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  • Smelly car

    I have a problem, maybe someone else has experienced it and has an idea, at least I hope so.

    My car ( 53 coupe) smells of gas most of the time, weather running or sitting, inside and out.
    It does not leak gas anywhere, nor is mainly an under hood smell.

    I was thinking it might be some kind of gas tank venting problem,but there doesn't seem to be any vent at all from what i can see,anyone have an idea???

    Thanks

    John

  • #2
    What's it been eating?

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    • #3
      Since I do not own a '53, I can't give you specifics related to that particular model as it relates to the tank. However, I had a similar situation with my '48 before I began the restoration. I smelled gas continually and there was no obvious leak. When I removed the body from the frame, I decided to make a new steel fuel line to replace the old one that ran from the tank along the frame rail to the front of the car. Upon removing one of the large flat clamps about mid-frame, I discovered that the fuel line had pretty much disintegrated with rust. The gas line at that point consisted of a tunnel through a wall of rust held together by the clamp. I was amazed that gas flowed through to the fuel pump.

      Check your line, take the clamp off and see what the condition is under the clamp.
      John Clary
      Greer, SC

      SDC member since 1975

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      • #4
        I had a similar problem with my 56 Hawk. The gasket for the fuel level sending unit on the top of the tank was cruddy and letting fumes out.

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        • #5
          I had a Hawk that smelled of gas for a long time, with no drips. However, the rubber hose that jointed the filler to the tank had deteriorated to the point that it let gas fumes out especially on a summer day. Due to eddies under the car, it didn't smell too much by the filler. When it DID start leaking, it became very apparent very quickly. My Jeep tends to leak quite often at the sender seal due to a poor design. I don't want to really seal it up as the gas pump might go again.
          As far as a Studebaker, the rusty but visually intact gas line and the rotten sender seal are your best bets, if there are no apparent leaks. Since the earlier cars have low pressure pumps, and they are sucking it up to the front rather than pushing it out of the tank, you can get very fragile lines not quite leaking, but enough air is getting around to give you a gas smell
          Last edited by Jim B PEI; 11-09-2010, 07:26 PM.

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          • #6
            All these suggestions are valid, and I can add some others from experience. Old rubber hoses can let fumes permeate thru them even when no cracking or leaking is apparent. If they are old replace the hoses on the fuel line (a good practice anyway) but just to add a kicker I had suspected the filler tube hose and seal on one of my cars and after replacing sure enough confirmed the big hose was "venting" thru it's skin under pressure!
            Tony in Hawaii

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            • #7
              I agree with all these suggestions and want to add that the replacement neoprene rubber gas tank gasket that holds in the fuel sender is too hard to seal properly in some cases.
              Use the old style cork gasket or use some RTV sealant.
              Robert Kapteyn

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              • #8
                I don't recommend using and RTV sealant anywhere there is gasoline present as the gas will turn the silicone sealer into jelly in a short time. I learned this the hard way when I used RTV on a carburetor gasket. Bud

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                • #9
                  I'll have a look at all these things, the gas line is recent , so doubt its that.
                  I think the others a real possibilities.

                  Since there is no vent how does the gas tank vent???

                  Thanks guys.

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                  • #10
                    Your model vents the tank by using a vented gas cap.

                    Originally posted by johnod View Post
                    I'll have a look at all these things, the gas line is recent , so doubt its that.
                    I think the others a real possibilities.

                    Since there is no vent how does the gas tank vent???

                    Thanks guys.
                    Frank van Doorn
                    Omaha, Ne.
                    1962 GT Hawk 289 4 speed
                    1941 Champion streetrod, R-2 Powered, GM 200-4R trans.
                    1952 V-8 232 Commander State "Starliner" hardtop OD

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                    • #11
                      The neck on your fuel tank's sending unit pipe has cracked at the soldered joint on the tank. Fumes are coming from the top of your tank.

                      Unscrew the accesss plateto the sending unit, remove cover and run your finger by the pipe. You should wind up with gas on your finger and more fumes.

                      Do not try and resolder with it in tank.

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                      • #12
                        Does the smell of gas change with the level of gas in the tank? I would periodically smell gas when the car was in the garage ( no smell outside). It turned out that with more than 1/2 tank, the smell was very obvious, less than 1/2 tank no smell. The leak is in the middle of the tank where the top and bottom pieces join together.

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                        • #13
                          Had this problem for years and could not work it out until I needed to remove the tank. All those years of searching turned out to be one of the screws holding the tank sender in was letting gas passed. Not enough to drop any on the ground but enough to cause a gas odor in the cab. Easy fix. Permatex on the screw, reinstall screw, no more gas odors. I also made sure the round access cover from the trunk was sealed correctly.

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