Why does my car smell like gasoline?

Oh, by standard, I mean a clutch or a stick. Whatever you call it where ever your from.

You can get this checked at a service station that does smog tests. They have a hydrocarbon “sniffer” usually used in the tailpipe. They can use it while the engine is running to detect where the fuel smell is coming from.

Something may have been slightly disconnected when the service was none. Your transmission would not be a factor.

Get it checked soon, you don’t want an inadvertent fire.

Thanks, its good to know what to ask for.

Return it to the shop that did the work and tell them there was no smell until after the work. Have them check whatever drain plugs, lines and such that were fiddled with.

By chance do you keep a gas container in your trunk? I ask because in high heat, the little cap that covers the nozzle bit often will pop off and the gas or gas residue will smell strong; it happened to me once.

I don’t know if you need to make sure nobody tries to light up a cigarette in the meantime not.

@Neizvestnaya I would but I’m not sure they didn’t do it on purpose so we would require more work.
@flo, Oh, don’t think I would let anyone near my car with a lighter.

@Pandora: That’s a lot of paranoia. If you worry about stuff like that then take your car to a brand dealership instead of an independent shop. Major dealers can’t afford such chances because each service performed has a factory followup for customer satisfaction that helps that particular store move through national rankings. Stores get corporate awards for good rankings and there are site managers and foremen whose jobs entail maintaining that. Lawsuits and shady inquiries would be too much of a risk.

I work for two major dealership chains and there is way too overseeing of mechanics for anyone to pull off something shady. They’re all vying for top marks in the shop in order to get better placement for shifts, work bays, teams and promotions.

@Pandora that would so scare me, I would stop driving it until the source is found.
I don’t think it is paranoia, there are stories after stories how mechanics do stuff to make you need more work done.

@Neizvestnaya…in independent shops I mean.

Not only independent shops. I took my daughters car to a midas shop. It was recommened by a friend because she swore the owners were reputable. Funny thing is every time she would take her car in she would be back in less than a week. She never would take her car anywhere else.
Needless to say, I took my daughters car there to get work done on her O2 sensor. There are 4 and they said 1 needed to be replaced. My daughter later continued to have problems and we took it in. Again they said it was probably one of the others. Again it continued to fail. Finally she took it to a friend of a friend who does his own work at home for extra cash. He looked at all 4 and told her none of them looked new. She went to a shop and bought all of them new and had them replaced. He did all the work in front of her and for labor he only charged 50 bucks for a half hours work. It was running fine after that.
The store shop we originally took it too was a chain store. I’m not sure I can say who on fluther. You can PM if you want to know.

Under normal conditions changing oil/filter should have nothing to do with gas. It’s probably just a coincidence, (unless you suspect something malicious). So… having said that, it could be someting like a fuel injector going bad.

If you put a question out about people’s experiences with mechanics I womder what you would get?

It would halp if you mentioned: make, model, year. But, given no other info I would say it was either the hose from the throttle body to the carbon canister was knocked loose or one injector has a hairline crack in it. Both are easy to spot.

@Bagardbilla You are awesome. I believe it is probably that. Since the car is having problems now starting up. XXXXXOOOOOOOO
It got me thinking about manufacturer warranties and recall list. I looked it up. My fuel pump is under recall. Yeah! I pray its that, then it won’t cost me a dime, and I don’t have to worry about them ripping me off.

It could also be something as simple as the gas cap not being on tight.

@filmfann Nope I checked that. Plus the smell isn’t even coming from anywhere near the gas cap. My gas cap is on the right rear of the car and the smell is mostly noticed near the left door on the drivers side. Plus when I drive it comes through the vents as well. Smells like it may even be inside or maybe from under the car.
Actually since I am also having trouble with the car starting I would have to agree that a faulty fuel injector may be the cause. I don’t know if it will cause the smell but it does have to do with fuel so maybe. But it would cause a problem with start up.

@filmfann That was my first guess as well…

@Pandora There is only one time where I had good luck at a dealership. Independents are a mixed bag, but I have found more reputable ones than not. As for Midas, they are generally the worst, at least in my experience.

I have had many of my cars smell like gas for a variety of reasons over the years. The worst three offenders were my ‘90 Civic (cracked gas tank), and my two Corollas (an ‘87 and an ‘85) which were carburated. Regardless, the oil change should have nothing to do with it, unless they knocked something loose.. but they shouldn’t have been near the fuel system since oil changes only require accessing components that are pretty far from any injectors or fuel lines.

That said, there was one exception. My first Golf had that issue after getting an oil change with the wrong grade of oil. That lead to a lot of “blow-by”, reduced power, and other issues (including odor) that went away quickly when I replaced the oil with the right (thicker) grade.

UPDATE! It turned out to be the fuel pump modulator had a small leak. And it was all covered under warranty. YEAH!
0 cost for me. I’m so happy. We just spent 700 fixing my daughter car. I couldn’t stand the idea of spending more on another car.
Lucky too. My warranty expires in November.

Yay!

One of these days, I should get a car with a warranty. Mine expired over twenty years ago.

Yeah, maybe its time for a new car. LOL