Gasoline odor Strong gas odor when tank is 1/4 or less full. Mechanic couldn't find any leaks. Is their a vapor return system?

I would have someone check under the front of car while engine was running. Maybe then a gas leak could be spotted. Did he check the charcoal canister-it's a gas vapor collector from the gas tank, and maybe located at front of car. If the canister is full and not working to purge the canister and send the collected fuel and vapors into the engine, it might be what you are smelling.

If it is running fine, the busted bolt isn't the source of the gasoline smell. The intake manifold has vacuum, so the smell wouldn't be getting out, air would be going in, and a vacuum leak would give you poor idling. The exhaust manifold wouldn't have much raw gasoline smell. But it would have loud noise if the broken bolt were causing an exhaust leak.

Check that the vapor recovery line is not broken or disconnected. The hose connectors get cracked. If that were broken, it would cause a gasoline smell after the car has been sitting, especially if it has been sitting in the sun, heat driving gasoline vapor out of the tank. It is supposed to condense in the vapor canister, but some escapes if the line is broken. If it is broken, driving would **** out the gasoline from the line and the wind would dissipate the smell.

Or it could be a leaking injector. With the injector cover off, engine idling and cool, you can visually look for raw gas around the injectors and injector rail connections.

Hope this helps.

you have a gas leak someplace and that is causing the hard starting, the odor, and the bad mileage

If the check engine light is on, take the car to an autoparts store and have them use a scan tool to retrieve any fault codes stored in the computer. Most autopart stores offer this service at no charge. There could be a problem with the evaportative emission control system. There is a charcoal cannister that stores gas vapors and when conditions are right, a purge valve opens and the vapors are used in the combustion process. The cannister can get full of vapors and if the valve/solenoid is bad, it cannot purge itself of the vapors. Also integral to the system is the gas cap. A faulty gas cap can cause problems within this system. I am not saying that the evap system is the cause, but the pressure build up in the tank makes me suspicious. Get the codes read and it will help narrow things down for you. Sure hope this helped and best wishes.

THE CARBON CANISTER IS MOST LIKELY OVERLOADED, REPLACE THE CARBON CANISTER VAPOR TRAP, IT IS NEAR THE FUEL TANK.

do u have a check engine light on? do u overfill the tank? which is to say when the filler nozzle clicks off do u still try to put more fuel in? in any event u most likely have a overloaded carbon canister, pull the canister out and check it for gasoline saturation, the carbon canister is located under the car in a tray near the fuel tank.

your brand new 1972 VW beetle may have as simple hole in the fuel line..when the car is not running you will not see any gas leaks becuase there is no call for gas to be fed to the motor.

have someone, or yourself crawl under the vehicle and look fort a small dripping or small stream of fuel.....REMEMBER!!!!!!!!!...gas is HIGHLY explosive and flammable...no smoking while checking/working on the rpoblem...and fuel's smell comes from Naptha, a chemical added to oil to make gasoline, it is a very strong ordor..a small amount can smell like a gallon.
hope this helps you

the first thing to do is look under the car at the plastic canister the vaper recovery system it is in the rear some times it is coverd by a sheild the vacuume hoses are bad if you smell gas and that will turn the light on it works off a pressure senser on the tank check all the hoses

for sure there is fuel leafing but you have to locate from where, usualy this can happen from a leaking fuel pressure regulator and this can drip on the hot manifold and cause it to boil and smell the whole car secondly the vapor canister could be damaged and cause the same problem

MINE DID THIS WHEN THE FUEL PUMP STARTED GOING OUT I CHANGE IT AND BAM FIXED THE PROBLEM WHEN THE PUMP SLAKS UP PUMPING THE COMPUTER TELLS IT TO PUMP MORE AND MORE AND WHEN THE PUMP KICKED IN IT WAS TO MUCH GAS AND FUEL ODOR EGULPED THE INTERIOR OF THE CAR HOPE THIS HELPS