Fuel smell?

[Mastiff]

Took the K5 out for a driver yesterday, afterward, pulled back into the new shop, parked and immediately closed the doors. I came back out a few hours later and the place smelled like gas. I could not identify the source by smell. I got on the creeper and looked all around the fuel system from top of tank along frame rail and up. No visible leaks or seeping anywhere. I opened the windows overnight and the smell is gone now. This truck has a TBI conversion and the evap emission stuff is gone. I've never noticed anything like this before, but my previous garage was not sealed tightly like this and was actually actively ventilated all the time. Any thoughts on where this smell could have come from, or maybe it's "normal" if it happens to burp out fumes with no charcoal canister?

 

[Wes Harden]

Yeah with vapir canister this is probably it. Temperature changes and fuel vapors venting

 

[dyeager535]

Yep. Need a vapor canister or it's going to smell. Didn't put one on my truck and same deal. Right conditions, I smell fuel.

 

[Mastiff]

Yep. Need a vapor canister or it's going to smell. Didn't put one on my truck and same deal. Right conditions, I smell fuel.

Did you end up putting one on? I haven't looked yet, but I wonder if there's an aftermarket option or something.

 

[dyeager535]

No, my buddy is way more sensitive to the smell than I am so any time he ends up in the truck he comments on the smell lol. I think if I ran with the rear window down often I'd notice it more. Gas prices give me even less incentive to drive it.

I did run the vent hose I used between the bed side inner and outer panels (above the fuel cap) to ensure it didn't vent fuel when topped off and try to keep bugs and dirt away from it, but it's still hokey. And probably not good in terms of corrosion.

I have a factory canister sitting on a shelf, but then I'd have to run the lines, figure out how to run the switch with the TPI setup, and reprogram the ECM to do so.

For putting a thousand or so miles a year on it, not a top priority. It will get done eventually however. Just one of those things to do at the same time as everything else. At the time I thought I knew better.