Gas smell

[bruno]

As I drove this summer with the top down, I smelled gas in the car. When I ran the A/C the smell would come out the vents, too. But now that I'm driving with the top and windows up, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the smell went away inside the car. So it had to be coming from under the hood and wafting back through the air.

So I opened the hood and investigated. The engine is dry EXCEPT for a small drip of gas that is coming out of a flexible rubber hose about an inch wide. The hose exits the top rear of the passenger side valve cover, travels about half the length of the valve cover and then STOPS, open ended. About every 30 seconds a drop of gas drips out.

Anyone have an explanation for this? It is obviously the source of my gas smell.