Carburetor gas leak

[walrus]

I have an 84 tercel wagon and lately there has been a heavy gas smell. It appears that the carb is leaking gasoline. Would a carb rebuild fix this issue? I picked up a kit to do it today and have been reading up on how to rebuild it. But just wanted to reach out and see if there was any more insight before I dive in.

[dlb]

where is the carb leaking gas from, and how much gas is it leaking? some gradual seepage is normal on old carbs and nothing to worry about but if gas is dripping or pooling, that's serious and must be dealt with asap.

if you only have seepage which doesn't explain the strong gas smell, you might check the charcoal canister. they can get plugged over time and need to be blown out with compressed air. check the FSM for instructions on this if that's the case.

[Petros]

the diaphragm on my secondary seeps gasoline onto the hot heat shield below the carb, making the slight drip smell stronger than one would think. It is more of a nuisance than a hazard because it is intermittent, I have lived with it for many years. A new diaphragm should solve the problem. Someday I may replace it.

Make sure you know the source of the smell before you rebuild the carb. You could do all that work and find out it does not solve the problem. Another common source of smell is a leaky fuel line, either in the engine bay or the short length of rubber flex hose from the top of the fuel tank to the metal fuel line on the chassis.

It is always important to ALWAYS diagnose the problem BEFORE you try and fix it. Otherwise you waste time and money.

[walrus]

2 different shops said it was my carb leaking. They just wanted to much for a rebuild. You could see that the carb was wet from gas

[irowiki]

Where is it wet?

Maybe post some pictures?

[walrus]

Also, this was loose. I reattached it but need to get a clamp to make sure it stays
http://m.imgur.com/BwkkMlp

I can start ot up and take pics of it wet.

[walrus]

http://m.imgur.com/a/x5AY7

You can see in the pictures where its wet. Its a pretty strong smell and it gives me a headache to drive.

[walrus]

Also I should mention that sometimes while im driving and the car was just fired up, the car idles really high, probably around 1500-2000rpm (no tach) and kind of stays that high until I either rev the car above that a few times or drive around for a bit.

[dlb]

Also, this was loose. I reattached it but need to get a clamp to make sure it stays
http://m.imgur.com/BwkkMlp

that is just a hose to help heat the intake air when the engine is cold. it's not a big deal if it comes off, and doesn't need to be air tight.

Also I should mention that sometimes while im driving and the car was just fired up, the car idles really high, probably around 1500-2000rpm (no tach) and kind of stays that high until I either rev the car above that a few times or drive around for a bit.

that's normal. it's the fast idle function. it's necessary to keep the engine from stalling while it's cold.

in your second pic, it looks like the fuel pump is leaking. that's the silver thing with two ports on top, just behind the air filter housing. the bottom half of it is wet. they are not too difficult or expensive to replace. i would not drive it like that since dripping gas on the exhaust manifold could start a fire.

the wetness in your first pic looks like normal seepage, which i would not worry about. you can wipe it up and see how long it takes to get wet again, probably a week or two i'm guessing, and that's ok.

[walrus]

I agree it does look like that has a leak. But with 2 different shops telling me the carb was leaking its making me feel like it is still part of the issue aswell. I wish I had a trustworthy shop here to take it too, the shop here wanted $450 to rebuild my carburetor...

[ARCHINSTL]

Do the fuel pump first - and ASAP - as dlb recommended. It is truly easy to replace (don't forget to reuse the thick plastic spacer, though). They tend to run $35-42, depending on store/location.
Tom M.

[Petros]

if that heat sheild is what is wet (that pan like shelf under the carb below the air cleaner assembly), it looks like that secondary diaphragm is leaking rather badly. If it is really that bad it might be necessary to correct it, if there is liquid fuel all around, that is very dangorus. I only smell gas on mine during a warm start up, and than it is gone. No wet fuel around.

A carb rebuild kit is about $30, even less from rockauto.com when they have a close out. you can replace the diaphragm without rebuilding the carb (or even without removing the carb) with just a good screw driver.

Where are you located? This is not that difficult of a fix. If another forum member is nearby perhaps he can help you out with it if you are uncomfortable doing it yourself.

You might talk forum member Xirdneh into rebuilding a carb for you at a much more reasonable price, and he will send it to you and you swap out your old one. Send him back the leaky one (clean it out, and wrap it up with lots of plastic). The carb is not that difficult to swap out, I have done it in about 15 min.

good luck.

[dlb]

I agree it does look like that has a leak. But with 2 different shops telling me the carb was leaking its making me feel like it is still part of the issue aswell. I wish I had a trustworthy shop here to take it too, the shop here wanted $450 to rebuild my carburetor...

if a shop says your need a carb rebuild and then says it's going to cost $450, that's a big red flag to me. it's not a 5 hr job, and like petros said, the kit is cheap. sounds like a scam to me.

the fuel pump is obviously leaking. the wet heat shield is not so cut and dry since seepage is common in that area so before you bother replacing something you don't know is broken, wipe it down and clean it up and see how it looks after 10 min of driving, then 30 min of driving, then an hour, and so on. if it still looks fine after a few days, the fuel pump is the only thing you need to worry about.

[Mark]

Every time I've had a strong smell of fuel, it's been a leaky fuel pump. The diaphragm wears out and fuel leaks out a small "tell-tale" hole in the body of the pump. In one of your pictures it looks like the fuel pump is leaking bad. I'd put on an asbestos suit soaked in firefighting foam and start the car with the hood up. Then put your finger on the tell-tale hole on the fuel pump and see if there is fuel on your finger. The fuel pumps can't be repaired, but you can get them pretty cheap on RockAuto.

[Mark]

By the way, if your fuel pump is leaking bad, fuel can get into the engine crankcase and dilute the oil. I'd also smell the end of the dipstick and see if there's an obvious gasoline smell. If so, the oil needs to be changed as well before driving it.