petrol type smell passenger compartment in Fox

[blow]

Common sources of petrol smells on VW's (and other modern petrol engines):

-Faulty evap system: There is a canister in the engine bay that absorbs vapours from the petrol tank. If there is a split hose, crack in the cannister or a fault with the purge solenoid valve you can end up with petrol fumes from the canister / leak being drawn into the cabin via the air blowers.

-Intank pump leak: As previously mentioned the intank pump is usually under the back seat and a cracked housing, failing seal or loose lines from the intank pump can be leaking petrol / fumes into the cabin.

-Broken seal on fuel cap: This can cause a smell of petrol around the fuel cap area that can be drawn into the cabin as you open and close the rear doors. Check there are no breaks in the rubber ring seal on the fuel cap (I had this exact issue)

-Fuel leak: Obviously any fuel leak in any lines in the engine bay or from the intank fuel pump to the engine bay will cause a petrol smell that can again be drawn in via the cabin air blowers.

-Exhaust leak: When cold starting then can be a strong smell of petrol as the catalyst hasn't warmed up - if there is any leaks in the exhaust system it can be dragged into the cabin via the air blowers.

[Mervington]

Thanks for further comments.

There is no smell when the engine is running whether stationary or on the road. There is never a smell in the engine compartment. When the car doors have been closed for a couple of hours, whether the car has been previously running or not, the smell will have returned. On Sunday we kept the doors open for 5 hours. It was not run at all. I went out to it this morning, opened the door - there was the smell! Distinctly of a petrol nature. I'm hoping to get it to the VW dealer on Wednesday.

[Mervington]

I took the Fox to the VW dealer yesterday. When I opened the doors to set-off the smell was there. It was only after I had driven about 8 miles, that I started to get a slight waft of it again.

The service manager himself attended to it. He put it on the ramp and checked everything he possibly could. He didn't lift the rear seat - bearing in mind this was free, I could hardly complain. But he said he would have been able to smell it from underneath if there were a problem there. He could find nothing at all wrong. The difficulty is that once the doors have been opened, to get out of the car, the smell goes and it takes an hour or more for it to build up again. I remain convinced it is of a petrol nature, but couldn't provide the opportunity for him to smell it once the doors were opened. Perhaps it is not a 'pure' petrol smell, maybe more like the residue after spraying WD40, except I haven't, and, even if I had, after three weeks it would have gone. The trouble is that once you open the doors, the smell dissipates so quickly that you don't really have chance to consider it.

I am now at a loss.

[SpikyBob]

Well at least as far as can be seen the car is safe from a fuel leak point of view. Shame you couldn't have left the car for an hour or so before they had a look.

[Mervington]

My wife had a hospital appointment and we couldn't wait any longer.

[Wardie44]

Just wondered if you had ever got to the bottom of this problem, we have this smell problem when parked overnight with our vw sharan. The garage can't find a fault.......

[SpikyBob]

As the winter season has started - leaky de-icer pump or spray? Just a thought as the o.p. called it a petrol “type” smell......
I had a heady ethanol (?) type vapour in my car after de-icing the windscreen and chucking the leaky pump type container in the door pocket!

[Mervington]

Just wondered if you had ever got to the bottom of this problem, we have this smell problem when parked overnight with our vw sharan. The garage can't find a fault.......

I did, eventually, but it may not help you.

Sometime after the start of this 'effect', I found that a can of WD-40 had become 'hidden' round the back of the spare wheel. It was on its side and had been leaking. The post by SpikyBob provides a similar sort of illustration of what is worth looking for.

I hope that you have success.

[SpikyBob]

WD40 the culprit, who’d have thought it? At least it wasn’t diesel (*tramped*) on your carpet mats!

[Mervington]

WD40 the culprit, who’d have thought it? At least it wasn’t diesel (*tramped*) on your carpet mats!

As you observed earlier, I referred to a petrol 'type' smell. Having been 'playing' with motor bikes and cars since the 1960s, you get a bit tuned to different smells. This one took me in the direction of petrol, but I wasn't wholly convinced!

Sadly, we have now parted company with the VW. My wife is disabled, and, being a three door car, things were rather heavy. She now has a 4x4 Fiat Panda. It is like a Noddy car. I never thought we would buy a car with two cylinders amounting to less than one litre!