Stinking of fuel

[Boyd84]

I have 1984 K5 with a 350/700R4 combo. Edelbrock 1406 carb with Napa generic air cleaner. Engine runs good. It smokes a little when first started, then clears up after it has had a chance to warm up. The problem is that it stinks of fuel. I can't drive 100 yards without smelling like I spilled gas on my clothes. I don't have any visible leaks. Please tell me this is common and easily fixed.

 

[kennyw]

Nothing common about that. It sounds like you have a leak, possibly caused by removing the factory emissions systems.

 

[diesel4me]

"Raw" gas smell is not normal,you probably have a leak somewhere--or a charcoal canister that's been disabled and is letting fuel accumulate--often the vacuum hose to it gets left off when a different intake or carb is installed,and gas can eventually build up in it if it is still connected to the gas tank return line...
There could be a small leak anywhere between the gas tank,sending unit,and carb,including the steel line that runs along the frame...often a pinhole leak will evaporate fast enough not to leave any puddle or stains on the vehicle...

You may be mistaking the smell of oil burning off when you first fire it up for gas too,sometimes blowby fumes or oil from bad valve seals will stink like that as it burns off...also Edelbrock carbs are easy to flood if you use too much choke and that can make a lot of gas fumes from both the exhaust and raw gas spilling on the intake..

 

[Boyd84]

Thanks for the info. I went out to have another look last night. I noticed the vacuum return line to the canister has an outlet to the drivers side valve cover that wasn't connected. I corrected that. Today I'll crawl around underneath and see if I can see any other problem areas.