Gas smell in cabin but only while driving

[atomicmoloch]

Its either only residual or very weak when not moving, and when parked I can smell it mainly near the accelerator pedals. When driving it gets a lot more noticeable. So I assumed that it would be a fuel line leak, but I felt my hand all around the tank and the rubber parts of the fuel lines and couldn't feel anything. Also haven't noticed any pools under the car but will check again tomorrow.
My car's a '60 so there aren't any heater ducts from the engine bay. The fuel pump was bone dry and no major traces of fuel in the engine bay.
The smell is definitely a lot more like gas than exhaust.

The only explanation I can think of is that there's some very small leak in the fuel lines which I haven't found yet but wanted to put out a line in case anyone has alternative possible explanations.

[erco]

Did you check for gas leaks at or near the gas heater in the front trunk?

[bbodie52]

The attached documents may be of some help.

[66vairguy]

The "gas smell" only when driving can be a number of things - HOWEVER after decades of driving old cars I found one often over looked area is the large hose between the tank and filler neck, or the small hose for the tank vent. Once the car gets moving the fuel sloshes around in the tank and the filler/vent hoses leak a little. Let the car sit and they dry out and the gas smell goes away. Not saying this is your problem, just something to check.

The other issue is the top of the gas tank rusts and sloshing lets fuel leak out and down the thank sides.

My favorite is folks drilling holes and putting screws through the bulkhead INTO THE GAS TANK.

Good luck finding the problem.

[erco]

The attached documents may be of some help.

Thanks Brad, those vintage Chevy Service News are interesting reads. Is there an online collection of those?

[bbodie52]

I have not found any online collection of Chevrolet News Bulletins, but once in a while I come across one and file a copy on my PC for future reference and to share with others, when a question comes up on the Corvair Forum, like yours, that might benefit from something in my personal "Corvair reference library".

The previous post about fuel tank leaks is accurate. I had to laugh about the comment about owners drilling holes in the body sheet metal — not realizing how close the fuel tank resides to the body sheet metal in the trunk or vehicle interior floor.

The rubber hoses connecting the fuel tank filler tube to the tank, and the two short rubber hoses used to connect that long steel line between the tank and the engine compartment are often forgotten or difficult to inspect. If age brings on a rotting, cracked hose, it can cause problems. The main tank fill tube in my 1965 Corsa developed a crack in the rubber that became readily apparent when I would fill the tank to the top of the tube, and gasoline would drain out on the ground from the side of that hose until the fuel level was below the area of hose decay.. It is not easy to get to for replacement, but it can happen.

The two short hoses in the long fuel line between the tank and the engine compartment can also develop leaks. The one near the tank would permit a gravity feed to drain the tank on the ground, but the one near the starter motor is often forgotten and is not pressurized (unless an electric pump has been installed near the gas tank). This line permits a vacuum to be developed between the mechanical fuel pump on the engine and the fuel tank. It is like sucking through a long straw. If that short rubber hose next to the starter cracks or develops a leak, fuel won't usually spill out, but air will leak in! This prevents the fuel pump from developing the needed vacuum to draw fuel from the tank, so the engine is only sucking air. Such a leak can be misinterpreted as a bad fuel pump, when it is not the pump at all... just a cracked rubber hose in the feed line! Did you ever try to drink through a straw when there was a crack in the side of the straw?

The above illustration is from the 1965 Corvair Assembly Manual - FUEL TANK attachment. It is representative of the configuration found in all Corvair year models.

[Richard]

>>My favorite is folks drilling holes and putting screws through the bulkhead INTO THE GAS TANK.<<

My Sister bought a new 1965 Evening Orchid Corsa. A few weeks later she took it down to Muntz Stereo on Rosco, next to Galpin Ford and had a stereo installed.
The next time she filled the tank, she could smell gas. She took it back to Muntz and they repaired it. I don't know what their repair was, but she never had a problem again.

[66vairguy]

>>My favorite is folks drilling holes and putting screws through the bulkhead INTO THE GAS TANK.<<

My Sister bought a new 1965 Evening Orchid Corsa. A few weeks later she took it down to Muntz Stereo on Rosco, next to Galpin Ford and had a stereo installed.
The next time she filled the tank, she cold smell gas. She took it back and they repaired it. I don't know what their repair was, but she never had a problem again.

Good story.

A buddy, who grew up in a large family, once told me when he was a kid his frugal Dad bought a two year old 1965 Ford Station wagon from the Ford dealer, BUT a condition of the sale was the dealer had to install rear seat belts. For years the car would sometimes smell of gasoline and nobody could find the problem. When he bought another car the new owner of the wagon called to say "the rear seat belt bolts were run into the gas tank"!!!

[Dennis66]

For several years I supervised the maintenance and repair of our Police Fleet (around 300 cars back then). Our two way radios were mounted in the trunk. On one batch of cars our radio install people (under different supervision) drilled right into the tanks of about a dozen cruisers before the gas odor complaints started coming in. They were also good for drilling into A/C components when installing the radio heads in the interiors.
P.S. as I recently learned, it is probably good preventative practice to drop the tank (less than fun) and replace or at least inspect those connecting hoses. Dennis

[bbodie52]

WATCH OUT FOR THOSE CORVAIR GASOLINE LEAKS!!

[atomicmoloch]

The attached documents may be of some help.

Thanks a lot for the documents, I definitely have my own burgeoning 'corvair folder' myself.

Is there any way that manually moving the throttle assembly bar to rev the engine could maladjust the carburators? Come to think of it, I did that the last time I took it out (a week ago...)

[jimbrandberg]

Did anyone mention that the '60 is further complicated by a gas returning to the gas tank and gas heater under pressure? You could remove the steel line and flare nut from the Tee near the fuel pump and put a 3/16 flare plug in there temporarily.
Jim Brandberg
Isanti, MN
CorvairRepair.com

[erco]

I was also smelling gas today in my '67 on our first drive in a month in this fine sunny LA weather. Top of left primary carb was wet with gas, the large filter inlet nut was leaking. One quick snug with a wrench and problem fixed. If only other issues were so easy to remedy.

[MtnVairMike]

I was also smelling gas today in my '67 on our first drive in a month in this fine sunny LA weather. Top of left primary carb was wet with gas, the large filter inlet nut was leaking. One quick snug with a wrench and problem fixed. If only other issues were so easy to remedy.

X2 recently, mine was on the right under the spare, a bit tighter confines.