Petrol Smell - help please

[Tonto]

OK, wondering if anyone can help from experience?

Driving the XJ with the windows down, we get a nice dose of petrol fumes. I'm guessing this means it's sucking the smell in from either the tailgate seal or somewhere else near the rear of the Jeep.
Seal looks OK. Can't see any signs of leaks at the joins in the fuel lines.

1998 Jeep XJ; has a Long Ranger 125L tank. Smell seems to be worst when tank is about mid-full, i.e. don't seem to notice it when tank is full.

starting to get a bit worried about it - would appreciate any thoughts on what it is most likely to be; how to track it down; etc

[AussieRCBasher]

i get it every now and again but mine only does it when its hot and running rich to help cool it down.. i havnt found the problem so dont bother..

hope u find it.

[XJ 98]

had a problem like this with my old Feroza. From memory was a fuel pump problem. Nearly killed me. Got used to the fumes and nearly passed out on the way to Fraser Island......

Some mechanical places have a machine that measures the fumes into the vehicle. Could check that. Or, possible tank rust ?

[Tonto]

Thanks guys. Have crawled around it myself and not found anything. Tightened up tailgate a bit and no improvement. So it's off to a mechanic next week to get all the lines/joints checked and hopefully find the culprit. Can't really take any chances when it's the Jeep with the kiddy seat in the back.

[Blackpearl]

Me wify had just put some fuel in the beasty, a brand new 3 or 4 day old wrangler, and i could smell fuel and from my charger exp i paniked and went over it thoroughly and couldnt find anything then it went away as mysteriously as it came.....
check it out and watch ur fuel consumption (increase or not)

[Tonto]

Hi all

Just raising this again in case anyone has some new ideas.
Still got fuel odour issues - park the Jeep and come back some time later and it stinks of fuel inside; and sometimes (not always) get odour inside when driving with front windows open.
Have checked all lines, joins and even replaced the charcoal canister.
Any other suggestions?

[hillsjeep]

I had a split fuel hose right where it came out of the tank in another car. It only leaked when the engine was running, which made it hard to trace in the first instance. It caused fuel to run down over the tank and filled the car with fumes.

[yumpet]

i have this problem everytime i fill up but as soon as we leave the servo it goes away...... weird huh :p

[Tonto]

i have this problem everytime i fill up but as soon as we leave the servo it goes away...... weird huh :p

Hmmm ... we'll leave that one to the experts :p

My current suspicion is the fuel cap, and a slight crack in the filler surround. The fuel system is meant to be pressurised, isn't it? I shouldn't be smelling fuel coming from the filler with the cap on?

[killa]

Hmmm ... we'll leave that one to the experts :p

My current suspicion is the fuel cap, and a slight crack in the filler surround. The fuel system is meant to be pressurised, isn't it? I shouldn't be smelling fuel coming from the filler with the cap on?
Conventional petrol systems have a breather just near the cap usually, when the breather doesn't work the fuel pump gets starved and 'vapour lock' occurs stopping the engine. In short, no not pressurised.

[woody313]

I had a similar problem, could smell fuel when driving and stopped etc, checked under the car, fuel lines, fuel filter etc, nothing.
Turns out the filter (mounted in front of tank) was leaking only when car running ie: fuel pump pressurising the system.
When switched off the fuel stopped leaking and evaporated off the filter pretty quickly so it was dry the first few times I looked at it.
Only worked it out when I saw it dripping on the ground when the engine was running.
Your comment about not noticing it as much when tank is full leads me to suspect a breather pipe issue, a small pipe that runs from a high point on tank up to the filler neck. It allows air to escape from tank while being filled, it exits in filler neck above the ULP flap.
Maybe the breather pipe has come away or is perished?
When the tank is full there is less fuel vapour coming from the tank.
Hope you find the prob. cheers

[Gildo]

HAve a smoke in the car, then claim it all on insurance?

[hillsjeep]

HAve a smoke in the car, then claim it all on insurance?
Car or life insurance?? ;)