Thread: Smelling gas..

Alright so I have a 99 GTP with 121,000 miles. I noticed after going WOT almost every time I will smell a little bit of gasoline shortly after.. I have the P0440 code and I'm not shure if the two could be related at all. I don't see any visible gas leaks anywhere either. Any ideas?

Pop the hood and pull the loom covering the fuel lines back/off. See anything now?

Gas cap.

EVAP solinoid...or the carbon canister.

Try checking those.

Gas cap and canister are behind the cabin, would be tough to smell them while moving.

Hmm this is true.. I was thinking it might be the gas cap because the metal part of it is looking a bit rusty and there is a bit of a gap between the plastic cap and the metal. I noticed after driving it for a while when I shut if off and walk by the back near the gas cap i'll smell gas sometimes too. Thats why I thought that might be it. and bill where is the loom covering the fuel lines? I'm new to these cars and new to doing stuff like this period.. hah

fuel pump o ring...happen to 2 gtp so far i have fixed one was a 99 other was a 02 no leaks but smells gas on wot and sets that code take off the cover and jack the car up in the front see if u see it leak out any around the pump

Originally Posted by 00grandprixgtp

fuel pump o ring...happen to 2 gtp so far i have fixed one was a 99 other was a 02 no leaks but smells gas on wot and sets that code take off the cover and jack the car up in the front see if u see it leak out any around the pump

This makes sense to me.. I have no way to jack the car up though. A buddy of mine has a lift though and I should be over at his place next week.

The fuel pump is at the front of the car and you have to jack it up to change the o-rings on the injectors?

Well, ****.

This is news to me.

Do you think this is also why I have to let the fuel pump run 2-3 times to get my car started without cranking it a thousand times?

No, that's from lack of fuel pressure.

Sounds like your pump is dying.

Test it at the rail.

So could I just replace the whole pump and fix all of these issues?

Probably.

It's a '99, test that by removing the fuel pump relay and bending the tab out of the way, like so...will fix hard starts and a dying pump and no start condition most of the time in the 97-00 GTP's.

alright thanks a ton for the help guys. I'll let you know if it continues.

Hold up a minute Ace.,. you've been given some incorrect information.

Originally Posted by 00grandprixgtp

fuel pump o ring...happen to 2 gtp so far i have fixed one was a 99 other was a 02 no leaks but smells gas on wot and sets that code take off the cover and jack the car up in the front see if u see it leak out any around the pump

I have no idea where this guy got his information or maybe he's dyslexic, but the pump is located under a hatch in the trunk. And you don't jack anything up to open the hatch. Unless his suggestion is to fill the tank and jack up the front of the car to look for leaks around the o-ring at the top of the tank. His post is about as clear as mud.

Originally Posted by blueguy

Probably.

It's a '99, test that by removing the fuel pump relay and bending the tab out of the way, like so...will fix hard starts and a dying pump and no start condition most of the time in the 97-00 GTP's.

Now..this goober is a buddy.. however he doesn't quite remember that the pump primes the cylinders in high speed mode, not low speed. See your fuel pump runs at two different speeds based on what is going on. At key turn on to start up, it's high speed mode to provide full pressure and prime the engine to start. Once idling, it's in low speed mode which uses a resistor to give it less voltage to run slower. This resistor does go bad and the symptom is the car starts then dies in 2-5 seconds. The way to test/get around the low speed mode is to bend the tab on the relay. When you get into the throttle heavy or wide open, the pcm commands full speed on the pump.

Yeah I'm a noob so i'll believe anything i'm told haha. I now know where and how to replace the fuel pump. I think the pump is just dying though.. I've driven the car 500 miles in the past three days and it has just developed a rough idle and has been starting pretty rough the past while. Could these things be caused by the fuel pump failing? It's also gotten a bit whiny these past few days..

Dying pump would be low pressure or a bad supply when on the throttle. However.. a bad pump won't cause a gas smell unless it cracked or something, which I've never seen happen.

I'd suggest checking fuel pressure if you think the pump is going bad. There are many things that can cause a hard start/bad idle. Most not the pump. Heck.. I'm beating a 217K mile pump in my Regal, it gets nice and low, then filled up all the time. Damn thing is kicking butt still. Yeah.. I haven't even changed the filter.

Alright haha. Well you have a point and i'm definitely not having any issues while on the throttle. I just need to figure out how i'm losing fuel pressure after letting it sit for a while and whats causing my hard start/rough idle. Could the hard start and idle be caused by plugs and/or wires?

There's a check valve in the pump. Often they go bad and that allows pressure to bleed down.