Strong fuel smell in the car when I turn LEFT

[Diseazd]

Zedy......Doesn't look like much leaking on the tank.....I guess the small gas line could be the problem (JB Weld or epoxy should seal that imo). Have you checked around your gas cap. The tangs can be adjusted so the gasket on your gas cap gets a tighter seal. Just a thought. Beautiful car...nice garage! Guy

Edited September 12, 2011 by Diseazd

[ZCurves]

Nissan engineers put evap. tanks in there for a reason. No one will notice what you put in once it is sealed up. Replacing it will allow it to function as intended, further eliminate fumes and keep you from being a source of wildfires this December :laugh: . Call me this afternoon if you would like my tank.

[Zedyone_kenobi]

HAHA... yeah I hear ya, since I already have over a hundred bucks in lines on order already, I will take you up on your tank Zcurves THANKS!!

By the way, what year is that evap tank? I mean were they all the same for all 240-280 Z's?

I will check the gas cap. It is crazy tight though...

[ZCurves]

78. You can look at FSM and Fiche for any differences. We could weld up anything that is unused at my brothers shop.

[EScanlon]

While JBWeld or other epoxy will fix the problem.... for the time being, they'll eventually fail in this application. Don't misunderstand, they're good stuff, but the proper fix isn't epoxy.

You could take it to a radiator shop, pay for them to clean and purge the fumes and then braze it, but why use a flame at all when it's a simple soldered fitting? (Cost notwithstanding.) Using a heavy duty soldering iron (150w plus) or a heat gun (1500w or more) and some acid core solder and flux, you can do this repair properly.

Clean out the tank, make sure you've emptied of all gas, as a safety factor get a small amount of dry ice to dump into it, then take your heat gun and carefully heat the tube/tank joint after cleaning away the crud from around it. Dab a drop or two of flux, wait till the solder starts shining, feed in some more solder while allowing it to weep into the fitting and then simply remove the heat source. Make sur e you don't bump the vent tube as the solder cools and you'll have a perfectly good seal.

I've personally done two or three tanks in this exact manner (evap tanks too) and they're fixed properly and they'll even hold pressure.

As far as the evap tank discussion:

The Evap tank is to allow the gas fumes to condense the gas back to liquid form as well as capturing any return fumes from the engine and from the filler neck. Think of it as additional room to the tank EXCEPT it will never hold liquid gas. It's basic function is to provide an air volume for the fumes to both expand to and from. If you've ever seen a car with a leaky gas cap spewing gas on a warm day, you KNOW gas expands.

There have been several members who've removed the evap tank with no reported deleterious effects on performance, fill up problems etc., as far as I've read or been told. There are several write-ups regarding how to eliminate the evap tank.

Replacing a missing evap tank for the sake of "originality" ... sorry, but it's somewhat of an oxymoron. Who is going to see it except someone who's disassembling your car? Now, I personally DID leave mine in when I POR'ed my tank, but that was cause I didn't want to research the replacement hoses and soldering up the vent tube opposite the filler neck on the tank.

If you can't find someone to sell you an evap tank, I've got a couple (sorry no plastic ones).

FWIW

E

[beermanpete]

We removed the evap tank from our '73 without any problems. We had a radiator shop seal the unused fittings on the fuel tank, retaining only the one highest on the tank for a vent which we routed up to a tee at the filler neck port. The other leg runs up and over the filler neck and down through the floor out below the car near the fuel gauge sender. It works fine with only a little drip or smell when the tank is full. A metering orifice would reduce the drip/smell further I suppose.

[240260280z]

I want your garage

My 71 resto has the same loose fitting. I though the powder coating process did it.

I plan to hit the joint with seal-all then build up over it with jb-weld for strength.

You can braze it yourself with a mapp tourch and lincoln rod from Lowes/homedepot (of course the tank will have to be flushed first to get rid of any vapor.

For the evap hoses, just plumb everything in except the line to the front so that you have some expansion system and vapors won't push out of your gas cap relief on hot days.

[Zedyone_kenobi]

okay folks. I am taking the tank to the shop either today or tomorrow. I will post pictures of it as soon as I can.

Also, my hoses came in from courtesy. I have decided to run all the proper hoses again. It will take me longer to get everything just right, but the car will be back to stock again!

[240260280z]

good decisions!

[Zedyone_kenobi]

All my new parts are on order. One thing I am left wondering is how do I get new rubber parts for the top of the tank and the tank straps? I figured I can get some thin rubber at the local home depot, but the thicker rubber on top is sure not to survive the tank dipping process that is going on now.

speaking of which, they said they can line the tank with a teflon based coating. I told them to go ahead, as he said it was resistant to all modern fuels.

they are also going to braze the tube fitting and pressure test the tank for me.

The cost of the dipping, pressure testing, rebrazing, and coating... 95 dollars at the local radiator shop. Not bad. when I get it back, I will just POR the outside and start running hoses where they should.

I picked up a set of fuel tank grommets for all the fuel lines going to my evap tank (zcarsource had a 71) and I got a new sending unit and oring while I was at it.

This should turn out pretty well. I looked at my hoses from Courtesy, and they are the soft cloth braided kind. You have to wonder how old those hoses are. They feel perfectly pliable, but when was the last time Nissan made those hoses. Hopefully they will be okay. I will shoot some pictures today of what I have.

[madkaw]

Might be a bit late for this reply since you have taken all of it apart already, but this trouble shooting method worked for me. Maybe once you put things back together you can test for leaks.

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?40902-Raw-fuel-smell-FIXED&highlight=fuel+smell+fixed

[FastWoman]

I just re-used the thick rubber pieces on top of my tank. I used contact cement to re-affix them, after cleaning them up. I bought the rubber for my straps from Hampton Rubber in Hampton, VA and attached that with contact cement as well. You can get any sort of rubber product your heart desires there, including just about anything that comes in a sheet, strip, or hose. They'll even take your credit card info over the phone and ship you the supplies if you ask them nicely. You can find them here:

http://hamptonrubber.com/

Great deal on the tank work!

Check out Goodyear's EZ-Coils for turning the tight bends in your large vent hose without kinking.

Edited September 18, 2011 by FastWoman