Hi, every since I bought my 96’ 5 speed there was a sort of gas smell inside the cabin. Not exactly sure where it’s coming from, or where to start looking. There’s a small oil leak that I don’t think is related. Anyone have any ideas, or is this a know problem? The smell isn’t too bad but it’s enough to make my mom refuse to drive in my car. Thanks!

 

You might. have a gasoline leak or seep in one of tge gasoline hoses under the hood.

Is the car difficult to start after it has been parked for several hours, or overnight? I mean that you need to crank and crank and crank some more before it starts?
Yet it always does start eventually? Once started, the car would start normally if parked for less than an hour.

Or is there a raw gasoline smell at the end of the exhaust pipe while the engine is running?

 

Now tell us about that oil leak.

where does the oil seem to be coming from.

Regarding car repairs. Do you have a set of tools such as a socket set. Do you know someone who has worked on cars as a hobby. That kind of person could help and guide you.

Many of us started working on cars while we were still in high school. We are willing to help.

 

It cranks right up, though the starter hangs up sometimes which I’ve heard is an issue with the 4th gens.

 

I think I have most of the tools I’ll need to do most repairs on my car. I’ve worked on small engines for a while and other stuff like that so I have a decent tool set. I originally though the oil leak was coming from the transmission because it was running down the seem of the transmission, but I think it’s coming from further up towards the front of the car and just driving down the transmission.

 

Oh the guy we bought it from also installed an after market exhaust system (everything past the cat) before we got it. Might have something to do with it.

 

When filling the car with gasoline and I continued to get "just a little bit more in" after the pump nozzle clicked off, I will smell gasoline fumes for a bit. I learned not to do this anymore.

 

Overfilling your tank is the biggest contributor to destroying EVAP charcoal canisters. And that sometimes starts a chain reaction of hard to diagnose problems and even codes.

 

You could do a quick check of the fuel level sender unit connected to the gas tank. I think it is a known possibility of cause for the smell of raw gas due to cracks developing on the plastic (mine had that issue) and is relatively easy to check. Just pop out the rear lower seat cushion, via the two pull tabs underneath them, remove the cover lid and you will have access to the unit.

But if you could pinpoint the location of the smell from the outside of the vehicle it would narrow down the possibilities more.

 

Ive actually never been able to smell the smell outside of the vehicle. Only inside the car.

 

Does it small like raw gas or exhaust fumes?

 

definitely raw gas

 

My old Altima had a torn pump assembly O ring which let in fumes like crazy. Pull the back seat bottom, remove access panel, check for leaks there.

 

Will do! Where would I be able to find a replacement parts if that is the case?

 

Sounds like dealer-only parts if it ends up being the fuel level sending unit seal or the unit itself. But not 100% sure on that as eBay has some really weird variety of parts at times.

 

I think it was the o-ring by the fuel sender unit. Popped the access panel off and saw a small amount of gas in there. I didn’t actually take the whole fuel sender unit off as I didn’t want to make a mess at that moment, but I do know that the problem is coming from that area. Put the access panel back on and sealed the area with tape to see if it would make any difference, and it seems to have helped a bit. Will probably take the whole unit off tomorrow to verify the problem.

 

Same thing happened to my fuel level sending unit. Plastic had hairline cracks you could barely see and fuel was seeping out. Was much worse when the tank was full. I believe it is a dealer only part. I think I got mine at nissanpartszone or something like that for like $130ish.