Petrol fumes

[GraemeA]

Hi team

My 2004 4200 cc has suddenly developed a petrol smell in the boot.

Worse, if the windows are down it comes into the car.

I found a couple of threads, but is there are a most likely cause? There is no visible petrol just the smell. Any suggestions on where to start?

Cheers

Graeme

 

[midlifecrisis]

Most likely is an incorrectly fitted petrol cap. Check that first.

If it still persists, you might have a loose breather pipe. The petrol tank is in the gap between the back seat and the boot. There's instructions on the forum on how to remove the rear section of her boot to gain access to the tank area.

 

[CatmanV2]

Broken filler neck can do it too. Also perished seals on the fuel pumps and I seem to recall someone had issues with their carbon canister being broken?

C

 

[Caldy999]

I had a similar issue and it turned out to be that the seal inside the filler cap had gone awol.

 

[hashluck]

Could be the carbon filter

 

[conaero]

Could be the carbon filter

This is the usual cause, best get it checked or you could have an unannounced 'barbie' on your hands.

 

[masertel]

I had the same symptoms with my 4200 a few years ago. The smell of petrol in the car was very pronounced especially when the window was down. Having check all the above solutions it still persisted. After much frustration I finally found what was causing the smell- turned out to be a hairline crack on the top of the driver side fuel pump. It's made of white plastic and very hard to see but if you wipe over the top of it with tissue the slight fuel leak will stain the tissue. In the end I got a second hand pump and screwed it in in -job done and no more smell. If all else fails you might want to check this out. All the best!!!

 

[GraemeA]

Hi guys

Thanks for the replies.

It's not the fuel cap as I'd already eliminated that.

I've pulled the boot lining out to have a look and to run a rag around but I haven't found anything and no signs of any leaking fuel.

Any ideas? And thanks for the heads up about pump - but it's not that Masertel.

Can someone tell me what the large aluminium rectangular object is on the top of the fuel tank?

Thanks

Graeme


I

 

[GraemeA]

Hi all

I went back and checked again and Masertel was on the money except it appears to be the top of my left hand pump.

Same hairline crack I'm thinking but I can't actually see it. I presume you need to loosen the tank and rotate it to get access to it?

Thanks

Graeme

 

[masertel]

Hi Graeme.

The crack on the top of the fuel pump is hard to see. I will try an post some photos that I took when trying to sort the problem. At the time I tried to repair the leak with leak fix but don't wast your time as it didn't work. Best way to sort it is to remove the tank and screw in a replacement pump. It's not difficult but a little time consuming.

Hope this helps.

Terry

 

[masertel]

More pics

 

[masertel]

 

[GraemeA]

Hi Terry

Thanks very much for the reply and the photos. I can't see any crack in the top of your pump. I'll tank my tank out too and see what the story is. I'll run it down a bit first, because I think it's pretty full and therefore heavy.

You don't think it's a job for plastic welding then?

Cheers

Graeme

 

[GraemeA]

HI Terry

I didn't see the second photos. Yes, I think my crack must be around the same place. I was tempted to consider sealant too, but it never seems to work.

I'm assuming the pump is some sort of nylon plastic. Nothing sticks.

Cheers

Graeme

 

[masertel]

Happy to help out Graeme- just hope you get it sorted.

You can see from the photo where the fuel accumulates but as the crack is so fine it's hard to see.

The seal fix helped and reduced the amount of fuel leaking but best to swap the pump out to be sure. The leak is on the high pressure side of the pump and will most likely get worse- last thing you need is a significant amount of fuel spraying into the boot!!

A used pump is not expensive- think I paid around £70. You should be able to source one easily from the breakers as the pumps don't usually give any problems and therefore the breakers should have plenty in stock.

All the hairy breast,

Terry