Hello and Happy New Year,
Been off for a while as not driving car and trying to solve laundry list of stuff.
After I had the muffler replaced my daughter said she could smell "gas" when she turned on the AC. It was needing a compressor and dryer finally got that done this week.

When I was driving for sure I smelled fumes but couldn't pin point it then my wife drove it and she smelled "gas" but was same fumes.

Living in Miami no inspection requirements (I moved here from Texas so was shocked at this) so when they replaced the muffler guy said CAT converter was rotten and no need to replace...pipe runs from I guess manifold to muffler.

Tonight I started car and did not turn AC on and walked around. Taking a sniff under the wheel well for sure I smelled exhaust fumes.

No idea what is causing it and any educated guesses are welcome. Could not having the CAT converter cause something and you cannot smell the "fumes" until the AC is turned on.

Thanks for any help.

I also had the valve cover gaskets replaced and AC compressor looked remanufactured and I was wondering also if fumes could be from burn off of cleaning stuff maybe that was used etc.

Also wife and daughter say car is LOUD and I was trying to explain when AC compressor is on puts load on engine...was REAL loud when old AC clutch was going out and now sounds like a regular 25 year old V6 to me...smooth idle with slight rumble from muffler. Sorry for last statement but I guess I am asking how loud should the car be from the engine compartment?

Again I you all have been a great help so far

 

You could have any kind of problems, cranked manifolds, loose manifolds, manifold donut gaskets, rusted y pipe, or rusted pipe.

If the cat is clogged its not uncommon to build pressure and blow out rusted thin holes in the pipe or manifold donuts.

 

Neo....thanks for that...Chris gave me somethings to look for but what you said may be most obvious....not that my cat is clogged but how about if it missing ?!!!
Reason it was "old" and "not needed" so when new muffler installed they cut it out and ran pipe straight....could this cause the back pressure?
as my daughter is driving it seems worth money to get one put in but I know not cheap
Thanks

 

Well, a straight pipe would not cause fumes if installed correctly. I would start checking what neo said.

btw, my Jimmy does the same thing when I have the AC on, but only when stopped at a light for awhile. I have narrowed it down to the donut gasket.

 

Like Rich said, unless the pipe they put in is leaking it wont harm a thing. My truck had a new exhaust from the y-pipe back whith the cat removed when I got it. The blazer i put a cat delete (test pipe) until i put the headers on it (due to a cracked exhaust manifold) and deleted the cat when the exhaust was run.

Removing emmision equipment IS ILLEGAL and if you have inspections you WILL FAIL. That said my blazer doesnt even have the smog pump and i'm having it tuned to remove the egr. Then agin its getting a v8 swap unless I can find a diesel to drop in it.

 

Seems to me like you are smelling fuel fumes. I would be checking for a leaking gastank (wet spots on the corners of the cover that covers the tank) the gas tank is in the middle behind the rear axle. Also get under and look at condition of the fuel filler hose. With a 25 year old gastank, I wouldn't be surprised to see a hole in it somewhere. They have a plastic cover over them, and crud gets in between the metal tank and plastic cover and rubs holes in the metal over time. Woul be worth your time to remove the plastic cover from the tank and have a look around for the hole.

If you have access to compressed air, you can remove the plastic cover, remove the gas cap, and have someone blow air into the tank while you get under and look for dust or vapours coming out of a small hole.

 

Well OHSOFLY you were the closest with GAS LEAK.
Decided to look under the hood with the motor running this weekend under good sunligh. I see a steady drip from the nuts holding the gas line to the carbuerator!
UGH. Sometimes the obvious is the last thing I look for
The last tech had to have removed it when they replaced the valve cover gaskets maybe not. Any how my daughter did say "Gas fumes" I just never clicked to and each time I looked under the hood the engine was off.
Any how I loosened them readjusted the angle of the line and retightened.
No leak and no fumes!
Drove it around and turned on AC while stopped and still no fumes.
THanks again everyone for your input.
Now to figure out what is causing the MAJOR squel on the drivers side rear brakes...shoes are new, lubed the drum where it sits on hub to no avail!
peace