i did a search and didnt really find anything helpful. Im smelling gas fumes in the cabin. when i first wake up in the morning to start the car the minute i open the door i can smell the fumes and its even stronger in the trunk. I took apart the trunk carpet and visually inspected the gas tank but i see no visual leaks.

What i've done so far was tighten all the bolts on the fuel sending unit and the other thing on the top of the tank by the subwoofer and i also tightened the nuts on the pipe that goes from where u fill up to the gas tank. all the nuts were semi loose when i got to them so i tightened them as much as i could thinking that would solve my problems but the smell still exists.

im thinking it could possibly be comming from behind the gas tank( the side where the rear seats are) Is there a pipe thats on that side leading down to the bottom of the car to another tank? maybe that may be leaking or maybe the fuel pump.

Any suggestions on how to find leaks or any other location that may be leaking or causing fumes?

I dont smell anything in the engine bay so i know its not comming from there i smell it strongest in the trunk by the gas tank so im pretty sure there some sort of leak or something in there that is letting off fumes. I plan on taking the rear seats out tomororow and checking that side of the tank but i know that side is blocked by a big metal plate but it looks like u can remove that metal plate blocking the rear from accessing the trunk area if u unbolt it and pry off all the glue thats holding it down. Anyone know if its removable and if theres anything on that side of the gas tank that may be leaking? i think the fuel pump is accessible through that side through a hole but dont remember. any suggestions would be helpful i also replaced the gas cap just incase that was the problem.

would a pin hole side leak actually cause that much fumes? maybe i should just replace all the gaskets and the tank and hope for the best. worse comes to worse i go to lexus and have them rob my wallet of all my money.

 

sometimes if the catalytic converter gets bad enough it will give off a fuel smell but that's only when they are really bad. also a saturated charcoal canister will do it it. im not sure where the canister is but that will definitely give off the smell. on some cars it is located in the back of the car behind the rear quarter panels. also maybe your fuel cap has a small leak in it. if the car is OBD-II then it would throw a code for it but OBD-I it won't. maybe put those into consideration too.

i don't really think it could be a hole in a fuel line or anything like that because that would seriously effect driveability. my teacher who was a smog tech for 11 years said one time he had a customer with a VERY small hole in the fuel tank (less than .020") which gave off the fuel smell but the evap system couldn't sense it because it was so small. he said this only happened once though so i kinda doubt that's the problem too.

if the driveability is bad then it could be a hole in a fuel line or something like that and of course a misfire. otherwise you can pretty much cancel those out.

 

thanx for the reply i replaced the fuel cap with a new one so thats not it. i think the charcoal canister your refering to is in the front of the car. i've isolated the smell to the fuel tank in the trunk behind the seats thats where the smell is strongest. so it has to be something in that area that is giving off the gas smell perhaps there is a pinhole sized leak in one of the gaskets and it is letting off fumes. I dunno if a small pinhole sized leak which is not even large enough to leak fuel would give off such a strong fuel smell though. Im guessing the fumes come into the cabin from the trunk. cuz i dont smell anything from the ac vents or the engine bay only the trunk and it comes into the cabin. the drivability has not been affected right now im assuming its just letting off fumes and gas in its liquid form is not even leaking anywhere unless its behind the fuel tank and i cannot see the leak.

if anyone knows any possible things that would give off the fumes in the trunk let me know thanks.

 

well i know a pinhole sized leak has annoyed people enough to take it to the shop. the only other thing i can think of right now is maybe your filler neck is a little bent and not sealing properly? i cant think of a way to have such a strong fuel smell and not have any power loss or hesitation. ill try to keep thinking about it though.

have you noticed your gas mileage getting worse at all?

 

can't really tell if gas milage has gone down from such a small leak. i dont even see a leak anywhere only smell some fumes. so at most i'd lose like .1 mpg from that i would think.

I went ahead and put silicon around all the gaskets fuel pump, sending unit filler neck gasket connecting to the gas tank. but still kind of smell the fumes. if anyone knows where else the fumes can be comming from in the trunk let me know.

 

well that isnt why i asked at all. i dont really think theres a leak. i was thinking maybe it was running too rich and HC deposits are forming in your exhaust. I still think its the cat or exhaust.

 

sounds like a reasonable explanation but i do smell the fumes in the trunk the stongest and i dunno if its possible for the exhaust fumes to get into the trunk area or into the cabin when the windows and trunk are closed.

 

Hey I'm bringing this thread back because I'm in a similar situation.

Since I bought my 93 sc300, I noticed a fuel smell. It is definitely coming from the trunk by the fuel tank. The car doesn't have to be running. Just once the key is on and the fuel pump turns on. If I drive for a while I notice my eyes start to burn and get red. I didn't realize what was causing it until now. I know there are 3 covers on the tank.

Does anybody knows the part numbers for the gaskets? I'm also going to replace the fuel pump with a walbro because I also have a 1jz.

The car drives fine. And boosts strong.

 

I had the same problem. There is an overflow tube that leads from the filler neck to the bottom of the truck (under the CD changer). From here the fuel drips onto the road. In my case, the tube disconnected from the filler tank and the backflow was dripping fuel into the bottom of the truck (under the CD changer). It could drain out the hole at the bottom cause the tube was blocking it. Reconnected the tube and problem solved - no more gas smell.