Smell gas outside car

[coke&taco]

I recently had the rear main seal replaced on my 2000 4-cylinder at a local all-in-one type shop. Now I smell gasoline outside the car after driving it and parking in my garage.

Anything I can do myself or seek professional help first?

[hill8570]

Depends. Some gas smells are relatively easy to DIY, some not so easy. Hardest part is narrowing down where it's coming from -- unless you're lucky enough that it's dripping, that smell is difficult to narrow down.

Can you narrow down roughly where the the smell is coming from? Back near the gas tank, midline of the car, or in the engine compartment?

[coke&taco]

Unfortunately cannot pinpoint gas odor and no visible dripping. The fuel gauge is not dropping faster than normal either. Just after parking in my small garage, it smells of gas after 30 minutes or so and after several hours the smell dissipates.

Everything else seems ok...the car drives good. I hope it safe.

[ghettosled]

you probabaly have to get under the car and see if there are any wet looking areas. maybe there is a leak, but not enough of one to drip down. i smelled my leaky fuel line and found the leak before it was bad enough to drip on the ground. same is currently happening with the filler neck. in both instances, neither leaked bad enough to make a noticible impact on fuel economy.

[haux]

Originally Posted by coke&taco

Unfortunately cannot pinpoint gas odor and no visible dripping. The fuel gauge is not dropping faster than normal either. Just after parking in my small garage, it smells of gas after 30 minutes or so and after several hours the smell dissipates.

Everything else seems ok...the car drives good. I hope it safe.

Have you asked the mechanic that did the recent work? Chances are it's not a coincidence. It's possible he may have knocked something loose.

Did you happen to notice if the smell is stronger in the engine bay area? Could always be something leading to the fuel filter... or from there to the injectors.