Fuel leak??

[Theworm71]

Whilst driving, I’ve been smelling petrol for a little while but only inside the bus. I’ve been stopping and looking in the engine bay and under the van but no obvious signs of leaks or any strong smell of petrol.
Today, I filled the tank more than usual. About 3/4 full. I headed off down the road and after about 5 mins, I could smell petrol quite strongly. I immediately stopped to check it out and saw this. (See photos)
The roads where I am in Pembrokeshire are all winding lanes and it appears that petrol is coming out of or from around the fuel cap when I turning corners! Maybe it’s been like this for ages but I’ve not noticed while driving around London as I never get up to speed when turning.
The petrol down the side definitely isn’t from over fill or spillage and yes, the cap is tight.

Why is this happening and how do I fix it?

View attachment IMG_0474.jpeg

 

[Theworm71]

Whilst driving, I’ve been smelling petrol for a little while but only inside the bus. I’ve been stopping and looking in the engine bay and under the van but no obvious signs of leaks or any strong smell of petrol.
Today, I filled the tank more than usual. About 3/4 full. I headed off down the road and after about 5 mins, I could smell petrol quite strongly. I immediately stopped to check it out and saw this. (See photos)
The roads where I am in Pembrokeshire are all winding lanes and it appears that petrol is coming out of or from around the fuel cap when I turning corners! Maybe it’s been like this for ages but I’ve not noticed while driving around London as I never get up to speed when turning.
The petrol down the side definitely isn’t from over fill or spillage and yes, the cap is tight.

Why is this happening and how do I fix it?

View attachment 9348View attachment 9349

View attachment IMG_0474.jpeg

 

[sparkywig]

That little nozzle to the left of the filler cap is the tank breather, early buses do suffer from fumes as this is open to atmosphere. Later buses have the convoluted pipework that runs up inside the rear corner with loads of rubber joints.
The tank must be more than 3/4 full for fuel to spill out of the breather as it's mounted on the top of the tank as the pic below shows.

 

[sparkywig]

Here's another better pic showing the filler neck, breather and the drain tube from the filler flap.



I think your spillage is coming from the filler neck, you may need to replace the cap gasket.

 

[Theworm71]

Here's another better pic showing the filler neck, breather and the drain tube from the filler flap.

View attachment 9352

I think your spillage is coming from the filler neck, you may need to replace the cap gasket.

Ah nice! Thats really helpful, thanks. I’ll try replacing the gasket and see how it goes.

I’ve driven it 5 miles this morning and there’s a little puddle in the fuel neck retaining ring. (See pic) is there also a gasket between the body and the retaining ring?
If so, can the retaining ring and gasket both be replaced without accessing the tank/taking the engine out?
I can see it has x3 bolts fixing it to the body but I don’t want to just try undoing them

I don’t have an access hole cut. This is definitely high up on the list though.

 

[Darren2030]

Whilst driving, I’ve been smelling petrol for a little while but only inside the bus. I’ve been stopping and looking in the engine bay and under the van but no obvious signs of leaks or any strong smell of petrol.
Today, I filled the tank more than usual. About 3/4 full. I headed off down the road and after about 5 mins, I could smell petrol quite strongly. I immediately stopped to check it out and saw this. (See photos)
The roads where I am in Pembrokeshire are all winding lanes and it appears that petrol is coming out of or from around the fuel cap when I turning corners! Maybe it’s been like this for ages but I’ve not noticed while driving around London as I never get up to speed when turning.
The petrol down the side definitely isn’t from over fill or spillage and yes, the cap is tight.

Why is this happening and how do I fix it?

View attachment 9348View attachment 9349

I had this happen to me once when I filled up with fuel I didn’t put the cap on tight enough I’ve got the same fuel cap as you also, I would say it’s the gasket underneath the cap needs replacing as sparkywig suggested mate

 

[sparkywig]

Ah nice! Thats really helpful, thanks. I’ll try replacing the gasket and see how it goes.

I’ve driven it 5 miles this morning and there’s a little puddle in the fuel neck retaining ring. (See pic) is there also a gasket between the body and the retaining ring?
If so, can the retaining ring and gasket both be replaced without accessing the tank/taking the engine out?
I can see it has x3 bolts fixing it to the body but I don’t want to just try undoing them

I don’t have an access hole cut. This is definitely high up on the list though.


View attachment 9354

It's your cap gasket that's leaking.
That's not a retaining ring, it's the top of the fuel filler neck. If you look at the pic I posted you can see the fuel filler attached to the blue pipe.

 

[Theworm71]

Got a new gasket on order. Thanks for the help

 

[Theworm71]

I couldn’t find a gasket anywhere so i bought a sheet of suitable cork gasket and cut one out. Problem solved! No more fuel leak or smell.
Thanks for the help

 

[sparkywig]

There's plenty for sale.

https://www.megabug.co.uk/fuel-cap-...968-to-1971-vw-beetle-1961-to-1967-6081-p.asp

 

[Theworm71]

There's plenty for sale.

https://www.megabug.co.uk/fuel-cap-...968-to-1971-vw-beetle-1961-to-1967-6081-p.asp

Thanks. Didn’t know about megabug