I began noticing dark spots on my asphalt driveway, near where the car is usually parked. I didn't think much about it until one day when my wife came home after driving the car and told me that she smelled gas. She had just filled the tank and I said that it wasn't unusual to smell gas immediately after refilling but to be safe, I would go check the car.

I was really surprised to find gasoline dripping from an area near the fuel fill pipe. The driveway has a little slant to it so I turned the car around so the gas tank was higher than the front of the car and the dripping stopped. 

I thought it would require a simple and cheap replacement of the fill pipe. I was wrong.  It isn't a simple fill pipe and replacement isn't cheap. I called a Nissan dealer who told me all his processes to determine the cause of the drip, the possible parts replacement, the time involved, and the impossibility of estimating the cost without me driving the car to him - about 70 miles round trip - for an examination. At that time, I not only smelled gasoline - I also smelled a considerable amount of money changing hands.

Then I began studying the problem on the Internet and in my books. I decided that replacing the fill pipe is more complicated and expensive than I thought and considering my age and the condition of my knees - especially when crawling underneath the car with gasoline dripping down my arms - I
decided to take the car to a trusted local mechanic.
 
I took the diagrams (pictured below) and asked if he could fix it. While I sat in his waiting room, I could just imagine (and dread) the cost. In about 20 minutes he returned and said the car was ready and the cost was $8.00 for labor.  Needless to say, I was very surprised and relieved.

He said there was really no big problem. The screws had loosened over time. All he had to do was to tighten them. Otherwise, the fill pipe and associated attachments are all in good condition. And $8.00 was cheap enough to spare my knees from the asphalt.
End of story.

Public Notice: there are several handyman  do-it-yourself  items on this Web site that require some care when using them or the tools and/or electricity when constructing them. I offer my ideas freely and if you use any of these ideas you are responsible for all aspects of that use. If you attempt to construct and/or use any of these items, you do so at your own risk.  Thank you, Doug Dickens.