i'm going to look at someone's 79 brat in a few days.. he notices a strong gas odor from the rear of the car (not the engine bay) and can find no visible leak. he has just replaced the gas tank.

 

should i suspect the filler neck? as in it may not be venting properly?

or just the gas cap perhaps?

i'm going to look at someone's 79 brat in a few days.. he notices a strong gas odor from the rear of the car (not the engine bay) and can find no visible leak. he has just replaced the gas tank.

 

should i suspect the filler neck? as in it may not be venting properly?

or just the gas cap perhaps?

There is a small tube that vents the gas system. Mine was dripping gas intermitally and collecting inside the body. It's been a while, but I pulled it out from the body (near the tailgate) and let it drip onto the ground.

i called him again to ask for more details. he's been dealing with this for about 10,000 miles. he's replaced the gas cap and the fuel pump as well as the tank. i'd suspect something to do with the filler neck or a gas line.

 

dave, thanks. i'll look at that when i see his car. do you get under the car to find it or is it inside the bed (take off an access panel)?

There's another small vent tube that you can't see. It's located on the TOP FRONT of the gas tank, there's a plastic tube that clamps on the stem on the tank, snakes under the body and clamps to the inside of the right wheel well where it vents out.

We found it after taking the tank out to repair it. When my tank was full, the gas expanded in the heat and dripped out the stem and traveled to the bottom of the tank making it look like a hole in the tank. If his tank isn't full, it will just vent fumes under the rear half of the car if the tube is off or broken. You can "feel" around for it and check if the tubing is present and sound... the installer may not have known to add the vent line back in. Good luck!

thanks!

If you can't find the leak, it may just be the design, I have ridden in 2 other gen 1 brats and they both had the same smell

If you can't find the leak, it may just be the design, I have ridden in 2 other gen 1 brats and they both had the same smell

 

He's right on there... they definitely have a distinct odor that's not present in modern cars... but a heavy "fresh" gas smell normally only occurs after refueling when the tank belches up it's air bubble, it goes away when the gas/air equalize... on sunny, hot, or humid days there may be a more noticeable gasoline odor... we found 3 vents on the tank, so I imagine it will purge fumes more than most cars.

Mary

Dave,

 

 

There are 2 plastic gas vapor collection canisters inside the bed panels (1 on each side). Sometimes those crack, or get disconnected. When that happens the entire cabin fills with gas fumes that are very strong.

 

Klaus

 

 

i'm going to look at someone's 79 brat in a few days.. he notices a strong gas odor from the rear of the car (not the engine bay) and can find no visible leak. he has just replaced the gas tank.

 

should i suspect the filler neck? as in it may not be venting properly?

or just the gas cap perhaps?

Wow, I thought I was the only one with a gas odor problem on my 78 Brat. For the life of me I cant find where it's coming from. Thanks for the post, now I have some places to check.

Hey this Is Pat from Yakima..........Its probibly Bees them damn yellow Jacketts they probibly have the tube pluged I had the same thing reciently .....Pat

Well that explains why it possibly smells inside my 78 Brat. Especially after I filled it up!