1983 (1985 engine) 242, Strong odor of gasoline inside car

twoforteatoo · Post by **twoforteatoo** » 16 Jul 2015, 20:45

Hi, I recently got a 1983 242, manual, with a 1985 engine. I plan to learn to fix it up myself, because I'm a 50 year old lady, and it seems like a good idea to learn now. So, I hope to be reading a lot and learning a lot while restoring it bit by bit.

But, I have a problem. Yesterday I ran out of gas. I was almost to my destination, and made the car keep going, despite it shuddering and seeming like it was about to stall. To do that, i had to keep it in low gear and rev the engine pretty high.

It started just fine once I put gas in it, and it drove home just fine. Today, however, it reeked of gasoline inside the car. Really unbearable, and I am not too sensitive to it, usually. The dog and my friend and I almost passed out.

I took everything out of the trunk and the car, thinking I'd spilled some gas the night before, but it still smelled. It seemed to get worse when I was accelerating.

I sniffed in the trunk - no gasoline smell. I sniffed all around the fuel port thingy, whatever you call it, thinking I must've spilled gas down the side, but no gasoline smell.

Could I have done some damage that would have caused this problem when I ran the tank dry?
Or is it more likely to be a different, coincidentally timed, problem? I saw lots of things to look at, reading the forums, if it is not related to running out of fuel.

But, if it is due to running out of fuel, maybe you all can help me narrow down what the issue is.

I should add that before running out of gas, there was no smell of gasoline in the car at all. It was running great before, and is still running great now.

Also, I am heartily sorry for running the tank dry.

93Regina · Post by **93Regina** » 16 Jul 2015, 22:57

Strong Odor - Have vehicle towed, and have a shop look at it...making suggestions on a topic like this could be a liability issue for a forum member.

twoforteatoo · Post by **twoforteatoo** » 17 Jul 2015, 02:10

Oh. I misunderstood the point of the forums. I thought they were like forums I go to for working on amps, or guitars or my house. I didn't realize these forums weren't for asking people's experience with their own cars.

Don't I feel like an idiot for being all chatty and friendly and asking my dangerous question so hopefully.

So, is there some way to delete this topic or does it live on in embarrassing eternity?

twoforteatoo · Post by **twoforteatoo** » 17 Jul 2015, 02:25

Actually, the whole point of my question was to see if anyone knows of running out of gas being the cause of the gasoline smell in the car.

I have already read a lot of the posts about strong gasoline smell in 240s that are on this forum. The posts that people had suggestions for. And I will go through them all, one by one, and I will figure out the problem.

But, if anyone happens to know of a correlation between running out of gas and the car then smelling of gasoline, please feel free to share it with me. I promise I will sign a liability waiver.

93Regina · Post by **93Regina** » 17 Jul 2015, 06:45

twoforteatoo wrote:...running out of gas being the cause of the gasoline smell in the car...

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lummert · Post by **lummert** » 17 Jul 2015, 10:57

Did you overfill the fuel tank (fill until fuel reached the filler cap)?

twoforteatoo · Post by **twoforteatoo** » 18 Jul 2015, 15:12

No, not even close.

twoforteatoo · Post by **twoforteatoo** » 18 Jul 2015, 18:50

Thinking it through logically:
1. Car never had fuel odor problem until after i ran tank dry. What changed due to that?
2. In Oregon we cant pump our own gas & i've had the car 2 months so had never touched the gas cap. I could have threaded it wrong, not tightened, over tightened and broke the gasket.

twoforteatoo · Post by **twoforteatoo** » 18 Jul 2015, 19:00

3. Gas can had puny spout. I tried to get it to work but gas was just going on road. Friend had very long necked funnel and jammed that in. It worked. But one of us may have dislodged or broken the filler tube or something else.

Took me all day reading to find a place to start.

Now i'm going to go look on car. Just gotta grab a candle because my flashlight is out of batteries. And i need to see where that possible gas leak is. Toodles!

93Regina · Post by **93Regina** » 18 Jul 2015, 23:10

twoforteatoo wrote:Just gotta grab a candle because my flashlight is out of batteries.

Bon vo·yage