Fuel vapor leak?
 

K so, last week I replaced my fuel filter. and since then I've been smelling fuel in my garage every morning before I go to work. so I took it to my dads so we can diagnose it. turns out it's coming from the gas tank area. so I took out my back seat, took off the cover plate and saw this.

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r...3/SAM_0371.jpg

from all the moisture I'm pretty sure that's where it's coming from, because I can also smell it in my car. I can never smell it when I'm driving, only when the car is off. So I went to autozone, ordered a new o-ring, spent $4.91 to have it special ordered. so my question is, how do I go about changing it? do I have to depressurize the fuel system or anything?

The less gas you have in the tank, the better. If you take the gas filler cap off, that will equalize any pressure, but the leaking gasket is also doing that, just a little slower. Then you're good to go. Just have a lot of rags around to catch any gas that drips off of the gas gauge float when you pull it out.

Clean that grit out around the retaining ring before you remove anything so it doesn't fall into the gas tank.

^^^ yup.

If u are really worried about it, u could also disconnect the hose at the filter to depressurize.

I would say this is a necessity when working on the fuel system, but I wouldn't depressurize the system like that. Fuel would be sprayed all over everything.

Pull the fuel pump fuse and run the car until it dies. Then crank it a couple times to ensure there is no pressure in the fuel lines.

yeah I depressurized it that way when I changed my filter. just didn't know if I had to when taking the fuel pump out.

I'm not positive either, but it's better than bathing yourself or your interior is gasoline.

lol true. if I did, I'd end up getting a new car. because I would never get rid of that smell.

if you take the fuel pump/gage assembly/sock filter out- let us know how "dirty' it is
take some pix if u can

is there a way to clean it? do I need to lubricate the o-ring or anything before I put it in? and yeah, I'll probably make a how to. =P

The fuel pump will have a filter on the bottom. You can change that filter out since you have everything out of the gas tank. No need to lubricate that o ring.

seems some plumbers grease would not hurt, or chassis grease??

do maximas have a schrader valve on the rail? if so, you can try it as well. your assembly look alright, dirty but otherwise fine. are you sure it's coming from there? make sure you're not leaking any gas after the filter change. it would be a strange coincidence that the fuel pump retainer started leaking fumes after the filter job.

that's what I was thinking. I had my car on a lift and inspected all my fuel lines. and this was the only place I saw moisture. I also smelled it in past years (when it wasn't driven as much) and never really thought anything of it. I've been smelling it a lot this summer though. and the leak being right there would explain why I smelled it inside the cabin.

are you talking about the O-ring that seals the top of the tank with the fuel pump assembly?

its real easy to take out and change. look at the filter while you are and put down some rags in case you drop it and gas goes everywhere.