Strong fuel smell from underside of vehicle below charcoal canister.

Tiny
FERRARI
  • MEMBER
  • 1998 TOYOTA CAMRY
  • 6 CYL
  • FWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 119,850 MILES
What is most common problem? No check engine light. I'm smelling a strong gasoline odor coming from underneath the car, below the charcoal canister. Nothing is noticeably wet with gas or stained. There is no check engine light on. What are the possible causes?
Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011 AT 12:49 AM

6 Replies

Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 110,176 POSTS
Check for cracked, disconnected, or broken vacuum hoses to the canister. Also, check for cracks in the canister itself.
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Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011 AT 12:58 AM
Tiny
FERRARI
  • MEMBER
  • 18 POSTS
All the hoses are Ok. Because of the location, the cannister is hard to check for cracks. If there was anything else wrong wouldn't it come up as a check engine light?
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Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011 AT 1:30 AM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 110,176 POSTS
One would hope so, but that isn't always the case. If that is where the smell is coming from, you should check it. NOTE: If you overfill the fuel tank, raw fuel can get to the canister too. It should set an EVAP code, but.
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Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011 AT 3:53 AM
Tiny
RASMATAZ
  • MECHANIC
  • 75,992 POSTS
C/Canister could be saturated with fuel
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Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011 AT 3:57 AM
Tiny
FERRARI
  • MEMBER
  • 18 POSTS
Thanks for replies.I don't ever top off the tank with fuel.I've read though that the cannister must be positioned lower than the gas tank for any fuel to ever enter it. My cannister is positioned higher than the tank in the engine compartment. Where do I start? Change out all the hoses first before getting into the big money?
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Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011 AT 2:59 PM
Tiny
MHPAUTOS
  • MECHANIC
  • 31,937 POSTS
Do the scan as not all codes will set a check light, remove the canister and check that it is not full of fuel, check that the purge valve is working correctly.
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Saturday, November 26th, 2011 AT 7:24 AM

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