Smell of gasoline - 06 XC70

[scot850]

My son came back to the house and backed into the garage where I was working. He shut the door and went into the house. A short time later I could smell a strong whiff of gasoline. I had a quick look under the car with a flashlight but no obvious leaks or drips under the car.

Being an AWD with the saddle tank, is there a common leak area on the topside like at the pump that can suddenly happen?

Thanks,

Neil.

[Vova585]

Pump and transfer unit are not all the way up on xc70. Remove rear seat cushion. Folds forward and then has 2 red tabs that unlock it completely. Remove seat cushion. You will gain access to 2 round covers secured with 3 screws. Remove those and inspect for any leaks around screw lock ring on each side. It is rare but possible that rubber insulator ring will fail. More common issue would be filler neck rust.
Any code(s) with this? Usually you will have small or large evap leak with fuel leak around tank area. No such code(s) with leaks past the fuel pump and up to injector. Any trouble with starting to suggest drop in fuel pressure?
I would start with visual inspection of under rear seat. Then put good min 10 amp battery maintainer and command the pump to run(likely duty cycle not simple relay since 06 so hopefully there is a vida option to put it to 50% or so) and look for any leaks while pump is pressuring the system. If not leaks- bring more fuel and top the tank till full and once again visual and then pressure test. I would opt not to start the car to minimize chance of fire(rare but possible). If nothing, maybe some issue with charcoal canister? But smoke test is not great with full tank...good luck.

[scot850]

You have covered a bit more than I had planned. As of a couple of days ago there was no error messages of any sort.

I'll get it up on the hoist and get the borescope camera out and take a poke around. We have to maneuver the car to get it on the hoist so any residual pressure should push fluid out of any leak hopefully.

Appreciate the help.

Neil.

[jonesg]

My son came back to the house and backed into the garage where I was working. He shut the door and went into the house. A short time later I could smell a strong whiff of gasoline. I had a quick look under the car with a flashlight but no obvious leaks or drips under the car.

Being an AWD with the saddle tank, is there a common leak area on the topside like at the pump that can suddenly happen?

Thanks,

Neil.

To prevent an SRS fault, disconnect the battery,
Its probable the top plate of the pump cracked.
I fixed mine with JB weld 8 years ago.

[abscate]

Check with son if he had recently filled tank and just spilled some or had the slight overflow. The drain boot drains it under the car bit it will stink a bit

[scot850]

It was smelling BEFORE he filled the tank. Worse afterwards. Just about to lift the car on the hoist to have a look around. No engine codes given currently. I've heard of the fuel pump cracking so that is a definite are to check for sure!

Many thanks guys.

Neil.

[scot850]

Update. Checked all over the car while up on the hoist, even pulled the whole rear seat out and checked for cracks on the fuel pump and level sensor. Dirty but both bone dry. The smell dissipated or my sense of smell has has completely gone away. During that time though the other 2 cars were out of the garage so it now has me thinking that one of the others may be the issue, however, it is strange I only noted the gasoline smell after he returned yesterday and after the 2 other cars had been parked for a while with no noticeable smell.

My wife has returned with the R and it is back in the garage so I will take a break for a while to hopefully reboot my sense of smell. I'll also get my son to move his car and let it sit for a while before bringing the 4Runner back in. It is possible it is the issue as when we have cars parked one behind the other there is a slight ramp into the old garage so you have to park partway up there to get 2 cars in. The 4Runner had it's tank out a few weeks ago to have some underside welding done. It has not been parked on the slope since then but did have a full tank of gas on it's return.

I'll update if I find anything more.

Neil.

[abscate]

It will be a cruel twist of fate if the R requires a tank drop…

[crasbe]

There is also a short piece of rubber hose that connects the tank ventilation hard plastic line coming from the engine compartment to the hard plastic line going to the charcoal canister. On my 2002 S60 that rubber hose completely deteriorated and broke, leading to a gasoline smell (occasionally) and strange noises while idling. You could not hear the noise from the inside though.

The VIDA screenshot is misleading, it's right at the end of the front subframe on the passenger side and the line next to it is a fuel line.
If I remember correctly it's 7.5mm diameter.

Not sure if the later cars and/or US-spec cars also have that piece of rubber hose, but it's worth a shot. Possibly there are other short rubber hose pieces that might be broken.

[scot850]

Worth a check for sure. Not been down into the garage yet to check if there is still a smell of gasoline or not.

Neil.