fuel smell... after fill up.

smojo · Post by **smojo** » 31 Jan 2011, 07:14

Well I bought this car a month ago, never have filled the tank up with gas until a couple of days ago. Big mistake. Now the whole car smells like fuel. So after some research I read about a recall. I have a call out to the dealer to see if they can fix this under the recall. Has anyone else experienced this in Texas?

Post by **jimmy57** » 31 Jan 2011, 07:56

What recall?
There are hoses and hose connections up on top of the tank where the fuel residue trail starts in the photo.
There is also a seal in that vicinity where the fuel pump and fuel level sensor assembly insert into tank.
The car has reached an age where hoses may have deteriorated and can leak. Be prepared for that diagnosis when the dealer looks at the car and for there to be a charge for the inspection.
If there is a recall affecting that car's VIN then an inspection defined in the recall will not be charged but any additional inspection will be subject to charge.

Post by **jblackburn** » 31 Jan 2011, 08:12

There was a recall for the heat shield on 850 fuel tanks, where it would begin leaking around the connections to the lines.

https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... php?t=3521

Call a dealer with your VIN number and see if the recall has been performed on that car. If not, they are obligated to do that if you bring it in (and will find a list of 2348972 other things wrong that they will want to charge you money for). Take that part with a grain of salt in knowing things you may expect further on down the line.

smojo · Post by **smojo** » 31 Jan 2011, 16:29

just dropped the car off at Autobahn Volvo Fort Worth... we will await to find out. ( dear baby jesus, let it be the safety recall and be covered, I promise I'll "behave")

smojo · Post by **smojo** » 02 Feb 2011, 21:30

So Autobahn Volvo of Fort Worth called me with an update. The service person told me that there are NO outstanding recalls on the car, but obviously there is a gas leaking issue. Advisor told me that they have to drop the gas tank to further investigate the issue. Then quoted me a price. So I said it has to be fixed because I can't drive a car with fuel leaking all over the place. Time will only tell what they find.

Post by **Red-Arrow** » 03 Feb 2011, 06:16

You should pressure test the tank with air, 10psi should be enough and soapy water the lot. You can pressurize the tank from the EVAP hose or get a new fuel cap ($7) and add a tyre valve to it. When or if you get Bubbles listen or locate the hole and take it from there.

lexmia · Post by **lexmia** » 30 Mar 2011, 23:54

Tonight I dealt with the exact same problem smojo has. The fuel tank in my 98 V70 looked just like in the picture, after filling it up.

In my case the problem was with the fuel pump plastic cover. On the fuel pump cover you have the fuel supply and return lines, plus the pump motor connection and one more boss that according to the Volvo manual, is used for the heater connection.

That boss has a section that ends in a sharp corner, where the plastic cover stress cracked. This is a design flaw and I am sure my car is not the only one with this problem.

Using a Dremel with a very small burr, and sand paper, I roughed the cracked plastic, both on the inside and outside, and used Cargo's "QuikSteel Plastic Tank Repair Kit" putty that "is impervious to gasoline...." to seal the crack.

The putty kit was around $9 at Autozone.

The V70 has easy access to the top of the fuel pump thus no need to drop the fuel tank.

Of course, if working on the fuel pump, do it when the tank is almost empty, remember to remove the fuel pump fuse with the engine running as to drop the pressure on the supply line, clean around the pump insert before removing the pump and keep paper towels or rags handy to collect any fuel spilled and eliminate any possible ignition sources.

The fuel pump wires on top of the pump cover, were encapsulated with something that fell apart due to the repeated flooding with fuel. I encapsulated them with candle wax to prevent water and dirt from accumulating by the wires. Candle wax can also be used to temporarily seal a leaky fuel tank.

I hope this information helps.

AS

Post by **precopster** » 31 Mar 2011, 04:22

smojo I can see your car's leaking, but did you have to tip it on its side to stop the leak?? LOL

My wife's car has the same leak, now I'm wondering if it's the seal ($11.00 part) or what lexmia described.

If she only 1/3 fills it she's OK. (OK because she doesn't use it for long distances) Anyone else out there have this leak?

Post by **renns** » 31 Mar 2011, 05:08

My 850's had similar issues for years now. I stop filling as soon as the pump kicks off for the first time - no rounding up to the nearest dollar on the pump. I haven't pursued a proper fix, as the filling technique method is the easy way out in my case.

Post by **Red-Arrow** » 31 Mar 2011, 10:27

I have this leak

How odd that we all spring a leak at the same time!

I went to the dealer and asked about the recall on the tank and he just looked at me like I asked him for his wife's nickers

"No there has never been a recall on this model for anything"

I just wanted to say F-off you tool but I smiled and said ok.

My gas tank is full but I lost 2 gallons in 21 miles, its starting to heat up in LA so I'm planning on dropping the tank today in an effort to locate the leak. I will replace the hose if its busted and I will use JB Weld if its something else like a pin hole.

I'll take pictures and post a thead but it won't be any better than the one listed on MVS already.