Nasty niff, smell of petrol

Murkymerc

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Well hellooo to you all! Joined the ranks yesterday with a 1989 230TE which I believe is a W124. I live in Spain nowadays and the car is an imported German model...so all the bits and bobs have German writing on them....only discovered this evening that the little stalky thing sticking up from the steering column is cruise control, gave meself a shock fiddling with it as I was driving along :eek: Also noticed today that the trip counter doesn't work, lots of prodding and twisting of the little black knob achieved nothing

.......except that later tonight when I went out and found that there were no instrument panel lights...well that's a ****** weird place to have the dimmer! (Thankfull for the search facility on this forum that pointed me in the right direction there! Just legged it outside at half past midnight to twiddle the knob and the lights came back, yaaay!)

Sadly there are no lights on the auto gear selector, I thought there were yesterday???

Anyway, main problem, as per the title of the thread, is that there's a petrol smell, doesn't seem to be all the time, sometimes there straight away and sometimes after a while then may go away again (Only owned car for day and a bit so early observations here). Obviously assume fuel leak but are there any main places to check? Not got a manual yet, prob have to get one sent over fron Ebay I guess. Smell doesn't seem to come from under bonnet, won't swear to that yet mind! Can smell it inside car and out but couldn't say if it's from any particular place.

Any top tips really welcome,, obviously don't want a pile of ashes...specially as I'm not insured for fire!:shock:

Thanks
Rich
 

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Main places to check are the fuel filler cap, fuel filter area and under the air filetr box on the metering head.
 

television

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Hello and welcome,, one thing that can go is the fuel tank where the filler neck joins it, at the bottom,,you can see it from outside and would look blackish atound that area of the tank. If it was an fuel pipe leak, then you can see it.

There could just be a bulb faulty on the gear shift
 

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Another point: the "rubber" pipe from the tank to the main fuel line can become porous with age. You probably wont see the leak as the petrol evaporates quite quickly, but you'd certainly smell it, more so when the car is running.
 

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Another point: the "rubber" pipe from the tank to the main fuel line can become porous with age. You probably wont see the leak as the petrol evaporates quite quickly, but you'd certainly smell it, more so when the car is running.

Too true, forgot that. Must have been too early for me this morn. :(
 
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Murkymerc

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Thanks for replies, I now think that the smell is coming into the front (thru air vents?) often when starting, then seems to disappear and just occasionally recur. Still don't seem to get it when I open the bonnet though Dunno where the fuel filter or metering head?? thingy are!:roll: Got a Haynes ordered:). Air filter - do you need to undo the 4 bolts to get to it or just remove the clips btw? Undid the clips but still seemed fixed down, didn't have time to investigate further.
cheers
Rich
 

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Do not forget the fuel lines that can rust through, and they pass under the car and you have the return to tank lines as well. Its worth putting the car on a lift,,and just look for any black damp patches near the pipes
 
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Murkymerc

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Not sorted this yet and still haven't got my haynes manual - ****** postal strike perhaps! So,
"Main places to check are the fuel filler cap, fuel filter area and under the air filetr box on the metering head. "
I think fuel filler area is ok but where is the filter and the metering head?
Possible clue to my problem is that the car can be a bit of a bugger to start sometimes, can be when hot or cold, sometimes takes several attempts and often starts lumpy for a few seconds then settles and runs ok although the revs can sometimes rise and fall a bit when idling....
..any more thoughts please?
Cheers, Rich
 

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You might not have a fuel leak then, you might be mistaking an over rich exhaust smell for the fuel leak, caused by over fueling or a faulty leaking injector hence misfire on starting?
 
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Murkymerc

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ok thanks, any suggestions as to how to diagnose or fix please?
cheers
Rich
 


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