Gas smell in my car

[TxBandit]

Hey guys. So here's the deal. Recently, every time I fill at the gas station, I get a gas smell inside the cabin when I leave. The smell persists for several minutes and slowly goes away. Sometimes I have to roll the windows down for a few minutes to get some fresh air in because it's gets pretty strong.

I've looked under the hood but don't see any visible leaks. I'm baffled. What do ya'll think it could be?

[petrified.rabbit]

Do you top off? The charcoal canister is in the back of the car near the wheel well. Odds are you either flooded it, or you have a leak.

You need to figure out if the smell is coming into the cabin through the vents, or if the smell is coming in the expansion vents in the trunk. I would say fill it up and not drive for a bit, don't even start the car. Just see if the smell travels to the inside of the car. If the smell is there it is more likely going to come from the back. Next turn car on, but don't start it, if the smell only coming in once you have turned on the vents, you need to check the front of the car. If there is still no smell start the car. IF you start to smell it then, then you have to check the injectors, etc.

if the smell is strong, and the gas station does not smell, then you could do this with all the door and trunk open and sniff around to find the source.


is it a "fresh" gas smell, or like a burning gas smell?

[RicochetRandy]

Rabbit is right; though another thing that got me was that it took whole minutes of driving to get rid of the smell, with the windows down. That sounds pretty severe, especially if you're rolling the windows down because the smell is so strong.

[TxBandit]

Is the canister on the passenger side of the rear wheel well? I think I saw it when I was trying to locate the smell.

I even filled it up halfway one time just to see if anything changed and I could still smell gas as I was leaving the gas station. So that eliminated the possibility of it flooding.

Where are these expansion vents in the trunk? Would you happen to have a pic of them?

But thanks for the extra advice. When it comes time to fill up again, I will try the steps you mentioned and report back on my findings. I guess you can say it's a "fresh" gas smell. It's only noticeable when I drive off then slowly dissipates.

[EvanT]

Has anyone figured this out I'm having exact same problem. Every time I add gas to my 2005 Chevy aveo sedan I get a strong gas smell inside the car for a few minutes. If I have the a/c on it seems worse like it could be coming through the vents. Also it doesn't matter how much gas I add. I can add 1 gallon or 8 gallons it makes the same smell. Also I know that my o2 sensor is bad. Could that cause this??

[xintersecty]

Pop the hood and see if the smell is coming into the engine compartment. Check Rabbits advice above. Good stuff there.

[kevins]

Be a little careful. I used to get this occasionally, then about a year ago I brimmed the tank, parked up, then on my return to the car a few hours later found that the fuel had vented out of the filler cap. Ended up peeling the paint off the rear of the car which wasn't good. Think a loose filler cap was partially to blame too, as if it had it been sealed properly it might have prevented the leakage.

The other cause for a petrol smell in the cabin is a faulty/sticky roll over valve. This is found behind the B post trim cover (where passenger seat belt emerges) just under the little triangular window - smallish black plastic gizmo with fuel pipe attached to spigots on each end.

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[EvanT]

Ok. I've done a little trouble shooting. Seems the smell is coming through the a/c vents and it's very strong. Gives me a headache. It's worse if I have the a/c on recirculate. I can't really smell anything around the gas tank or the engine area. I replaced the fuel vent valve on the back by the charcoal canister. I'm a diesel mechanic and this is my fiancé car so I'm trying to fix it for her but it's got me stumped. I'm wandering if the 02 sensor being bad would cause a problem in the evap system and cause it to do this? The car was wrecked in the front end a couple months ago and the radiator pushed in to the 02 sensor and bent it over. I straightened the front frame with a porta power and a couple bumper jacks went to a junk yard and got some fenders hood front bumper radiator ac condenser electric fan all that stuff and put the car back together but ever since then it's been getting a gas smell inside the car. Don't really smell anything outside. My 5 month old son rides in this car almost every day so I really want to get this problem fixed.

[EvanT]

Is this what you are calling the roll over valve