Fuel smell - Griff 500

[miller1899]

Evening

I hit a speed hump in France a while back. I was going pretty slowly but it was a huge hump and there was bit of a scrape, though nothing too bad. From then on there has been an occasional fuel smell on start up. I have since had the car serviced and have been told that there is no damage underneath but the carbon canister may have been flooded. It may be nothing to do with the speed hump, though it seems like bit of a coincidence that the fuel smell was noticeable straight afterwards.

Any ideas?

Thanks very much

[cavebloke]

If you can smell fuel you probably shouldn't drive it unless you want it to look like this one.



I would start by checking all the fuel hoses - they get old, crack and start to leak (onto the exhaust if you're unlucky).

[DarkMatter]

It's not too difficult to get the carbon canister out so I'd suggest that you take it out and check that there is no liquid in it and that all the hoses are in place.

I tried running without my carbon canister once to allow the fuel tank to vent to the atmosphere and that always resulted in a smell of fuel on starting, so I put the carbon canister back which stopped the smell of fuel.

[miller1899]

it's just been serviced and there are no fuel leaks. How easy is to take out the canister? When you say liquid, does that mean fuel? If there is fuel in it does that mean that I have to get a new one? I am hoping to go on a European jolly in a month or so so want to know that it will all be fine and reliable.

Thanks very much

[ESDavey]

I would check the whole fuel line again. Racing Green found a split hose on mine between the fuel pump & tank. Only about 4" long. 14year old rubber bound to fail at some point !

[DarkMatter]

miller1899 said:

it's just been serviced and there are no fuel leaks. How easy is to take out the canister? When you say liquid, does that mean fuel? If there is fuel in it does that mean that I have to get a new one? I am hoping to go on a European jolly in a month or so so want to know that it will all be fine and reliable.

Thanks very much

The canister is in the inner wing behind the windscreen washer bottle, it is attached to a metal plate which is held in by 4 screws. I'd say it's fiddly to remove but not difficult - if you have an aptitude for practical tasks. Be sure to note where the hoses are attached - there's one from the fuel tank breather, one to the crank case, and one to fresh air, as well as an electrical connector.

As regards liquids I meant petrol but I have heard of a Tuscan owner who had water in theirs. As far as I know they shouldn't get any liquid in them. The only way I can see petrol getting in is if it somehow got forced out of the tank into the vent pipe, through the roll-over valve (located near the tank filler neck) and then through the hose into the carbon canister.

I suppose it may be possible that going over the speed hump sloshed some fuel into the fuel tank vent and on into the carbon canister.

[DarkMatter]

ESDavey said:

I would check the whole fuel line again. Racing Green found a split hose on mine between the fuel pump & tank. Only about 4" long. 14year old rubber bound to fail at some point !

Good tip, and a timely reminder that mine needs replacing too!

[shoggyraminator]

Old rubber pipes may look OK in situ, but when you move/bend them then suddenly you can see all the cracks appearing in the pipe walls.

[miller1899]

thanks all, very much. Will take it out for a spin again this weekend and try to investigate a bit further. Perhaps the speed hump was nothing to do with it

[TVR Beaver]

FYI this looked all well and good whilst fitted... it's the bit that goes from the bottom of the tank to the pump... But one day I could smell petrol and it wasn't long before i found it... not dripping but wet