Petrol smell inside van

[Bigbear]

Hi all, took the van for a run out yesterday and noticed quite a strong smell of petrol in the cab ,when I climbed into the back it was even stronger (which was worrying as the baby was back there in her seat!) it did eventually fade away, then when we were on our way home the same thing happened , strong smell for a while then it faded away. I've checked the bus over and there were no leaks anywhere. Any ideas what this could be or where I should start my investigating?

I'm a bit worried about taking the baby out in the bus now. :|

 

[r73]

i can get the same from time to time.
i get a small weep from the 36 dells at the gaskets but noting major - mainly tho i think it comes from the petrol cap
on mine 69/70 the tank vents back to the filler neck. ive checked all the rubber conections and there all good, think a new seal on the filler cap may help??

 

[Anonymous]

the fuel tank vent pipe prime suspect unfortunately you have to take the engine out to replace 3 qwid rubber pipe

 

[Bigbear]

I hope it is the fuel cap, also sometimes when the weather is hot il walk in the garage and it will smell a bit like petrol so il check the fuel cap tommorrow.

I do hope it's not an engine out jobby, although I'm planning on doing that over the winter anyway.

 

[r73]

All I can tell you is When i took my engine out and the checked the pipes they were fine!

 

[Bigbear]

All I can tell you is When i took my engine out and the checked the pipes they were fine!

Cheers mate, il start with the filler cap then , nice and easy

 

[Anonymous]

I hope it is the fuel cap, also sometimes when the weather is hot il walk in the garage and it will smell a bit like petrol so il check the fuel cap tommorrow.

I do hope it's not an engine out jobby, although I'm planning on doing that over the winter anyway.

you said it smells inside the van so I don't think it will be the fuel cap hope it is but I would not wait till winter to fix it its petrol not dirty water :shock:

 

[r73]

I hope it is the fuel cap, also sometimes when the weather is hot il walk in the garage and it will smell a bit like petrol so il check the fuel cap tommorrow.

I do hope it's not an engine out jobby, although I'm planning on doing that over the winter anyway.

you said it smells inside the van so I don't think it will be the fuel cap hope it is but I would not wait till winter to fix it its petrol not dirty water :shock:

yeah good point - sounds more like the smell must be coming thru from engine compartment (if theres any holes in metal work - mine has a couple of old holes where someones run cableing of some sort)
to be fair it only takes about an hour to get engine out

 

[Bigbear]

Well I had the interior out a few months back to paint the cargo floor, there were no holes or anything that would let fumes etc in. I've had a white sheet under the van to monitor any leaks whilst in the garage and there's none at all (apart from a small oil leak)

By the way, the tank was almost full when the smell was strongest. Between 3/4 and full.

 

[Anonymous]

defo sounds like or smells like breather they normaly start smelling when 3/4 full

 

[Rippers]

I bought a OG fuel cap to replace the aftermarket one that came on the van. We got a strong smell of fuel on the inside, after scratching my head for a few hours I put the aftermarket cap back on and the smell stopped. The OG one I fitted had a very dry cracked seal on it but the aftermarket one was still soft so I guess it can make a difference

 

[Bigbear]

defo sounds like or smells like breather they normaly start smelling when 3/4 full

I take it they just perish with age and need renewing?

 

[Bigbear]

I bought a OG fuel cap to replace the aftermarket one that came on the van. We got a strong smell of fuel on the inside, after scratching my head for a few hours I put the aftermarket cap back on and the smell stopped. The OG one I fitted had a very dry cracked seal on it but the aftermarket one was still soft so I guess it can make a difference

I'm gonna check the fuel cap in the morning, hopefully it is that. If not, it's engine out time.

 

[ozziedog]

May even be worth a look at the fuel filler pipe. Is it the original ???? I guess you checked all the fuel pipes from the tank right up to the carbs,, especially them old cloth covered jobbies ??

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Good idea to find it now,,,,,,,,, not later :shock: :?

 

[Bigbear]

Right , I've checked the filler cap and it seems fine, however when I poked my head into the engine bay for a look I noticed a hose just hanging down from the charcoal filter canister thingy majig, does this filter fuel vapours? Could this be the culprit? Are they available to buy?

 

[Anonymous]

could be that its spose to filter the fumes back to the carb for emissions back in the day :lol:

 

[Bigbear]

could be that its spose to filter the fumes back to the carb for emissions back in the day :lol:

Are they still used these days or just thrown away?

 

[Anonymous]

you can do away with it and just run it like a non emission type why not just get the rubber pipe and connect it back up wont do any harm

 

[Bigbear]

Yeah that's what I will do, I was just wondering if its something that would be needed for mots etc, and wether they are available to buy in order to replace mine as it looks about 20 yrs old!!

 

[Gwar72]

This happened to me and once i got the engine out i found this...!!! A perished middle/rear breather pipe..!! :shock:

I would get petrol fumes when the tank was over half full and if it was lower it still happened occasionally cos as you pulled away as it would slosh back in the tank and back up the rear/middle main breather pipe..!!! It wasn't alot coming out as you can see below it only stained down the back of the tank but you could ain't half smell it..!! :roll: