Bill,
This symptom is usually associated with either a leaking rubber filler
neck, or a perished rubber cross tube. Although you might have a hole in
one or other of your tanks, I very much doubt that your holes would be
half way up the tank, rather than in the bottom, where any water would
accumulate and rust through.
The cross tube is possibly the most likely cause. This tube cannot be
seen when properly installed, hence many owners are unaware of its
presence, yet it is vital to the proper functioning of the two tanks. It
is used to ensure that the left hand tank can vent its air when being
filled, and the tank is therefore full of gasoline rather than air. It
joins a small pipe welded to the top front corner of the left tank to a
small female fitting on the front side of the rubber filler neck, and
passes across the car inside the metalwork between the trunk and the
passenger compartment. After many years of doing its job, the pipe gets
very hard, and cracks, venting the gas fumes which you are experiencing.
A bit of a pain, but not overly difficult to replace. Since it is tough
to thread the pipe through the passageway in the metalwork, I recommend
if and when you pull out the old pipe, you tie a long, strong string to
the end of the pipe to assist you in pulling the replacement back
through the same pasage.
Hope this helps.
John Slade
Manotick, ON
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