1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

2.5 Gallons of Gasoline leaked in my trunk.. Help

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by PriusGuy32, Jul 13, 2022.

  1. PriusGuy32

    PriusGuy32 Prius Driver Extraordinaire

    Joined:
    Sep 10, 2012
    1,411
    506
    0
    Location:
    Harrison Township, Michigan
    Vehicle:
    2015 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    So this was a cool week... NOT really. :mad:

    I had refilled a 5 gallon gas can for our riding lawnmower, was transporting it home in the Prius when it tipped over in the trunk. As it tipped over the "nozzle" sheared off, and it "glugged" about 2.5 gallons of gasoline all OVER my trunk. I stopped as soon as I could, was in heavy fast moving traffic, but the damage was done.

    The husky liner caught some of the gas, but the way it tipped over was on the driver side trunk bulkhead carpet, and it spilled down into the spare tire compartment, and behind/under the rear seat, and even as far as the rear cabin seating floor carpeting. What - A - MESS. There was literally at least a gallon I had to sopp up around the spare tire itself. I think it may have made it as far as under the driver seat o_O

    I need advice on how to remove the smell. I removed Everything that I could - literally everything carpeted in the trunk, I removed the rear seats, the rear seat bottoms, peeled up the rear carpeting, soaked everything in water, then vinegar/baking soda, then sopp it up with old towels, air dry. Still smelled horribly of gas. I used "Purple Power" spray from O'Reilly, which seemed to help the most remove the gasoline, but the car still smells like the bilge of a boat. I've also placed 3 of those little canisters of "odor eating" gel in the car.

    Advice/Suggestions appreciated. Criticisms not - I already feel like a Dolt and know how incredibly dangerous it is to transport gasoline now :confused:
     
  2. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

    Joined:
    May 29, 2018
    5,887
    3,159
    0
    Location:
    Florida
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    A lot of backing soda, and letting it sit. Then try some "Totally Awesome", full strength.
    Spray it everywell, and let it sit. You've pretty much done what you could.
     
    #2 ASRDogman, Jul 13, 2022
    Last edited: Jul 14, 2022
  3. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    54,647
    38,201
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
  4. prius16

    prius16 Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 3, 2015
    462
    241
    1
    Location:
    New England
    Vehicle:
    2022 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Limited
    Fwiw, you're not the first person to spill gas in their car, and you won't be the last.

    Try to soak up as much as you can. Use paper towels, and nitrile gloves.
    You should take out the rear seat.
    You may want to consider removing the front seats, then removing the carpet. Then, put only the driver's seat back in. If you use a floor mat on the driver's side, be careful it doesn't slide under the brake/gas pedal, and prevent the car from stopping.
    Sliding floor mats have been an issue, with some cars in the past.

    If you have a garage, leave the car windows down, and 1+ garage windows cracked open.

    It'll take some time for the gas smell to dissipate. There are many factors.
    It may take days, it may take weeks.
    Imho, considering that it's Summer now, depending on the humidity and being able to keep the car outside with the windows fully open, most of the gas smell may go away in a week or so.

    If you don't have vent shades on the car, you should get some. Otherwise, don't drive the car in the rain/etc. Breathing the gas fumes isn't good.
    You may want to consider wearing an N95 mask while driving the car, if the windows can't be fully open when driving.

    If it gets cool when driving with the windows open(now, possibly at night, or early morning), wear a heavy jacket and gloves. At least it won't get to below freezing now.


    For vent shades:
    Code:
    https://www.amazon.com/Window-Visors-2010-2015-IKON-MOTORSPORTS/dp/B075ZLN6W3
    Window Visors Compatible With 2010-2015 Toyota Prius, Dark Smoke Car Rain Sun Window Shade Guard Visor by IKON MOTORSPORTS, 2011 2012 2013 2014
    $39.99
    
    https://www.amazon.com/Smoke-Window-2009-2015-Toyota-Channel/dp/B07P7G8XQF/
    Safe Smoke Window Visor Sun Rain Vent Guard 4 Pcs Set for 2009~2015 Prius Out Channel Visor
    $48.25
    
    https://www.amazon.com/Auto-Ventshade-94181-Ventvisor-Deflector/dp/B003M9J2OG
    Auto Ventshade [AVS] Ventvisor | Outside Mount, Smoke Color, 4 pc | 94181 | Fits 2010 - 2015 Toyota Prius (Excludes V Model)
    $61.13
    

    Imho, most of the plastic gas cans today are junk.
    It's not easy to find a well-made plastic gas can anymore.
    Imho, there's very little/no market for a well-made plastic gas. And, the metal gas cans are heavy as heck.

    Good luck.
     
    #4 prius16, Jul 13, 2022
    Last edited: Jul 14, 2022
  5. Half Vast

    Half Vast Junior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 13, 2022
    36
    20
    1
    Location:
    Suffolk, VA
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Use charcoal briquets, regular ones; not the "Matchlight" type. Place them in a shallow container and put that in the hatch area for a few days. The charcoal will absorb any smell in the car. After that, on days where the car isn't driven, open the hatch and all doors and leave them open all day if you can. If you still have some gas smell remaining, place some fresh charcoal back in the car to let it absorb the smell.
     
  6. Leadfoot J. McCoalroller

    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller Senior Member

    Joined:
    May 12, 2018
    6,784
    6,444
    1
    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    Vehicle:
    2018 Prius c
    Model:
    Two
    charcoal, baking soda, kitty litter... they all absorb vapors & odor. Put them in open pans or fill a bunch of socks and use them as odor absorbers.
     
  7. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 29, 2020
    8,047
    1,395
    0
    Location:
    Durham NC
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    Base
    What has happened to the battery tray The HV battery the metal it sits on the bottom of the inside of the silver bottom liner of the battery tray itself you need to have a look get a q-tip a long medical type and reach in there if you're too lazy to undo it and take the cover off you can leave it in the car and get the cover off or make it so it'll lift up enough so you can see gas drives quickly so it won't be there now but you need to see if it got on the bottoms of cells generally in the tray bottom Good luck
     
  8. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    54,647
    38,201
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    Hook up a charger, or disconnect battery when doing this?
     
    PriusGuy32 likes this.
  9. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2008
    23,257
    15,060
    0
    Location:
    Indiana, USA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    And if it's a Gen 3, I think I would disconnect the battery by unplugging the fat white cable in the fuse box under the hood.

    Even after all the cleaning efforts so far, I might still be leery of making any sparks in the hatch area.
     
    Mendel Leisk likes this.
  10. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    54,647
    38,201
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    A nearby fire extinguisher wouldn’t hurt.
     
    Merkey likes this.
  11. fotomoto

    fotomoto Senior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 22, 2009
    5,597
    3,771
    0
    Location:
    So. Texas
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    I did this once in my wife's mini-van. Yeah, she wasn't happy. :whistle:

    Pulling the carpet and loose padding, heavy cleaning, and hours and hours of air drying/ventilation ended the fumes.

    Lesson learned: I then began putting those gas cans inside heavy duty trash bags for containment for the trip home. Now I have a full electric line of yard tools so those trips have been eliminated.
     
    Mendel Leisk and PriusGuy32 like this.
  12. nicoj36

    nicoj36 Active Member

    Joined:
    Oct 15, 2013
    495
    156
    0
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Get some odor eliminator and leave it inside the car
     
    PriusGuy32 likes this.
  13. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 26, 2009
    17,103
    10,037
    90
    Location:
    Western Washington
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    This shouldn't do much of anything about the fumes. N95s are for particulates above a certain size. Chemical fume molecules are much smaller, so should flow through unimpeded.
     
    Merkey likes this.
  14. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 8, 2015
    10,963
    8,839
    0
    Location:
    New England
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    My advice is to just leave the window open as you drive and if you can while you park. I had a body paint job on the passenger side doors and front panel, even though it was done at Toyota authorized body shop and I got the car back almost 1 week after curing the paint, the paint smell lingered inside of the car. Since the work was done in the middle of winter, I could not keep the windows open as much as I would have liked, but after a good month or two, the smell dissipated.

    We have an ozone generator used for room odor elimination. I was going to use it in the car but didn't. It works for most organic odors like the bacterial-born rotten smell or mold-born musty smell, but I didn't know how it eliminates the paint odor. The thing is that ozone has a noxious smell of its own. It is also an irritant to the respiratory system at low and toxic at high concentrations. I found the smell of paint was more tolerable than ozone.
     
    Merkey likes this.
  15. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2008
    23,257
    15,060
    0
    Location:
    Indiana, USA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    I once bought something whose previous driver had been a heavy smoker. I was lucky to have bought it in warm weather.

    After using a shop-vac water-extraction upholstery wand over and over and over until the detergent water stopped coming back gray and the upholstery was visibly red again, I just drove everywhere with all the windows down, the whole summer and fall until it got too cold.

    Eventually, you couldn't even tell it had been smoked in.
     
  16. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 22, 2017
    6,109
    4,038
    1
    Location:
    Wilkes Land
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    :sleep:
     
    PriusGuy32 likes this.
  17. PriusGuy32

    PriusGuy32 Prius Driver Extraordinaire

    Joined:
    Sep 10, 2012
    1,411
    506
    0
    Location:
    Harrison Township, Michigan
    Vehicle:
    2015 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    Thanks all. I have taken the suggestions and been keeping the windows rolled down/trunk open too as much as possible when I am not using the car, and parking in the sun to "bake", or help dissipate the distillates out of the interior as much as possible. Prior to that, I removed just about everything from the rear of the car (trunk flooring, trunk pan, spare tire, the "walls" of the trunk, the rear seat backs & bottoms (Its softex leather, but underneath its foam - foam that absorbed a whole lotta gas!), and soaked, extracted, re-soaked, extracted several times with baking soda/vinegar (did not work that well), purple power (worked best), and a few other things. I have three "odor absorbers" in the car; for further description purposes, they are little jars with some kind of gel balls inside that are supposed to "eat" odors. To the best of my knowledge, it does this by releasing a very subtle scent. Either way, those seem to be helping *mask the gas odor.

    Hoping the smell is gone soon, because as a boating enthusiast - the smell of the car reminds me of my boats engine room (bilge) :eek::confused:

    Lesson learned: I will never transport fuel in my Prius again. AND I had a Husky Liner mat in the trunk, which I figured would save me (it did help a lot, but not when the can tipped over onto the trunk side wall and poured down between the mat and wall!).
     
  18. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

    Joined:
    May 29, 2018
    5,887
    3,159
    0
    Location:
    Florida
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Banana peels obsorb odor, that will help. Just replace them every day.
    Only time will help.
    Tranfporting fuel in the trunk in no wise.
    I put my gas cans on the front passenger floor. And drive carefully.
    Been doing it for decades and never had a spill...
     
    PriusGuy32 likes this.
  19. PriusGuy32

    PriusGuy32 Prius Driver Extraordinaire

    Joined:
    Sep 10, 2012
    1,411
    506
    0
    Location:
    Harrison Township, Michigan
    Vehicle:
    2015 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    Yep. If I had the cans in the front, or even rear seat floor, this never would've occurred. More sage advice that I appreciate.
     
  20. Kyosha

    Kyosha New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 4, 2022
    18
    11
    0
    Location:
    United States
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    I've had luck with charcoal in "removing" the smell in a vehicle when fuel was spilt. Rarely carry gas in cars now, but when I do it is in a milk crate, and the crate is fastened to tie downs in the trunk. Not had any issues with tipping in the last few years.
     
    nicoj36 likes this.