Fuel leak in filler neck (V70XC 2001)

[2001downunderxc70]

First time poster, long time lurker - this site and forum have been a fantastic resource! Based in Australia where there's not too many older Volvo's left, and few mechanics that know what they are talking about...

I have a 2001 V70XC that started to leak fuel when filling it up at the gas station. About 2 litres on the floor for every 10 litres in the tank. Otherwise, no gas smells when driving, no leaks after filling. I pulled the seats out and checked the fuel pump, which is fine with no leak. Then I checked under the car while adding petrol slowly, and the leak is above the fuel tank, somewhere between the filler neck and the main tank. It should be an easy fix, but I have no idea how to get to it. My questions:


1) Can I remove the filler neck from the main tank without dropping the gas tank? I've read online in a few places this is possible, but I can't see how to get to it. If I remove the wheel arch plastic, can I get to it this way?

Edit: presume the leak is somewhere between [18] filler pipe and [19] filler hose.


2) Meanwhile, is it possible to run a length of hose into the gas tank itself to temporarily bypass the leak? The Volvo is my daily driver, and i've been running on fumes ever since...


Many thanks for any advice. I've called the mechanic, but he doesn't know Volvos and mentioned they might have to drop the tank to repair it. Elsewhere online I've read you have to drop the subframe in order to lower the tank... If that's the case, no problems, but that's a hell of a lot of labour for what's presumably a $10 part (labour runs at $110 per hour here!)



Cheers,



Thomas

[jonesg]

Don't know but I'd pull the wheel liner to at least have a look. You might need to drill out and replace rivets like the front liner.

[2001downunderxc70]

Replying to my own post here - ended up taking it to a Volvo mechanic cross-town who was able to remove the filler hose and nec and replace the rubber connector ([#19] on the above diagram). Just in case anyone else runs into this issue - it can be remove and replaced without dropping the fuel tank and the sub-frame, but apparently it's a pain in the @ss and you need very small hands - 1hr of labour plus parts from the local mechanic. Hope that saves someone some time.