Another fuel smell issue sighhh -- Update May 16th

GEORGEKLASS

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A couple of days ago I started smelling gasoline fumes under the hood, pass side. Today we pulled the wheel well liner and inspected everything. The hose going to the vent line was a little loose but that's it. Didn't have too much time to check everything but the lines going to it seemed ok. I pulled out the vacuum line on manifold side of the canister purge valve and have good vacuum. I then removed it from the car, applied 12V and can hear it clicking (assuming it's opening and closing?). Resistance was 60 ohms.

I don't think it's coming from the fuel hoses unless they are falling apart from the inside. Only other thing I can think of is I filled the tank a few days until I heard the first click, then pumped a few more cents to round it off. Canister should have dried by now if too much gas got in somehow? This is driving me nuts, I really have no time to mess with it and it's stressing me the **** out. Recent work on the car is 2 fresh Motorcraft 02 sensors, plugs, wires, cap and rotor, coil and ACT. Also did the fuel filter today while it was up on the lift.

ANy suggestions? At this point I just want to buy a new canister, valve, change all the vacuum lines and the fuel hoses loll. :rolleyes:
 

Michael Plummer

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Depending on how many miles you have on the engine, it could just be the charcoal canister needs replacing.
 

87hurricane

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Yeah, did you sniff the canister while you had the lines off? Its normal for it to smell like gas, but not overwhelmingly so. I know on mine, the vac line that comes off the back of the intake and goes to the purge valve had collapsed, so my canister hadnt been purging right for a long time.
 
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GEORGEKLASS

GEORGEKLASS

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If I pull the hose canister side out of the purge valve I smell fuel but it goes away rather quickly. The smell seems to be there when the car is running and for about 5-10 minutes after it's shut off. I didn't remove the hoses from the canister while we had it up. When I got to work this morning I popped the hood and the smell wasnt as bad, was running the car for about 15 minutes.

I've also been having a stalling issue on hot starts. Today it did it on a cold start as well. Fired up, brought her out side and would stall unless I held the throttle down. After about a minute I would idle on it's own. It usually does this on a hot start. I'm really leaning towards IAC on this one because I've had a slight hanging idle as well.
 
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GEORGEKLASS

GEORGEKLASS

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Didn't drive the car yesterday, took it to work today I'm almost positive the smell is coming from the vent tube near the ABS pump. Even tho the hose going from the charcoal canister to the purge valve looked decent, I'm still going to change it. If that doesn't solve the issue, I think it's safe to say the charcoal canister is toast.
 
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GEORGEKLASS

GEORGEKLASS

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Ok so here is the verdict:

Removed wheel liner and started the car. Within 15-20 seconds it reeked of fuel from the vent line near the abs pump. You can actually see the vapor coming out. While there I changed the hose from the canister to the purge valve, not like it did anything lol... The whole way home I could smell gas at lights. When I got home I wanted to pull the new hose off at the purge valve side to see if it smelled at all. Also to see if the valve would open and I ended up breaking it where the hose hooks up in my impatience. Oops. I used 1/4 hose so it was extra tight.

Soooo, I took it out of the car and applied 12V to it again but even tho I hear it clicking I don't think it's opening all the way. If I run the line direct from canister to upper intake the car stalls immediately. I said **** it and ordered a new Motorcraft purge valve, charcoal canister and fuel cap. This should hopefully solve my problem.

Also ordered a new Motorcraft IAC. Previous owner told me he cleaned it, but with the car being 20 years old, at this point I'd rather just change stuff with fresh OEM.
 
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GEORGEKLASS

GEORGEKLASS

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Installed new purge valve and gas cap Wednesday night, fuel smell is 99% gone. Smelled a very, very light amount for a couple of days after I shut it off but that's it. When I get more time I'll put the new charcoal canister in.
 

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