Gas tank building excessive pressure & fuel smell. Dangerous for sure! Why does this happen?

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Pressure can cause vapors to escape, but will increase the fuel boiling point. That's why water boils at a lower temperature at a higher elevation. It's also why radiator caps are designed to maintain pressure in the cooling system.
its a vicious circle it is.
 
Smelling strong vapor in the cabin today. Just normal driving. Not even hot out.
Started up the LX today, about 10 mins in the CEL comes on.

Here’s the codes…


IMG_8224.webp
 
First thing I'd do is check the gas cap. Make sure seal in good condition and tight. If older or not OEM gas cap, I'd replace. Clear codes and see what comes back.
 
The VSV on the intake will get stuck and only barely open. So it never sets a code. The truck thinks it's working fine, it clicks, but it never vents the tank. The whole vent system is just a controlled leak of tank vapor into the intake. If you are getting boil over, something is blocking the path of the vapor to the intake - that's it, it is pretty simple, really. Replace the VSV first before you replace the more expensive bits. Muffler and exhaust leaks will also heat up the fuel in the tank - check all the exhaust bits and connections.
I wanted to highlight the wisdom of this piece of the puzzle. It appears other Toyota engine evap systems report similar issues as we 100's do.
Here's a great writeup of the DIY fix LS 430 owners have used to service the VSV mounted to the intake; with shop manual references.

Note: I attempted this and it was a 1/2 :banana: job. Unfortunately, it was not the only culprit in my hot fuel saga and I ended up replacing my charcoal canister. Ordinarily a job of few :banana:, but hindered by the LRA AUX tank that had to be dropped 💪to access the canister.

I haven't given it a proper long drive to observe any MPG changes etc., but I immediately noticed it idles better. Interestingly, fuel poured out of the old canister when removed - that couldn't have been correct. I expect to smell less strong fuel odor now, and hopefully improve the efficiency of the EVAP system.
 
Last summer I had fuel boiling in the high Colorado mountain passes (2000 LC). I insulated my fuel tank (the sides facing the exhaust) and the fuel lines running along the frame rail. No issues this year, with similar weather.
 
Started up the LX today, about 10 mins in the CEL comes on.

Here’s the codes…


View attachment 3689889
Notes from the tech at my favorite local Toyo shop…

———
Finding:
found multiple dtc's for the evap system. all listed below. visually inspected the system and found no leaks. i tested all vsv's that control this system. all functioned normally except the purge vsv. i tapped on the valve and re tested. it is now functioning. recommend starting by replacing this vsv as it will likely stick again. It was mentioned the guest was concerned about the charcoal canister. However the codes present are not the typical codes associated with a flooded canister. I would recommend starting with the known bad component.
———

Seems to comport with what @Sykoslug just posted.
 
There was and guy who wrote about the EVAP VSV (on intake), on other Toyota/lexus, other than 4.7L 2UZ. He was finding these Toyotas, in salvage yards, in relatively good condition. He felt, they were ending up in salvage yard due to fuel issues (boiling). What he showed, was charcoal in the VSV and its hose clogging them.

VSV is for sure, a component that needs testing.

Shielding is for sure helpful, especially in rigs with under armor//belly pan. It should not be necessary, in stock rigs. But again, helpful, in them as well.

But if CC flooded, it will need replacing. Once flooded, they just keep getting worst. Eventually they get so bad, just driving around town, engine will stall or RPM will get very low and erratic. They'll be a smell of vapor, in most cases, will be like very old stall gasoline smell.
 
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Notes from the tech at my favorite local Toyo shop…

———
Finding:
found multiple dtc's for the evap system. all listed below. visually inspected the system and found no leaks. i tested all vsv's that control this system. all functioned normally except the purge vsv. i tapped on the valve and re tested. it is now functioning. recommend starting by replacing this vsv as it will likely stick again. It was mentioned the guest was concerned about the charcoal canister. However the codes present are not the typical codes associated with a flooded canister. I would recommend starting with the known bad component.
———

Seems to comport with what @Sykoslug just posted.
Replacing purge vsv did not alleviate the fuel smells. Still getting same error codes as before.

Possibly related… maybe red herring… but after replacing the purge vsv… drove the LX from Omaha to Evergreen… filled up before leaving Omaha no problem at the station … filled up again just outside of Denver… no problem at the station

Drove all over CO all last week… even did the Barbour Fork trail near Idaho Springs. Filled up the 40 gallon tank to head back home and heard something leaking. Looked underneath and saw fuel streaming down on the ground right off tank. Looked like about a pint poured out and then slowed to a drip before stopping completely.

Not sure if this is related in any way to the issues I’ve been having. Might be something shook loose on the trail? Might just be a one off where the pump I was at didn’t shut off and overfilled the tank? Idk but was definitely a little unnerving getting back on the road for an 8 hour trip after that lol.

Anywho, we got home without any problems. The shop is gonna look at it again next week and see what’s what.
 
Replacing purge vsv did not alleviate the fuel smells. Still getting same error codes as before.

Possibly related… maybe red herring… but after replacing the purge vsv… drove the LX from Omaha to Evergreen… filled up before leaving Omaha no problem at the station … filled up again just outside of Denver… no problem at the station

Drove all over CO all last week… even did the Barbour Fork trail near Idaho Springs. Filled up the 40 gallon tank to head back home and heard something leaking. Looked underneath and saw fuel streaming down on the ground right off tank. Looked like about a pint poured out and then slowed to a drip before stopping completely.

Not sure if this is related in any way to the issues I’ve been having. Might be something shook loose on the trail? Might just be a one off where the pump I was at didn’t shut off and overfilled the tank? Idk but was definitely a little unnerving getting back on the road for an 8 hour trip after that lol.

Anywho, we got home without any problems. The shop is gonna look at it again next week and see what’s what.

Turns out the hose from tank to canister was torn. There was enough slack to cut off the torn end and reattach. Now the only gas smells are from the dogs.
 
Not related to tank pressure, but my two bob on the fuel smell I posted on here earlier.
With mine I was leaking a LOT of fuel from fuel pressure pulsation damper, actually making a puddle under the vehicle when I finally found it.
Its located at the back of the fuel rail on the FZJ105, UZJ100 and probably other models.
My post is here:
 
I replaced the charcoal cannister recently and have noticed that my tank is no longer making pressure release sounds at the gas cap.
Now make sure, whatever caused CC to go bad (saturated) is corrected.
If it was just a case of miles, you should be around 1 million or more miles now ;) .
 
Now make sure, whatever caused CC to go bad (saturated) is corrected.
If it was just a case of miles, you should be around 1 million or more miles now ;) .
This has been on my mind. Do you know any typical causes for it to go bad?
 
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