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MG MGF Technical - Petrol smell

This week in the evening, when I get into my F (X reg, 9000 miles) which has been parked at the station all day (car park is flat), there is a smell of petrol which goes after driving a relatively short distance. The strange thing is the smell is not there in the morning, possibly because my drive is on quite a slope with the nose of the car pointing down hill. I filled the tank at the weekend but certainly didn't overfill. Has anyone else experienced this and can cast any light, before I drag it off to the dealer?
Ron Tuohy

Ron - huge number of entries in archive about fuel smell / fumes etc. get your search criteria correct and, like me, you can read all about smelly Fs for hours.

Good luck.
JohnP

is it under warrenty, if so then get it replaced, if not then I would (and do) live with it
Will Munns

> if not then I would (and do) live with it

that's what I do. My dealer quoted EUR 1000 to have it fixed (meaning replacing the petrol tank). I find the smell goes away quite fast (within a minute).

Robbert.
Robbert

Ron, the petrol smell has a number of potential causes, from porous fuel tanks (early, pre-MY2000 cars) to blocked breather pipes (the commonest cause on all MGFs).

Dieter's site has more information on this particular problem: http://www.mgfcar.de/fueltank/index.htm
Rob Bell

Thanks for the input guys. I must have had something wrong in my search as I only found one entry, thus the posting. I'm relieved to find it is likely to be nothing serious after a petrol smell in an Astra GTE some years ago turned out to be a fractured hose spraying fuel all over the exhaust! The car's going in for some warranty work in a couple of weeks so I'll let them know they have some extra work to do.
Ron Tuohy

Oh boy, I just successfully searched the archive (I'd been searching only the current BBS - Doh!), sorry to raise this question yet again. Next time I'll check the archive first!
Ron Tuohy

would a pourus fuel tank make you loose fuel, if so would it be enough to notice?
GC

>would a pourus fuel tank make you loose fuel
It more like sweating, and no, on a 50(?) litre tank, you would have to loose about 5 litres to make any noticeable diffrence on the needle position and that is a _LOT_ of petrol!
Will Munns

Sorry, Five litres= petrol can
Will Munns

I have found that when I am at the end of a journey and say I am caught in traffic idling or moving slowly changing up and down replacing my foot on the accelerator probably pressing down to hard then after leaving the car for some time I get in and it smells of petrol. Could it be something like it is not burning off all the petrol fully before I stop. (I've noticed after someone else drives it it also smells of petrol) Just a suggestion...
malcolm

Ron - Remove the piece of sponge surrounding the filler pipe where it passes through the engine bay firewall. Smell will disappear in a few days.
Dennis

Ron,

We had the same problem with our first 'F' (3 years old) The problem was the fuel tank, the car was out of guarantee and had been bought privately, but after some discussion with my local dealer (Skinners in Rye) they agreed to pay for the tank if I paid for for the labour. It was the multiple entries on this forum that helped my cause.

Nic
Nic

Ron,

I know this might sound silly but....have you got the fuel cap on the right way? Don't know if i'm the only burk to of done it but I did, back end of this summer. Spend most of a weekend looking for leaks and sniffing round most of the car, and found the cap will fit upside down but not seal, so when cornering petrol can escape.

Iain
IJ Blanch

> Spend most of a weekend looking for leaks and sniffing round most of the car, and found the cap will fit upside down but not seal, so when cornering petrol can escape.

As it happens there is a plastic/rubber lug attached to the body under the fuel filler cap, that is (or should be) there to prevent the cap from being fitted upsidedown. On F this used to be made of rubber, but on the TF (and perhaps later F's?) the same part is now plastic and has a tendancy to fall out.
Paul Lathwell

Cheers Paul , looks like mine is missing. :)
IJ Blanch

No, it isn't the petrol cap the wrong way round, I always look for the arrow when fitting. Strange thing is the smell has disappeared the last couple of days. Obviously the vibes from the BBS had a healing effect. Groovy!!
Ron Tuohy

This thread was discussed between 06/11/2002 and 08/11/2002

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