Gas smell from 03 Mountaineer 4.6L??

[DECHman]

Wife Mountaineer has gas smell coming from vehicle while driving and now sitting in garage. She says it is more from the front grille area not the engine itself.

No dripping leak on ground and no visible leakes while running.

Has anyone run into this before?

Thanks!

 

[FordFool2]

Run the engine with the hood open and look around on the top for any signs of leakage.

The fuel tank houses the pump. From there a fuel line goes along the passenger side frame up to a fuel filter just below the passenger seat. Next it travels up to the top of the engine and is distributed to each of the cylinders by use of a fuel rail (5/16" metal tubing). I would look at this rail carefully while running engine looking for any misting or spraying of fuel.

Take this seriously because if there is a leak then you have the potential for fire.

 

[gtyates]

Another idea. Are there any other symptoms, such as problems starting the vehicle after fueling? I had a similar issue on my '05 Sport Trac. It was the evap cannister purge valve. We were noticing a fuel smell in the garage, but it was faint and only occasional. Then we started having problems starting the truck after fueling. I never did get a check engine light, but through some on-line research I found the issue. On my Sport Trac the purge valve is mounted between the battery and the relay panel, but I think on the Explorer and Mounty it is mounted next to the brake master cylinder. Again, this is just a suggestion, but if the valve sticks "open" then fuel vapor is constantly being released and will give a fuel smell. I am not a mechanic, I just do a lot of research to find problems when the occur. This was the article I found: http://www.professionalfleet.com/la...ehicle_will_not_start_after_filling_with_fuel
Though the article focusses on the starting problem that I had, I also had a fuel smell.