gas smell

Phillip...if this gas smell has been happening for months, you are asking for trouble. Having had a bad experience with gas, I can't stress strong enough to get this taken care of. I have no idea what the cause is, but I know it's nothing to put off till later. Like the guy says on TV..."git er done". Best of luck to you.

 

I had something similar on my '87 TR. It turned out to be a leak from around the fuel distributor. Of course Ferrari wanted to sell me the entire system for several thousand dollars. When I looked at it, the leak was coming from a small black box that was attached to the side of the fuel distributor. It also had a Bosch part # on it. Ferrari only would sell the whole system. I took the part to a Porsche shop and they stated that 911's used the same K-Jetronic system and that this particular piece failed often.

Long story short, it was $40 and 20 minutes to install and never gave me trouble for the next 10 years I owned the car.

 

Check the connection of plumbing at the fuel filter.....to and from. I bet money there is a slight leak there.

 

Whatever it is -- get it fixed. Vapors will easily ignite with a spark.

 

Check fuel hoses from fuel fillerneck to tank...and cross over hoses if there are two tanks.

 

The fuel return hoses from the injection rails to the tops of the fuel tanks are a common source of fuel leakage/smell. They are often overlooked when doing an engine out service.
They are just a single layer braided 8mm rubber hose and the rubber cracks and leaks.

 

The fuel return hoses are the most likely leakage area on a Testarossa. I would check them next. Very easy to do. One black braided rubber hose on each side of the motor at the front from the fuel rail to small fittings on the tops of the fuel tanks.

 

Same issue on my 91TR. No ethanol in the gas here in Dubai, but something keeps killing the large diameter hose which connects the tanks. I replace that hose at each timing belt change (5 years) as a matter of course. As there is a metal shield beneath the tanks which catches any drips you will not see a puddle, but as it slowly weeps on the metal plate under the tanks before it evaporates you will smell it from time to time.

I always use the OEM hose ($$), but there might be proven alternatives.

 

Seen a lot of seals, fuel line, etc degrade from ethanol lately. Splitting, cracking, and swelling are common.

Have it towed and checked out on a lift, change all of the lines if they've never been done.

 

Definitely check out all the hints above. I had the same issue on my 88.5 TR and one thing I recommend to help you isolate it: release the fuel cap and listen for hissing. The fuel tank builds up pressure and I do not think it is vented.

 

Phil, could be the evap system venting due to temp changes. It's gotten pretty cool these nights lately, or if the car was parked hot (i.e. pressure in the tanks). Alternatively, could be s stuck 2-way valve or rollover valve.

 

I had the very similar issue ..had to pour a ultra voilet dye in gas and use black light to see it...ended up one of the smaller tubes on gas filler pipe ..the dye worked like a charm

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

 

I would first check evidence of fuel leakage with the car on a lift. If you cannot find the source of the leakage/fuel smell, the next step is to check the evaporative emissions system using a smoke test machine, it will check the extent of the leakage, and if there is a leak smoke will come out of it.

 

I had an annoying fuel smell which took me a long time to discover. Sometimes worse than others. I did a thorough EO service and everything was squeaky clean and fresh. Finally --- I saw a small but fresh drop on the connection of a tank crossover hose (Again - fresh rubber). I snugged the hose clamp, and it did tighten up more securely. I 'm pretty happy - seems like that was it. I went over all of the other hoses, and found the odd one here and there that tightened up a bit. After an EO, there's so many things that must be checked and re-checked. I found a hose rub spot which wasn't really a problem, but looking at the assembly fresh after some time, I was able to re-orient just a little to center up the parts. This is kind of the pride in ownership stuff.

 

Not sure if you found the source to the smell but take a look at this video. I just replaced both of the EHA's on my 86, pretty tough to spot this unless you really look for it, you need to pressurize the fuel system which can be done without running the car by jumping the fuel pumps to run for a few seconds. Good luck.