gas smell

[unplugged]

I have a slight smelll of gas in my trunk. It is enough that if my garage is closed for a day or so you can smell gas in the house.
I inspected all of the hose connections and they look tight and I see no signs of weeping?

I had previously removed the connections to the charcoal cannister and capped the openings to the gas tank with some rubber caps.
The gas cap is vented but I don't smell gas around the cap.
Could the gas fumes be going through the rubber caps I used to seal the charcoal hose connections with?

Thanks

[TX82FIAT]

What year is your car? There is a three way collector and a vent line on the gas tank. I'd start there since the smell seems to be coming from the trunk. There is fuel supply, Fuel return and fuel vent, You can replace the hoses ?? 5/8 i think pretty easy. I'f this is your issue I'd fix it as you could have old brittle hoses within a couple feet of hot exhaust. Chances are if you have a hose leak that it is so small that the gas evaporates before you can localize where a leak is coming from just leaving a smell behind.

[giuliot60]

It's common. I'm about to attack it.

There are several threads on it. Here's one I recently posted in and has good info: http://fiatspider.com/f08/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=2917

[jfrawley]

I see we're discussing a fuel smell in the trunk area. I had that same issue for quite some time. Every morning the garage smelled like a gas station. Found out it was the rubber fuel filler hose. The one my car had on it was not ethanol resistant and therefore the vapors came right through the hose. Replaced that hose with a hose found at NAPA (part number 1047) that is ethanol resistant, and the problem went away that very day. Worth a look.

[spider2081]

Some additional thoughts.
Have you checked for leaks with the car running? My 81's fuel return line had a pin hole in it at the hose clamp at the tank. It was easy to see when the line was under pressure with the car running.

Worst case is pin holes in the tank. The usually are located just below the mounting flange at the trunk floor. The tank sits on a foam seal that holds moisture and eventually pits through the tank.

[unplugged]

Thanks all.
It is an 81 but I removed the charcoal canister to clean up the engine compartment and eliminate the need to run an extra line from the trunk to the front. I have the 3 openings in the tank that would be used to connect to that 3 way collector capped off.
I just used soft rubber caps that would normally be used to cap a vacuum line. They seem to hold up the gasoline well, i.e. they aren't getting soft but perhaps they are allowed fumes through. I'll have to take a closer look. The tank itself was completely cleaned and coated and should be tight. All other hoses are new.
I'll try to look a bit closer at every connection.