2000 Firebird 3.8L V6
I smell fuel, quite more often than I remember in the past, and definitely more than I like. Usually coming to stop at a light, or idling for a long period of time (stuck in traffic). Or even more so when I have my heater blowing.
I had a similar issue in a 2005 Grand Am that wound up being the ECV that needed replacing. Apparently smelling fuel, especially through the heater is a main symptom. Could it be something like that with my bird?
Was outside and had the hood popped earlier. Checked my oil because I've noticed my Check Oil light has been popping up lately. I just had the oil changed a couple hundred miles ago, so it's not due yet.

Oil looked okay, and was still at the Full mark on the dipstick. I wiped the dipstick and some of the oil ran off onto my finger, as I cleaned my finger, I sniffed the paper towel.
It smelled oddly like gasoline.
This made me wonder for a few minutes and start trying to recall what motor oil should smell like, and whether it did have a hint of gasoline smell in it or not.
I opened the Oil Fill cap and noticed the inside was really grungy, kinda orange and gross. I also noticed the neck that the cap screws onto kinda moves a bit. This makes me wonder if maybe oil is coming up the neck a bit and leaking out through there (since it's loose) because there's a ton of old oil stained all around that area.

I google'd motor oil smelling like gas and didn't like what I found.
I hope someone can offer me some assistance.

I know I've got an oil leak that drips onto my exhaust pipe. I also know that that same pipe has a crack in it, while although small, I'm sure releases quite enough fumes directly beneath the front seats. I wonder if the hot pipe/hot fumes are burning the dripping/old oil and that's why I'm smelling fuel.

(Sorry for the novel)

 

OK you prolly have leaking valve covers amongst other things, for the fuel issue go to a local parts store and get a fuel pressure gauge hook it up to your fuel line then turn your key to the on position it will pressure up to lets say 40 PSI then watch the gauge and see if its bleeding down, if not your good to go, if it bleeds down let me know how fast.

 

Getting a gauge might have to wait till next week. However, if it's not bleeding, then that doesn't explain the smell. If it is... what could it be?

 

Well what we are hoping to see here is that its not bleeding I can assure you it might be the oil you discussed, If it is bleeding down and you smell fuel we will then go over your injectors(injector o-rings can leak on top of the engine hence the smell) and fuel pump. DO you have a check engine light?

 

I do have the check engine light. However the only code it's throwing (usually have it scanned once a week or so) is p0420 (due to lack of cat).

 

You don't have a cat? That could be your smell right there. A cat is used to burn unused fuel in the exhaust, and due to your cracked pipe, that smell is coming into your cab. I'd get that pipe fixed and it should fix your problem. As for the oil problem, is it more of a yellow than orange? If so, it could be excess water in your oil.

 

I thought of that too. But I've had the car for 2 years now, never had a cat, and the crack in the y-pipe has been there for about a year. The smell has really gotten stronger in the past month or so. The oil is a light brown color. Which bugs me considering I just got it change less than 1k miles ago, and my Change Oil light pops up every now and then.

 

Don't worry about the change oil light, that just comes on by mileage. Take the cap off of the oil and look at the bottom of the cap. What color that is will tell you what the problem is. The oil should be a light brown color, but any vapors that shouldn't be there will condense onto the cap, helping you diagnose the problem. Do you take a lot of short trips?

 

What are some colors I should/shouldn't see?
Yes, most of my trips are short.
Btw- I noticed you're also in SA. Whereabouts?

 

If it's yellow then that's excess water in your oil. On startup(especially in the cool mornings we've had), condensation will build up, and you're not driving the car long enough to evaporate all the water and it's lingering in the system.

I live up off of 1604 in North Central

 

So have I unknowingly caused harm to my car if I don't allow time for the condensation to evaporate? Is it too late to prevent damage? Should I go for a long freeway cruise to get the engine to opp temp?

 

Usually it's not enough to cause serious problems, as long as you get oil changes regularly. I wouldn't worry too much about it. It happened to me a while back when my drive to work was only 5 minutes, but now I have a 30 minute drive to work everyday.

 

Something to check - I had the smell of raw fuel coming from my car under the hood. It was a combination of 2 things - bad fpr (common to go bad on the 3800 for some reason) and the vac line connected to the fpr had split. So fuel was leaking through the fpr into the vac line and then evaporating, stinking up the place.

 

FPR= Fuel Pressure...Regulator?
Tell me more on this please. Something I can fix myself?
I drove to work today, and since it was cool out, decided to run the a/c (yes, this makes sense, because a/c doesnt work anyway, but if it's cool out, I still get cool air blowing in). I didn't want my windows open because I don't want my car full of pollen. Anyway- About half way to work, idling at a light, my car starts to wreak of gas! It's something in the engine bay that the air vents are sucking up and into the cabin.

 

This could be dangerous... You may want to stop driving it until you get it fixed.

Yes, fpr = fuel pressure regulator. It is on the driver side fuel rail on the back. Little canister looking thing with a vac line attached to it. You may be able to do it yourself but it is a pain to get to (Thanks GM for putting our engines underneath the windshield). I had a mechanic take care of mine for me, cost me about $100 for the labor and a new vacuum line. I had a new fpr already that I gave him to put on.

I usually try to do stuff myself to save money and all, but for me it was worth spending $100 to have somebody else deal with that thing back there. That, and I don't fully trust myself working on fuel systems yet.

When you smell gas again, pop the hood and see if it stinks under there on the driver side. If it does, that's probably what the issue is. Also check all the lines and the schraeder valve to be sure that isn't leaking.

 

I went outside and checked out the FPR, but didn't see any signs of leakage (of course, I'm assuming any leaking fuel wouldve probably evaporated by now).
Would a leaky FPR cause fuel to enter the engine oil?
I opened my oil cap and cleaned out the gunk built up inside of it. It was black/brown/rusty colored. The inside of the fill tube was the same nasty color. I... don't laugh... sniffed the paper towel I used to wipe everything down and it had a hint of gas to it.
Any ideas?