QuestionQUESTION: My wife has a 1995 Camaro with the small V6 I think it is a 4.3?, anyway we are getting a very strong fuel smell comming into the car. You can smell it outside the vehical comming from the engine compartment. It looks to me like it is leaking a little around the gasket on the top of the engine I guess that is the throttle body for the fuel injection? Right where that top aluminum housing bolts onto the engine. The car runs great and is good on gas just can't handle the smell. Any ideas on what needs to be done and how costly it might be??? Thank you.
ANSWER: Its a 3.4L V6 and it sounds like the charcoal cannister has gone bad. You can get one from a wrecker for cheap. The charcoal cannister is behind the fuel door. If the smell is coming from the rear of the car its most likely the cannister. Sometimes its just a broken or worn hose going to the cannister from the fuel tank.
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QUESTION: Did you read the question? The smell is comming from the engine compartment (front of the car) and you can see where it is wet looking (yellowisk stain) around the thottle body.
ANSWER: I read your question and your leaky gasket has nothing to do with the gas smell. Gasoline does not leave a yellow stain. You're probably leaking coolant from the throttlebody which has nothing to do with the gas smell.
If the smell is coming from the engine compartment it is either a hose going to the charcoal cannister or leaky fuel injectors dripping gas into the intake. But since you didn't mention any starting problems its most likely not the fuel injectors and just a worn hose.
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QUESTION: Yes, the smell is definitely coming from the engine compartment and yes you are right it is a 3.4 engine. I appreciate your time in analyzing this problem, but, I am having trouble believing this is the charcoal canister. I looked at the car a little closer this weekend and came up with the following 3 items of interest. 1) None of the fuel lines or canister lines are dry rotted or cracked, they look like new. 2) The fluid laying on the manifold directly under the front of the throttle body smells like fuel and there is a goldish/brown colored staining on the aluminum from it. 3) And I think this may be the most relevant, when you rev the car up I am getting smoke coming up in the engine compartment right in front of the steering wheel. Looks like it may be coming from where the exhaust manifold bolts on to the exhaust system??? Thank you for your time in analyzing this problem.
ANSWER: Is your coolant green or brown? I'm still thinking its coolant puddling under your throttlebody from a bad coolant line that goes to the throttlebody. There is no fuel going to the throttlebody so there should be no fuel there. Do you see any brown stains on the sides of the intake or around the fuel injector bungs?
Well if we rule out the evap cannister, something is telling the car to dump tons of fuel into the motor. That would be either the MAF or the O2 sensors. When was the last time the O2 sensors were changed?
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QUESTION: The anti-freeze is clean and bright green, but I don't think that is the problem. Based on your last note I replaced the O2 sensors ($41 and maybe a waste of time), didn't help. I got a better look at the problem after running the car on the highway for a while. If you look directly down on the engine in between the wish bone shaped throttle body, on the drivers side, about in the middle of the engine, there are 2 cylinder shaped things with wires connected to the tops going down into the intake manifold, I guess these are the fuel injectors? Anyway that is where the fuel seems to be leaking from. Around the bottom of these things it is soaking wet with fuel, actually puddles up some on the manifold and that is what I was seeing running out towards the front. Any idea on what and why these things would be leaking?
AnswerThose would be the leaky fuel injectors I mentioned in my 2nd reply. The O rings are done. You need to remove each fuel injector and install a new o-ring on each one. They don't cost very much. Maybe $1 per injector or so. As for the O2 sensors, they should be replaced every 3 yrs or 60K miles. Whatever comes first. They will give better ful economy and keep your motor healthy.
