Hi Everyone,

I have a bit of a crisis at the moment, having struggled to find the time with my 14 month old daughter and work etc to service my car ready for Camberg I thought I had finished when I noticed the smell of fuel. The fuel hose from the reserve tap to the solid fuel line in the tunnel was leaking, so I renewed the hoses at the front and back of the car, great all sorted however the inside of the car now smells of fuel.

Luckily (or not) the previous owner has cut (read hacked) the tunnel opposite the pedals presumingly to get better access to the clutch cable and I can see a small way up the tunnel to the front, the solid fuel line looks ok not wet with fuel and the bottom of the tunnel looks dry but it smells in there, I think where the hose was leaking it was going into the tunnel around the pipe for a day or two.

I have taken the car for a drive tonight with the cap off the front of the tunnel hoping to air it a bit but it still smells and I am worried there may be a leak.

Anyone got any ideas how I can prove it ?, I have turned the reserve tap off and run the engine until it dies thereby ensuring all fuel has been sucked through the pipe, left it for a day and it still smells so i am presuming its the tunnel that smells, maybe the fuel has made the rusty flakes on the bottom off the tunnel smell and its just lingering ?

Sorry for the rant but I am a bit worried about it, I have even considered running a new line inside the car just in case. For those that dont know my car it needs restoring anyway so another hole or two wouldn't hurt 🙂

Any advice appreciated.

Cheers
Kev

oh dear...

As I'm sure you are aware, the smell of petrol takes quite a while to go especially in a trapped area such as the tunnel. If you have a compressor maybe you could blow some air in there to dry it out somewhat.

Is there a simple way to pressurise the line (slightly) from the engine side? on later fuel pumps you can swap the inlet and outlet I think, with the reserve tap off this would then pressurise the line and show any leaks?

Do you have a fire extinguisher?

---

Old wives tale (but it may work) about getting a smell out of a car is to leave an open jar of vinegar in their overnight, with the windows closed. Its meant to overpower other smells but is quickly dispersed itself. Couldn't hurt to try, but it may only be good against stuff like spilt milk.

You can see the petrol smell lingering if it soaked into carpet or perhaps into dirt inside the tunnel.

---

The smell can linger and penetrate unbelievably...The fuel cap on the fuel tank of my 48 had a rather weak seal so when the tank was full, it would smell in the car, even though the front bonnet was closed and the windows were open.
I hope it's only the remnants of your fixed leak which will probably take a long time to go away. You may feel a bit nauseous after hours of driving though... Make sure windows are open...