Hi, hoping for some advice.

We own a 1977 Kombi, which overall runs like a rocket.

Problem is after it has been sitting closed up e.g. overnight, there is a very strong fuel smell in the cabin, particularly towards the back - almost as if you're sitting beside a plate of fuel!

We've had the carbies done, and there's no sign of fuel in the engine bay, also have a new seal around the engine bay. We've also had the rubber boot at the top of the fuel filler pipe replaced.

Apparently the only other place the fuel smell could be coming from is with the breather pipe on top of the fuel tank.. and that seems to fit in, as when you walk past the kombi there's often a reasonably strong smell of fuel coming out of the air intakes on both sides of the van.

What do you guys think? is there anything else we need to be looking at? as it is, camping in the kombi is a lot trippier than it should be :jesus

thanks in advance,

Pete

ok i dont know anything about kombis so this post might be worthless but in a beetle the fuel tank is in the front and if the fuel line that goes into the gearbox tunnen to the rear of the car starts leaking usually people will just put a new fuel line somewhere else because its too much of a bitch to fix sometimes this line will go through the passenger compartment usually running beside the tunnel to the rear of the car now if this is the case with your kombi it could be possible there is a leak somewhere inside the cabin which is giving off the fuel smell.........of course im probobly wrong here

Nick

The fuel tank in a Kombi is just in front of the enegine, hidden behind a cover plate.

Are all the fuel hoses from the tank to the fuel pump and fuel pump to carbs new? Get under the car and have a look, then have a look in the back of the engine bay. It is easy to see them and check if they are leaking. Feel them to see if they are wet with petrol, move them around. Some hose splits only open up when they are bent a certain way. It doesn't take much leakage to create a strong petrol smell, so you cann't always see it. Having the carbs done doesn't always mean new hoses are installed.

How good is your fuel cap? These will often leak when you corner hard with a full tank.

The breather shouldn't create a strong smell as all cars have them and they don't all smell. You generally find that only leaks cause the odour.

As purple says, check all fuel lines from the tank to pump to carbs, and also check the brass tubes the hose attaches to is secure.

If the smell is always there, it's more likely there from a leak as purple says.
If it more noticalbe only when the tank is filled, it'smore likely in the breather sytem. There are two hoses from the top of the tank which run up into the air intakes then back down to the air box. The two on the tank can be accessed by removing the cover plate behind the air cleaner (a real pain to remove). There are also hoses above the battery, and on opposite side. There is also one behind the spare wheel well.

Another note, is if you have stock dual solex carbs they do leak a little when turned off, so if the needle and seat leaks a little, it will push the float level up making this worse.

Initially I thought we'd solved the problem as one carbie was dripping wet with fuel. now (after the kits) there's no sign of fuel in the engine bay. new hoses to the carbs etc.

But... not sure how this was missed up on the hoist - just climbed underneath again now and it looks as though the hose from the tank down to fuel pump is old and leaking.... COOL!

Thanks!

Pete

Too easy. It wasn't missed, nobody looked. Happens alot.

thanks Andy and Purple. I replaced the fuel line to the fuel pump this arvo, so hopefully that will be the end of the smell. if not will need to check out the breather stuff.

pete

[Edited on 7-10-2004 by magicpix]

Cool

if smell is still their after what you have done
maybe it might be the tank , i had a bad fuel smell
in the rear & couldnt find a leak untill one day as i was
filling the car the fuel smell got stronger in the back of the van
& bang i realised as petrol was going in tank fumes was coming out of tank vie a perforated gasket. hopfully this is not the problem
as the motor has to come out to replace the gasket but if all else
fails as you fill the tank have someone sit in the back & smell for fuel
p.s. smoking is a health hazard especially doing this test.

i had that problem aswell and it was that little rubber t piece that runs on the top of the engine bay in the middle somewhere

thanks guys for the additional suggestions. I'll give it a few days and see if the fuel smell clears.

My gut feeling is it's a to be continued thing :cussing

The fuel smell continued after replacing the fuel line from the tank to the pump.

I then found the T piece in the breather system above the motor was cracked, so replaced that... fingers crossed.

The smell continued...

Today found out the fuel tank had a rusted out hole in it, in a place where da sun don't shine.

Now THAT would explain it!!! :party

u would wanna bloody hope so!!
cheers rhys

on this subject, ive got a strong fuel smell coming from the FRONT of my beetle.
where are the breather pipes for the fuel tank so i can check them out... and what else should i be looking for?

wot year beetle?

R

68

on a '68 the breather lines are all around the tank area, under the bonnet - I can't remember if the tanks in the '68 had breather lines in the front of the tank too (near the spare tyre) but I know that they are all around the filler neck. Check the flexible connection around the filler too. If this all checks out OK, check under the tank and down the centre of the car for 'wet spots'....

...let us know what you find

R

i havent read the rest of the posts, but i have had the same problem in my bus. does it do it if the tank is only half full???

my problem was a rubber bend that was cracked (near fuel cap). there was fuel leaking down into the engine bay so....maybe its worth checking out these bends (sorry done by a mechanic, so i dont know exact names)

ok... checked out all the breather bits and around the tank/filler. they are all good.
no wet spots anywhere.

but...
is petrol supposed to run off if you overfill your tank? ive noticed that if i keep filling the tank after it clicks at the pump, then fuel runs off from underneath the fuel tank for a few mins then stops. im assuming this is just to stop the tank overfilling...?

...runs off from underneath the tank? Where does it come from (near the filler neck or somewhere else?) I wouldn't have thought that it should do that....

That cracked rubber bend in the Kombis is a common problem unfortunatly.

R

it comes from right up the front as far as i can tell

from this little hole as far as i can tell too (please excuse pics as its very hard to take close up pics from under a lowered car!! heheheh)

[Edited on 25-10-2004 by Starbuggy]

[Edited on 25-10-2004 by Starbuggy]

another pic

hmmm, I'm thinking that the first pic is amost upside down? Am I correct?

Now, unless I'm very much mistaken, you are saying that the fuel is leaking from the 'hole' (it looks like a hole!) closest to the camera in these pics - where the darker area is on the metal? Someone correct me if I am wrong, but this is the bottom of the spare wheel well - If fuel is leaking from here you have a problem!

This is a '68 model, so it has an external fuel filler - right?

I am assuming that you have checked the breather hoses (and main filler hose) for cracks and loose clamps, but have you checked around the rest of the tank? From memory the '68 tanks also had a breather line coming from the front corner of the tank too....if this was cracked/loose it would cause fuel to run into the spare wheel well and out through the drain hole in the bottom....My Grandmother's car is a '68 and I will be seeing her at lunchtime so I will take that opportunity to have a closer look for you.

Of course if the metal area with the dark stain on it is not the bottom of the spare wheel well, just ignore what I have written above!

R

The fuel smell in our kombi looks to be finally resolved, wahoo.

The culprit in the end was a small rusted hole in the fuel tank, up where it couldn't easily be seen, it had been leaking fuel as well as vapours. We had the fuel tank replaced and all is well, touchwood.

As a result of trying to track down the problem the fuel setup is now looking pretty good - filler boot replaced, fuel lines replaced, carbi's reworked, perished joint in breather system replaced, and lastly fuel tank replaced.

Man... it's such a great machine to cruise around in! :thumb

Thanks to the guys at Volkspower and Volkscare for their help along the way.

Cool to hear that its all solved - at least now, with all those new bits, you can be confident that everything fuel related will be OK for quite some time now!

Starbuggy, any luck? - my brother also suggested that you should have a look at the seal around the fuel sender in the top of the tank, then check the tank seams too, but he feels that it will most likely be the breather hoses from the tank.

Interesting info, apparently the later vehicles ('68 on) with the upright spare wheel (not the 'S' or 'L' bugs) had several different vent hose set-ups. Tanks may have one, two or even three different vent hoses coming from them, then there are the models with the carbon canister....

R