I just filled the tank of my 74 FJ40 and noticed a fuel smell in that driver'c compt. It has lingered for a few days. Replaced the filter and all eng. compt lines last year and teh eng compt smells fine - no leaks. No drips under the tank and the fill pipe seems ok - what I can see. Smelling around near the trans hump at the fuel tank I smell some funky gas smell but see no leaks. I am going to yank the pass seat and pull the cover on the fuel tank. before I get that far - is there something that commonly leaks / overfills in that area? What lines are down there that might cut loose? Do the tanks fail often and if so, what do we (and I mean me) do about it?
Funky Fuel Smell
- Thread starter mattcobb
- Start date
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The large rubber hose from the filler tube to the gas tank has two clamps on it, and they are a common cause of leakage from the edge of the hose, especially with the old-style hose clamps that your rig probably came with (a fact pointed out to my by Poser on this board). It doesn't take much, and the fact that it occurs after a fillup fits with that. Try new hose clamps.
partial answer
I had a leak due to rust from the outside in on the tank on my '74, on the back part of the tank where it could touch the body channel. On my tank, the supply and return lines were rubber and went through a paired grommet on the floor. Three vent lines on the top of the tank went to the gizmo near the fill tube that connect to the charcoal cannister.
Most of this is easily visible when you remove the tank cover, the supply and return lines might be hidden a bit under the center console. If you are real lucky something rubber is leaking or came loose and your fix will be cheap. I kinda expect it to be a leak in the tank somewhere. If you discover this, there were many recent posts about how to go about repairing a leaking tank. If I'd had IH8MUD.com back when my tank leaked, I coulda repaired it, but I spent $$$ on a new tank instead.
YMMV good luck
I had a leak due to rust from the outside in on the tank on my '74, on the back part of the tank where it could touch the body channel. On my tank, the supply and return lines were rubber and went through a paired grommet on the floor. Three vent lines on the top of the tank went to the gizmo near the fill tube that connect to the charcoal cannister.
Most of this is easily visible when you remove the tank cover, the supply and return lines might be hidden a bit under the center console. If you are real lucky something rubber is leaking or came loose and your fix will be cheap. I kinda expect it to be a leak in the tank somewhere. If you discover this, there were many recent posts about how to go about repairing a leaking tank. If I'd had IH8MUD.com back when my tank leaked, I coulda repaired it, but I spent $$$ on a new tank instead.
YMMV good luck
All four of the factory vapor lines on the top backside of the tank will be subjected to direct contact with gas when the tank is full. So will the sending unit gasket. Any of these 30 year old pieces of rubber is suspect.
Pull the cover.
Pull the cover.