'94 Pickup
For a few months now whenever I would go to park, anyone existing out of passenger side door would get a strong waft of gas fumes. Looking around I couldn’t see anywhere that seemed wet or leaking. Dropping my tank if found the fuel pump bracket to be all rusty, actually breaking the lines off by accident do the corrosion. So I believed that was my problem. However, the new bracket seems to have no effect on the fumes…. Any thoughts on how to find the source?

 

Check the vent line connection that runs from the tank up to the charcoal canister up in the engine bay. Could be that line is plugged or the canister may be clogged and/or not getting the gas fumes sucked out. Also check the gasket on the gas cap, the whole fuel system should be air tight.

 

3.0 , 22re? which engine?

 

in my 87 my gas tank actually leaked from the seam on the side of the tank

 

just light a match and pay close attention to which direction the flame goes when the fumes ignite

 

Ok, guess I will take a look at the vent line tomorrow. It's a base model 2wd with the 22re.

 

An "elusive gas smell" (particularly on the passenger side) is a A sign of a problem with the charcoal canister. The canister sucks up the fumes from the tank while you're sitting (as pointed out, it is mostly a fume-tight system), and when the engine is running the a vacuum line sucks the fumes out of the canister into the intake. That vacuum line goes through a thermal valve (at least it does on the V6; I'm not sure about the 22-re) so that it isn't sucking fumes when the engine is cold. If that vacuum system isn't working (clogged?), or there is another problem with the canister, those fumes have no where to go put waft into the air. Hence the smell.

But you are wise to first think "leak." A bad canister is annoying and a serious pollution hazard, but a leak is a hazard of a much different kind ...