Started driving today with the windows down (as usual) and immediately started getting this smell of gasoline coming into the cab. Poking around under the hood, the smell got a lot stronger.

Questions
1. Any ideas as to where gas leaks typically begin on a 3.0 (94 4-runner)? I'm trying to narrow things down here.

2. Should I be particularly concerned about driving the runner to a shop with the smell being as strong as it is?

I hate dealing with the fuel system.

Thanks folks...

 

could be a leaking injector bad o-ring

 

That was my first thought. You should be able to look under the intake plenum with a flashlight & see gas spilling onto the manifold if it's a fuel rail / injector o-ring problem with the key in the on position. You might have to disconnect the distributor wire & have someone crank the engine for a second. The passenger side is a little harder to see, but you should be able to manage. If that's the problem, it's a fairly easy fix.

 

I took the truck out around the block a couple of times to get her warmed up. I noticed immediately that there was no smell of gas this time. After driving around, I put her in park and opened the hood - still no smell. The first time I smelled fuel a 2 days ago, I had literally started her one morning to go to work and as I pulled away from the driveway I noticed the smell immediately... this is first time I have started it since and no smell.

Could this be a canister problem or could we still be looking at an injector/O-ring problem?

P.S. thanks for the earlier replies guys...

 

Try jumping the terminals in your dignostics port to activate the fuel pump. I dont know the names, but they are the 2 outside terminals farthest back towards the cab. (does that make sense?) After you jump it, you should hear the fuel pump turn on, its kind of a high pitched whining. After you do that you can look, listen, and smell for fuel leaks. Check around the fuel rails, that is usually where a leak happens.

 

I wasn't aware that you can turn on the fuel pump by jumpering the diag. port. I've only jumped E1 and TE1 to check the codes.

EDIT: I'd say if you still can't find it then just keep an eye open but keep driving it.

 

Yeah, I'll give that a shot this weekend. I've now been driving the truck for the past few days and the smell has not returned. I'm totally stumped... could it still be a leak somewhere or could there be something going on with the charcoal canister?

Again, thanks to all who posted here... I really appreciate it.

 

maybe its coming from the charcoal canister

 

Yes, "Ontario", it could indeed be the ever infamous "charcol canister".
Questions to ask yourself would be:
Have I recently "topped off" my gas tank, like, prior to noticing the smell ?;
Do I have over 20,xxx mis. on my ride &/or has it been a couple of years &/or 20,xxx mis. since either I or the previous owner changed the canister ?
Either or all of which "could" be the cause of the fumes, which has now dissapated due to either your running out the fuel or the canister managing to filter the excess gas out of itself.

 

Thanks for all the posts...

This really helps me do some repairing on my own or at the very least, does not make me sound like an uninformed idiot when I'm talking to my mechanic...