Smell gasoline from the trunk

Have you had any spillage in the boot during taking out the tank? Halogen detector halogen detector haloghen detector halogen detector haloghen detector…

none since it was empty … but this happened two years ago …

In the meantime, thank you for your great availability … sooner or later I will come to the end. in the meantime I add details, yesterday afternoon with more than half full tank I decide to take a walk of about 20/30 minutes, roof open and driver’s side window open, cruising speed about 90 km / h … no smell! at low speed and you start to perceive odor. specifically, it is the smell of burnt gas, not just gasoline, if I open the trunk it gives you the impression that it comes more from the side opposite the gasoline cap near the light … I almost have the impression that somehow the trunk is filled with vapors until they become saturated and enter the passenger compartment! if I open it wide and leave it open for a while it empties and you live well for half an hour … it is an impression but maybe I am poisoned with gas !!

Normally air exits the cabin through vents into the boot/trunk and out the sides via vents behind the side bumpers/fenders. When you open the window air is sucked out of the windows as you travel forward and drawn into the cabin from the boot/trunk, hence the smell. When I open my sunroof I often get a musty or petrol/gas smell from the boot/trunk for half a minute. I thought this was common knowledge.

I add a teaspoon of old spice to my fuel tank at every fill, no issues, sweet aroma, lots of smiles from other motorists, happy days, love my 40.

“and out the sides via vents behind the side bumpers/fenders” where are these vents?

Inside the trunk there many holes with rubber stoppers… maybe I need only leave opened these…
perhaps the coachbuilder blocked some way out when he removed the rust and repainted the trunk. these holes even if left uncapped I doubt they will let rainwater enter.

The vents that were mentioned are on each side of the car hidden from view on the outside by the rear bumper wraparounds. Inside the trunk, once you remove the side trunk trim, you would see what is shown in the following link:

https://parts.jaguarlandroverclassic.com/parts/index/part/id/C01.893.89388.89388393.893883933696/brand/jaguar/

The triangular shaped box is bolted to the inside body and air flows through it and through a rectangular hole in the body to the outside.

so … I have identified the openings and they seem to be free and therefore functional … but if I leave the task of ventilating the boot to them alone, this becomes clogged with vapors which then pass into the passenger compartment, if instead I remove all the rubber stoppers on the sides of the bottom the air in the boot remains much healthier and the stench is no longer felt in the passenger compartment … why ??? what is certain is that if I do not solve it, I will cut the carpet in correspondence with the 4 plugs that I will pierce and use as gaskets for the holes.

Sorry I didn’t catch your newer comment asking where the vents are.
There should be no odour in the passenger compartment if the windows and roof are closed and the heating/cooling is on. Open windows/roof and expect some mustiness from the boot/trunk until it clears in a short while.

Ah…Is It normal feel this scent? I asked because before some works in the trunk never I had it…now the trunk after a travel become so full of this smell and enter all inside and you can die… something doesn’t work as must be. I’m trying to leave opened that vents inside the trunk…

Max …

Of course it’s not normal to have any gas leaking into your trunk that you can smell. Remember these were top of the line luxury cars and there is no way they would put up with something like that.

Your car is an '87 model and I’m betting that it has the same gas tank setup as my '89. I’ve had to pull my tank out three times over the years to fix a strong gas smell. Each time it turned out to be a very, very, slight weeping of fuel around the “top hat” on the top of the tank. The last repair I had them grind down everything around the area where it’s attached to the tank and resolder the entire thing. Hopefully that will fix it.
Screen Shot 2021-05-27 at 9.52.00 PM

it will be like this … I must say that 4 years ago I had the tank sanitized … it was internally resinated with tankerite and externally with transparent resin. the mechanic checked for leaks but found none … I don’t know where to check anymore. but why does the trunk become so saturated on long journeys? does not use its side exits! but I mount two fans that suck the air out … like in computers ??? :crazy_face:

If the smell is that bad then I think its time to take the tank out again and check for leaks.

Gentlemen, perhaps this goes without saying but fuel smell = vapors = potentially explosive. Caution is in order here. I would be concerned about potential sparking in an enclosed area filled with fuel vapors. In fact I have wondered about the relays mounted in the trunk…but I have never heard of a trunk exploding.

1 Like

ok … I summarize because the situation is not clear. 4 years ago I bought the car, the tank is full of rust, it is completely reclaimed inside and outside … there is no smell in the trunk or in the passenger compartment … this winter I decide to solve the rain infiltrations in the trunk and therefore we put our hand to the rubber sheath under the lid of the petrol cap which is full of cracks, the whole mechanism is disassembled and we try to seal without success, it is solved by building a spectacular seal around the lid … this moment comes the problem of smell! the recycling system works. with the windows closed and the ac switched on, the passenger compartment is perfect but after a journey along the trunk it is unbreathable, if you open the roof and windows after 10 minutes the trunk gets rid of the gases to demonstrate that the vents under the rear window and 2 exits air on the rear bumper are functional … and therefore ??? if you inspect the tank without disassembling it you will not notice any leaks but if there was the smell it would be of petrol and not of burnt gas … all the clamps, the gas non-return valves and the pipes are in order … it is a puzzle! the mechanic is going to fuck me!

In the area of the filler/left side of the tank, there is a hose that goes forward to the carbon canister. Possibly this hose got disconnected or damaged when you were repairing the gasket.
Jaguar XJ40 trunks do not normally smell -unless it is my car which sometimes smells of trout or salmon.

All in order :sob::sob:


Max - this darker area looks as though fuel could be seeping - or is that just a dry stain?

1 Like

Max …

I hate to say it but I think Mike is right on the money with that area of weeping fuel where the filler spout is attached to the tank.

I wouldn’t discard this because you had your tank repaired 4 tears ago. As you said it was full of rust before they worked on it and who knows how deep the rust actually penetrated.

By the way what kind of relationship DO you have with your mechanic :open_mouth:

I’m thinking that the coachbuilder who fixed the petrol cap, perhaps to extract the mechanism, did not force that connection by not extracting the tank! maybe it has damaged the internal and external resin … ok I’m for extreme solutions … where can I find a new tank?