QuestionQUESTION: My 1967 Cadillac DeVille smells strongly of fuel when garaged. You can open the hood and pin-point the odor to the air filter. There is no gas odor from the area if the car is or has been running, it occurs after the engine cools and doesn't subside no matter how long it sits cold. If you remove the filter cover and smell down into the carb, fumes come pouring out. The problem has become bad enough that I have to keep my beauty parked outside to prevent fumes from collecting in my garage. Could this point to some fault in the carburetor or is something else to blame? The car is also idling roughly and spewing a suspicious amount of fuel odor in the exhaust, could these problems all be connected?
ANSWER: Hi Austin:
Your carb is leaking fuel. When the engine stops, the accelerator should
fully dis-engage. Yours is still engage to some degree. Check the accelerator
linkage to be sure it is fully releasing when stopped. Your linkage is either bad or
is sticking. I'm surprise if this doesn't flood the car and prevent or make
starting difficult.
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QUESTION: Thanks so much! I had too many people telling me that old cars just smell. I took the car to the shop today, they seemed to believe the carb and linkage were fine but the smell, as well as idle, exhaust and power issues, were being caused by 2 cylinders misfiring. Could that be the culprit of everything, or should I press into having the carb explored further? I also suspect the PCV valve hasn't been changed in, perhaps, decades. Could this be a contributor?
AnswerIf it is running rough, then you could have foul plugs.
If it haven't been tuned in awhile, I would give her a
good tune up. Plugs, PVC, air filter and check the points.
If the plugs are fouled, then a large amount of unburned
fuel is being dump into the exhaust system, and YES that
most likely your problem
