96 gas smell when starting, can I drive it?

I noticed a "coincidence" today: When I start the car I smell gas. It happened when leaving for work, going out for lunch, then driving home. Only smell it when I start the car. No puddles underneath.

It has been getting really bad gas milage this week but I thought that was just from running the AC for the first time.

Bottome line: Can I drive to work tomorrow? It is going to blow up on me or something? I drive 20m each way, highway.

no, probably not going to blow up if you dont notice any dripping out. Um, maybe try to find out where its coming from though, turn the key on, listen for the pump to build up pressure, and luuk under the hood to try and find where its leaking. Maybe it isnt leaking, and maybe running very rich. does it idle ok, drive good, and accellerate fine? Maybe hook a fuel pressure guage up to the rail and turn the key to on but dont start so the pump pressurizez the line, and see if the pressure stays. It should hit a certain psi, maybe 60? I dont know for sure, but thatever it hits, it should hold it for a considerable amount of time, and if it bleeds off quickly, you have a leag somewhere. If the pressure stays, then you know the problem isnt leaking fuel, its in fact burning too much fuel. And time to look into maybe sensors and fuel injectors. Good luck, and keep us informed.

actually, the acceleration is awful. does that mean something bad?

but the acceleration might be a transmission problem. (car doesn't like to shift. sometimes rolls forward when i put it in reverse, like it didn't quite "catch".) one of the many things wrong with our old girl.

i'm not knowledgeable enough to do any of the fancy things you mentioned. my car skills involve popping the hood and staring.

a friend mentioned it might be the air filter. could an old air filter screw things up that bad?

yeah, replace the air filter, if it hasn't been, couldnt hurt. Question for you, is the "service Engine Soon" light on? If you car is using a lot of gas, it wont run right, bad acceleration, and more than likely turn the ses light on. If it is on, take it to autozone, and tell them it is, and have them hook it up to a computer and find out what caused it to turn on. Maybe sounds to me like it could be a bad O2 sensor. But just a guess. I dont know. When was the last time you had plugs and wires put in, cause OBD2 cars will increas injector pulse width to compsensat for waek spark. Thus sending too much fuel into the cylinder. Have I lost you yet? So sorry, good luck.

ses light isn't on. we switched out the wires, plugs, and air filter only about 2,000 miles ago. we weren't able to change the fuel filter at that time though. should we get that done right away?

um, maybe. And maybe while your there, have them hook it up to a fuel pressure tester. and have them check to see if its being leaked out. The filter could be plugged.

Try seeing if you smell it if you just turn the key on, but don't start it. Leave it on, and take a look/smell under the hood. If you can sense it, then it's leaking externally, maybe from an injector o-ring or something of that ilk,

Actually, first just open the hood after the car sits overnight, and see if you smell it under there.

What I'm wondering is if it is actually the fuel system leaking that you smell, or if it is just running so poorly that the exhaust is loaded with unburnt fuel.

Lots of times people would come through the shop telling me they smell fuel, when in fact they were smelling exhaust, as the leak had apparently been there for a while, but they never really noticed until the leak got larger or the car started running poorly and the exhaust was heavily tainted with hydrocarbons.

Things like an exhaust manifold or flange gasket on the exhaust near the motor will leak a lot on cold start, then close up somewhat because of temp expansion of the metal as soon as the car starts to run for a few seconds.