SR3 petrol fumes

[davosr3]

I have just taken delivery of a tracksport and have a quite noticeable smell of petrol fumes from the car when garaged after a thrash. I presume it is a fuel tank breather problem, and wondered if anyone else has had the same problem and solved it.

[AndrewD]

Not noticed anything similar in my Supersport, can't believe the fuelling system will be any different...

Is it running carbs or injection, mine is injection, wonder if that makes a difference?

Probably best to get it checked

[davidoff]

Its fuel injection as well. It is very slow to refuel at the petrol station. I have to carefully add adjust the pump nozzle flow rate or fuel gushes back up the filler tube because of air blockage.

I have notified Radical for a response, but difficult for them to check the car as I am in Dubai!!

I will have to have a close look at the fuel system to see if there are any leaks.

[rbolesworth]

anyone else had this problem and if so how did you fix it?

[XLR Motorsport]

When I had the SR3, the smell of petrol was the first thing I noticed. There may be a breather pipe causing it, it was confirmed that there was definately no leak.

With regard to fuelling, it helps if you flick the fuel switch on the dashboard. I only discovered that not so long ago and although you still can't open the pump up in full, you can fill much more quickly. Try stuffing some paper towels around the nozzle when filling up too.

[tracksport]

My SR3 smells of fuel
Have checked it for leeks and it is ok and it’s running on carbs
Have fitted extractor fan in the garage that has made it a lot better
Seems to be worse when it’s been running when the fuel system is under some pressure
The longer it stand the less it smells

[rbolesworth]

I did actually speak to the guys (james) at radical and he said it definatly should not smell of fuel as strong as it does and he gave me a few things to investigate so I'm gonna look into it a bit more this week to see if I can get to the bottom of it a bit more.
It would be interesting to know if any of the racing sr3's have this problem and if they have any remedies to this problem.

[sr4]

The reason for slow fuel filling at the petrol station is due to a roll over safety valve fitted to the vent pipe on the fuel tank.
If you can smell petrol in your Radical then check under the passenger seat, if it is wet then it may be one of the fittings on the fuel tank. This happened to my old car and it was the fuel level sensor, the smell was at its worst just after start up when the pressure was higher from priming.

Edited by sr4 on Monday 30th July 11:55

[dario]

i found the reason why my sr3 smelt strongly of fuel when i removed the seat unit and inspected the tank/pump area and there was a loose fitting on top of the tank from the return fuel pipework from new i would argue.

very difficult to get the seat unit out without removing the upper bodywork. but stand on your head to undo the gear linkage at the lower pivot and hey presto!