240 estate strong petrol smell

[2011dandd]

Hi
I have got a very strong smell of petrol in the car when I'm driving. I am not sure if this is a recent development or if its only just come to my attention when the wife gave me an ear bashing when we bought our second son home from the hospital three weeks ago.

I have not had any time to investigate this but would really appreciate any advice on where to go first when I do.

Thanks

[DW42]

First get a good torch and look for any wet areas from the intake all the way back to the fuel tank. It would help to know what year and fuel system your 240 is. My first guess would be a leak near the fuel pump, which is likely to be located on the firewall (unless it's a later model). Has the smell been accompanied by poor/uneven running? -- if so, suspect injector seals.

[2011dandd]

Hi
Thanks for the reply, it's a 1989 DL estate. Very occasionally ther has been a misfire but this has happened possibly 3 times in the past month. I know the carb is running rich which might explain the smell. When I bought it I was advised not to mess with the carb set up, so I haven't, but I'm only getting about 20mpg and that's on the m1 at 60mph

[ALLOA]

Hi, The fuel sender on top of the fuel tank is notorious for corroding. It's out of sight as well so maybe not obvious. There is an inspection hatch in the boot for checking this.

Cheers

Scott

[rtbcomp]

Good info - I've noticed a smell of petrol on mine too, I'll check this before I put it back on the road.

[2011dandd]

Grand I'll have a look

[tannachyallen]

Originally Posted by ALLOA

Hi, The fuel sender on top of the fuel tank is notorious for corroding. It's out of sight as well so maybe not obvious. There is an inspection hatch in the boot for checking this.

Cheers

Scott

I'd agree, both of the 240 estates Iv'e owned have suffered from this; petrol smell especially noticeable inside the car after you fill up with fuel.......

[rtbcomp]

How did you fix it?

[tannachyallen]

Originally Posted by rtbcomp

How did you fix it?

First one was new sender unit replaced with the tank in situ. Second one (present car) was much worse as the tank itself was weeping from the central seam as well as the sender unit. Upshot was I replaced everything, tank, pump, sender and fuel lines! The sender unit may be ok, could be just the seal, but in my case the unit was flaky and giving bad readings on the dash.

Dave A.