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Smelling petroleum in the car
- Thread starter Berglund
- Start date
Although rare... it can be a cracked fuel tank. But first check the fuel level sender O-rings and the fuel cap gasket, and of course the hoses below the car.
If you cannot find ANY leaks, and continue to smell gasoline inside the car, it's pretty likely to be the tank itself. I had to replace it on one of my cars, and another of my cars had the tank replaced by the previous owner for the same issue.
If you cannot find ANY leaks, and continue to smell gasoline inside the car, it's pretty likely to be the tank itself. I had to replace it on one of my cars, and another of my cars had the tank replaced by the previous owner for the same issue.
It's really rare. I have never heard of any TSB about the issue. I"m curious if Klink has any commentary to add, I assume he's seen this at least once or twice in his career.
From what I can tell, it's caused by a problem with the venting system, and the tank starts to partially collapse from vacuum (normally, the tank is pressurized). Sometimes, as in my case, the collapse was so slight it was almost invisible even with the tank removed from the car and placed next to a good tank. The clue I had was the tank would only hold about 21 gallons instead of 23+, and after eliminating all other possible sources for the strong gasoline smell inside, I pulled the tank. The cracks were so small they were not visible, but the tank was damp in some areas that should have been dry. Never had a problem after swapping the tank out - with the replacement tank in, the odor was completely eliminated, and the tank went back to taking a full 90L / 23.x gallons.
I did see this happen once on an 80L tank in a W210, btw... but the tank didn't crack or leak, it just collapsed drastically. Venting issue was the root cause there as well.
Hi everyoneIt's really rare. I have never heard of any TSB about the issue. I"m curious if Klink has any commentary to add, I assume he's seen this at least once or twice in his career.
From what I can tell, it's caused by a problem with the venting system, and the tank starts to partially collapse from vacuum (normally, the tank is pressurized). Sometimes, as in my case, the collapse was so slight it was almost invisible even with the tank removed from the car and placed next to a good tank. The clue I had was the tank would only hold about 21 gallons instead of 23+, and after eliminating all other possible sources for the strong gasoline smell inside, I pulled the tank. The cracks were so small they were not visible, but the tank was damp in some areas that should have been dry. Never had a problem after swapping the tank out - with the replacement tank in, the odor was completely eliminated, and the tank went back to taking a full 90L / 23.x gallons.
I did see this happen once on an 80L tank in a W210, btw... but the tank didn't crack or leak, it just collapsed drastically. Venting issue was the root cause there as well.
We found what’s wrong
It was just the gasket on the cap to the fuel tank.
The rubber was cracked and the fuel leak out on the rear panel..
Best Regards
Niklas
