Is the smell also in the trunk, like when you open the trunk will a fuel smell smack you in the face? If not you might want to check if the smell is being pulled in to the cabin from the heater fan. Check the seals all around that area.

...but if it smells int he trunk, they keep working back there first.

Thanks for the tip. Im almost positive its in the trunk or at least most of it. When I open the lid I can smell it and its NOT faint. Its there.

Even though my hood seals are shot, I don't smell that much gas as I do in the trunk. Someone suggested that I should put a strong air freshener in the trunk to see if in fact it is the trunk. Then I was thinking to do the same under the hood and near the exhaust. This will be my next test.

The vent should go to a cannister under the parcel shelf and then to a hose that goes to the engine compartment where it goes to a charcoal cannister and then to the air cleaner.  That cloth covered hose is probably original and those things crack leak vapors, inspect it closely and replace if necessary.  One test you can do is to take a piece of new hose and temporarily attach it to the vent line and direct it out of your trunk, go for a drive and see if the smell goes mostly away (if the hose is cracked it will stink a little because that woven cloth soaks up some gas and continues to stink).

Replacing that hose years ago was what got rid of the smell for me.

13 hours ago, FunkyLaneO said:

The vent should go to a cannister under the parcel shelf and then to a hose that goes to the engine compartment where it goes to a charcoal cannister and then to the air cleaner.  That cloth covered hose is probably original and those things crack leak vapors, inspect it closely and replace if necessary.  One test you can do is to take a piece of new hose and temporarily attach it to the vent line and direct it out of your trunk, go for a drive and see if the smell goes mostly away (if the hose is cracked it will stink a little because that woven cloth soaks up some gas and continues to stink).

 

Replacing that hose years ago was what got rid of the smell for me.

I do still have the canister and have checked the lines only by smell and nothing smelled of a strong sent of gas. I will check again. Is OEM the only way to go for replacing all the vent hoses?

Im pretty sure that the fuel line is not original.

Thanks for the tips!

Actually I prefer to use regular non-cloth covered fuel line.  It is easier to see cracks and wear on and if it does leak around any connections you can just wipe it off, the cloth soaks it up and is hard to get the smell out of.  I use metric hose and not the SAE equivalent, I used to get it from BMW but lately have been getting a different German brand as the BMW stuff isn't as available as it used to be for some reason.

Also make sure the connectors on the canister are not cracked, I have not had one do that but I could see how it could happen if there was a strain on it.