Tested it for venting through floor also. …the clear hose Separated at first bend by top of fuel pump. .put rubber line back on…will now see if silicone that I put around o ring is doing any good. …I have been trying to do everything one piece at a time in order to isolate the culprit. …Will look at lines underneath
when I can get it up…I ran into a guy yesterday talking about cars and he just moved here from California awhile back and he said he has sniffer. …hope he digs it out for me. …more later. .
Thanks, yep, that’s probably what was described to me. One rotten 27-year-old hose or a rusted separator joint and you are likely smelling fuel on hot days.
Like I said, my mechanic is loathe to muck around with that because of the difficulty… it may be that you have to remove the tank, and possibly upholstery panels inside the passenger compartment to access it. Removing the fuel tank is a major undertaking. There are a lot of electrical relays, mounted just to the upper right of the tank, too, that likely block access from the trunk. Hard to tell how that #22 wedge is accessed & mounted to hold it in place. It looks closer to the tank than I would have expected.
SMELL POSSIBLY FOUND !!!..OK here is what happened today. I borrowed an air conditioning sniffer and checked it to see if it would detect gas fumes and it would…I checked all over in the trunk and the only place it buzzed off was around the filler neck. Now I had been suspicious of that because the smell seemed to be worse in that corner… previously I eliminated the 2" hose put in new O ring and then silicone sealed around the area but it still had some smell…TODAY when I put sniffer all around the area, the backside (where its hard to reach) it buzzed real loud. next I will seal with more silicone sealer or (RIGHT STUFF) and see what happens and I will also report what goes on…I will probably just have to leave the 2" hose out of the picture. Although I could slit the hose and put it back over everything and seal the slit. After all the hose is just really there to hold the filler neck still as does the little angle piece with the slot in it. I am hoping this is going to be final. If so then on to adding a by pass system near the canister with electric valve. HAVE MY FINGERS CROSSED ON THIS.
Still smells when trunk closed overnite
I had this problem on a 1985 XJS V12. I fixed it by changing the fuel tank. It turns out the back window seal had cracked from sun exposure. This let rain water leak into the outer area around the fuel tank. The venting holes at the bottom were not enough to evaporate the water and it soaked some support pads. I believe these were made out of some foam type cushion. The proximity of the water to the tank started creating rust, pin-holes in the fuel tank itself.
I found a junk yard tank of a 1990 version and needed to buy an adapter kit to convert the feeder tank. I actually still have the old version which appears fine, if someone needs one. My specialist guy in North Hollywood changed it out for me. I think he mentioned you could have the inner tank resealed, but a good used one from a yard took only 10 phone calls. I got it for $125. The kit adapter was another $80 and labor to put it in cost me $250 or so. Not bad. I would have tried fixing myself if I had a better work space at the time.
I have been fuel smell free for 10 years now.
Check your rear window seal for cracks. This issue does seem like a Sherlock story.
Hope that helps.
Have you considered the use of a smoke machine? Very low pressure 1/2 to 1 psi and no heat. This is what is used to locate vacuum leaks and fuel vapor leaks in modern cars. Pete
Yes …smoke machines. …no luck
I replaced tank and everything else, still had a faint smell too.
I found the filler tube not sealing well and a line going to fuel filter not super tight. Tightened up the clamps which improved it, but not 100%.
One day, I’m going to redo the filler neck rubber connection which I suspect is my issue, I didn’t really like how it simply slips on with a couple of large clamps.
well MINE TOO! always smells fuel ,been 25yrs, replaced EVERYTHING IN THE TRUNK!!
new fuel tank, new pump, ALL new Aeroquip STAINLESS STEEL hoses and fittings!
YUPPPEE , still smell fuel overnight, i leave the lid slight open, driving it airs out, i DONNO??
logic says you should never have the fuel tank inside the vehicle, always somewhere out side the body!
Vent lines? Vapor separator?
I’d still look at filler neck hose. If this stupid part is not perfect, vapors would be released into trunk. My fuel sniffer detected fumes in this vicinity.
When I installed my new tank last year, I remember as i tightened the big clamp on rubber neck to tank, the hose slid up. Took me a few tries. So possiblity I still don’t have it connected perfect. Could be your issue too if you’ve messed with the filler neck (and did you put new oring in tank filler neck?)
One other thing to look at is the carbon canister up front. Originally it had a hose from the vent opening out the bottom of the car, but that hose was removed during a recall. Now it vents into the bodywork. Odors are not supposed to make it through the carbon, of course, but if they do and get into the bodywork there’s no tellin’ where all they may permeate. I suggest adding a short hose to that vent and out the bottom of the car.
Oh, and check the operation of the Rochester valve, of course. Or just go ahead and apply my suggested fix of a solenoid valve and a pair of inline fuel filters.
Was browsing the internet and came across this “techno-blog”.
Interesting about the fuel smell in the cars prior to the charcoal canister
Just to toss out something else to think about…
Long story short…
I have a Series III which has lots of fuel hoses (vent and supply/delivery) in the trunk. I replaced all of them with hoses from the local auto parts store. Gates or Dayco brand; can’t remember. Used fuel injection grade hoses on any pressurized sections. Standard grade fuel hose everywhere else.
I then developed fuel odors.
Replacing the hoses with marine grade hose made about a 95% improvement. The spec is J1527 type A1. This is listed as ‘low permeability’ hose; it has very thick walls
Cheers
DD
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85 XJ-S HE. 9600 origami miles with gas smells,help
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Jim,
Welcome to the XJ-S list
Where do you smell the gas fumes? In the engine bay, cabin, trunk?
If you haven’t already done so download Kirby Palm “Experience in a Book” from Jag-Lovers, its free. Lots of info on it about finding and eliminating fuel fumes.
Is this car new to you and you are trying to sort it out? Or have you had this car a while and it just started making fuel fumes?
Search the Jag-Lovers archives for “fuel fumes” and you will find a lot of helpful information from many others who have had this problem and what they did to fix it.
If your car still has its original fuel hoses from the factory (not uncommon) they are 35 years old and no longer safe. If you haven’t changed the fuel hoses yourself or have no record of them being changed very recently then change them all now. Start with the engine bay, then the ones in the trunk.
Paul
Father in-law purchased new, I have owned since 2017. Stronger smell in truck, slight in cabin. New tank, sender, injectors cleaned in 2018, just had mechanics verify no leaks.
If you have odors, you have leaks. That means you need new mechanics.
There are a handful of common odor sources in the trunk. First and foremost is the possibility that someone got in there and replaced some hoses with regular fuel hose. The stuff bleeds odors right through the casing. Everything in the trunk needs to be CARB-certified hose or similar, something that won’t allow any odors through.
On my '83, the odor problem eventually turned out to be the threaded swage fitting at bottom center that feeds the 1/2" line to the surge tank. Just tightening the nut won’t fix it. Drained the tank, removed the swage fitting entirely. Cut the elbow-shaped hose in half, leaving me with a straight tube with a hose barb on one end. Reassembled with a new crush ring (available everywhere) and the old B nut (might be a special British thread, wasn’t gonna chance it). Installed a new longer piece of 1/2" hose to make the 90 degree turn formerly made by the elbow tube. Frankly, I think that elbow tube is the cause of that leak; fiddling with the hose connection puts too much stress on the swage connection.
Another common issue is a stinkin’ rivet holding a clip to the underside of the car over the IRS. This rivet protrudes up into the foam pad the fuel tank sits on. As the foam pad ages it can get squished until the tank contacts the rivet. Then the rivet wears a hole in the tank, which then soaks the foam pad.
Many have found issues with the filler connection to the tank. In fact, there is an overflow tube from the filler chamber down through the trunk and out the bottom of the car. Sometimes that hose comes loose, so any spillage from a fillup runs down the tube into the bottom of the trunk and stays there.
Some have advised shaking some baby powder in there, pretty much everywhere. Not because it smells nice, but because baby powder makes a nice marker for fuel leaks.
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