Just like the title says. Whenever I use my heat it just smells like straight gasoline. I've gotten one too many headaches from inhaling fumes 30 minutes to job one, 30 more to job two and yet another 30 on the way home. Might even stop somewhere on the way and get a couple extra minutes of inhalation. God forbid I wanna drive over to a friends house I gotta catch a buzz sniffing gas. I would just not use my heat but I refuse to succumb to this cars' bs. Anyone else like the smell of gas? I sure do but when you're constantly breathing it it becomes too much. What kind of bodily damage is this causing me? Any doctors here on the org? Most importantly does anyone have any idea why this is happening to me? Why me? Who chose me for this nonsense? I give and I give to this car and this is how it repays me but I digress because these are just first world problems. At least I get to enjoy multiple meals a day. Mostly consisting of gasoline. Help anyone?
BTW might have a Maxima for sale here soon.

 

Did it only start when the weather got cold? I actually found a small fuel leak on one of the 3 inch hose sections that are on the fuel line, in my 95 Max SE that went on a few years. In my case, it only leaked when it was bitterly cold, so it was hard to even get the mechanic to recognize the problem.

There is a thread in here titled "The Right Hose for the Job?" that has a ton of discussion on hoses, hose clamps, which hose type to use, etc., if you have the inclination to try troubleshooting it yourself.

If you don't have an ODCII code reader, then I would get one of those and start with seeing if you have any codes. Otherwise, I'm sure lots of things can cause fuel smell inside the cabin.

 

The gasoline hoses under the hood can leak as they get old.

Start with tightening the gas hose clamps. Look for any seepage. Replace
with fuel injection hose.

You may have a leak under the uim. The uim may need to be removed. The hoses and injectors will be accessible at that point. Replace all the hoses you see. Once one leaks, the others might leak soon .
I advise rebuilding the injectors if the uim is off.

I have replaced all the gas and coolant hoses under the hood.

Just by chance... has the fuel filter been changed recently?

 

Does this happen after you fill the tank and not when the level in the tank is down to say 1/2?

If it is only with a full tank, the sending unit in the tank may be cracked. Take out the rear seat cushion and remove the black cover over the sending unit when you have a full tank. You will see a small pool of gasoline if the sending unit is cracked.

 

It's been going on since I can remember, not only when it got cold. The car has 272,000 miles and counting with mostly stock hoses. I've replaced a few injectors that were sticky or causing misfiring but never thought to change out hoses. However, with further inspection of hoses leading to and from the fuel rail, I'm not seeing any leakage or cracking. Last time I was under the UIM for injectors I don't remember noticing any damaged or worn out hoses but then again I wasn't necessarily looking. It's a constant smell of gas regardless of how full my tank is but since you mention it the odor does get more intense when I get on the throttle. Based on that information, would any of you say I need to do a second over on the hoses with a magnifying glass (not literally) or look into something else. In addition, I have not changed my fuel filter recently but would that cause the inside of the car to smell like gas? idk I'm quite mechanically inclined so getting down and dirty isn't an issue but i don't feel like ripping the car apart to fix it. I'm used to technical problems that cause the vehicle to perform out of my expectations and being willing to rip s*** apart and learn a thing or two but I'm not exactly motivated to put my efforts into something so minuscule. It's more of an inconvenience.

Look at her sitting there mocking me.. I guess I'm being punished for wheel gap.

 

Also, my damned trunk has been having issues. The tac welds that hold the latch in place broke somehow. Honestly, who else has had that problem? Anyone? Didn't think so. After having it re-welded on, I can't get the tail lights to line up. It's so frustrating. These lights deserve more justice smh. Well I'm beginning to rant and I could keep going lol I'll try to stay on topic.

 

To smell gas there has to be a leak. A fuel filter won't leak because it needs to be changed, but it could somehow get a hole in it. I agree that it is probably a rubber hose some where under the hood.

Since the heater air intake is on the passenger side of the car, check the connections of the 2 fuel rails on that side of the engine. The connection consists of 2 70mm (approx 2.75") pieces of rubber hose and 3 pieces of metal pipe. But don't rule out the hose from the fuel filter to the fuel pressure regulator.

 

In the last 8 years on the ORG this has been a recurring theme. small cracks in the fuel lines become larger in colder weather. Between the cold weather and using the heater, the fuel leak only becomes noticeable in winter months. Replace the fuel supply, fuel return, and short hose connecting the rails.

 

+1 for what asand1 said. We are searching for a tiny leak, more like vapor.

The reason I mentioned the filter? Some times new problems come up because something we did recently was either not done right, or involves defective parts. A leak could happen if a new filter was shoved into an old hose- cracking the hose, or if the clamps were not tight enough.

There are hoses under the uim that cannot be serviced in place.

Our cars are old. They are breaking down in unexpected ways.
But certain issues happen often enough to plan ahead.

It is good practice to replace the gas hoses when the uim is off.
Fuel injectors benifit from cleaning. Pintile caps on the injectors are cracking.

My way of dealing with these issues is to do preventative maintenance. Uim off? New fuel hose and rebuilt injectors.
Knock sensor code? Change that too. Real easy.

Removing the uim is not fun. Might as well fix other stuff while you are in there anyway.

 

I agree that removing the UIM is less than pleasurable. I'm going to have to go over everything again looking for leaks and hopefully I won't have to go any deeper than what's already exposed. Through searching on the ORG I have found most people have a coolant smell hence why I made a post about gaseous smells. Btw, +10 for knowing the size of hoses lol. I'm going to start at the fuel filter and follow that. I'll see what turns up. Worst comes to worst I'll take a trip to the junkyard and snag a new arsenal of hoses. Maybe even a 3.5 if I'm lucky!

 

You have hoses that are old and getting older by the minute that are hardening and becoming brittle, which may be why you have the leak.

Getting equally old hoses from the junkyard does not make any sense. Don't do it. New hose from the auto parts store is not that expensive.

 

I recall buying two or three feet of fuel injection (NOT) regular gas hose!!!!
regular gas hose will not hold the extra pressure.
The cost was reasonable. Might have been 15 bucks.

I did not know that "most people" have coolant smells.

Must be because people don't replace the most likely thing to fail far from home on a hot day .
Replacing hoses,both coolant and gasoline will mean a more reliable car.

 

I had that problem on a few vehicles first thing I did was buy a new gas cap and no more smell...hope it helps