap it when you want to go for a drive.
 
are you sure its the car? its not a Natural gas smell is it? do you have any other equipment that runs on gas in the garage? I have left gas cans open in my garage and I dont smell gas

Hondo
 
Mickey Richaud said:
If your carbs are the SU H series, check the cork seals...
Click to expand...

And if Strombergs it could be an O-ring. Available at Ace hardware and easy to swap with the carbs in place.

I use a non-white paper towel (the blue or brown sort you get by the gas pumps in stations) to feel around the bottom of the jets. Even a very small leak will leave a visible spot on those towels and (as noted above) even a small leak can make a pervasive smell.

It is not necessary to put up with this -- I park 2 TRs in the garage and in fine weather the door (which opens to the kitchen) is open so I can wrench and she can bake and we feel like we're spending time together.
 
HS series SUs can also weep (or worse) where the jet tube connects to the float chamber.
 
The rubber float bowl mounting washers are another common problem spot for H-series SUs. I find that an easy test is to rub a finger along the bottom of the jet and along the bottom of the bowl. If it comes away wet or even smelling like fuel, one of them is weeping.

Have you tried asking your significant other to help narrow down where the leak is? Eg is the smell stronger under the hood, beside the car, in the trunk, etc.

Also, better ventilation for the garage and better isolation between the house & garage (weather stripping around the door) will help. I use a big exhaust fan in the garage, which will pull air out of the house when the outer garage door is closed.

My gas tank vent tube is permanently plugged, since I found that it can dump raw fuel on the road in a hard turn with a full tank. My fill cap already had a tiny vent hole, which appears to be plenty; but it would be easy enough to add one if necessary.

Unlikely, but possible : the fuel pump diaphragm can leak fuel into the crankcase, which can result in a very strong odor. Normally there is a seal inside the pump to prevent that (and force the fuel to leak out the weep hole), but for many years the rebuild kits did not have that seal and it frequently got left out.
 
If you smell gas but can not find any obvious damp spots along the fuel line,or on or under the carbs, you may have gas soaked into the mat that sits below the gas tank, assuming your car has such. Once it has been exposed to even the smallest amount of gas, the odor will linger. On the other hand if the mat has gotten damp, the moisture may have started some external rust leading to a pin hole or two in the bottom of your tank.
I'm not just spouting theory..It happened to me.
 
This is great! I'll give it a thorough going over tonight. I do have Stromberg carbs and have replace the O-rings in the past. That had previously been the source of a fuel leak, but not currently. Worth checking more closely just the same. I think the odour is strongest from the trunk area.....I'm still talkin' about the car here folks. I'll let you know what I find.

.......Cheers, Alex
 
tomgt6 said:
I think it may be time to make the hard choice. Tell the person your trying to make happy it is either her or the car, and let it be know that the car will be the answer. The garage is your space and if the car decides to send some of its perfume your way while in the house you can't be responsible. I think it is just telling you that its needs some more attention then the person that lives in the house.
Click to expand...

I've done that before...trouble is the TR isn't big enough to sleep in!

Randall...never thought of that...might run the carb vents back to the tank vent. Problem solved! I can smell the vents for about 12 hours after the car runs...then it goes away.
 
Sometimes the Grose jets in the float bowls can spray gas out the vent hole IF the float not well-adjusted and the bowl is nearly overflowing. I've had that happen and had serious signs of fuel on the top of the float-bowls (of HS2s).
 
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