Car interior smells of petrol after fuel pump replacement

Monsoon · Mar 16, 2013

Can anyone help with this? I had the fuel pump changed on Wednesday as the car kept going in and out of limp mode. Ever since then the interior has smelt quite strongly of petrol. I called the Audi garage who said this is normal and should dissappear in a couple of days. However every morning it smells stonger. I've left the windows down all day today to air the car, and removed the base of the rear seat where the smell seems to be the strongest.

After removing the seat there was a clear smell of petrol coming from the fuel pump housing so I wiped the surface of this and all around the rubber seal with warm soapy water. However, the seal on one side of the housing (shown in the picture) can be lifted up creating a stronger smell, whereas the other side of the seal fits tightly and canât be moved.

My guess is therefore that this rubber seal is not sitting tight and fumes are entering the car through this, but Iâd be surprised if the seal is the only protection between the tank and the car interior. Does anyone know what sits beneath the seal, and what the garage should be checking when I take it back to them? Or is such a smell normal after a fuel pump replacement?

Thanks all.

Graham89 · Mar 16, 2013

Take it straight back. Don't want to be messing around with petrol fumes really. The seal should be 'sealed' all the way round.

AudiS3-Turbo · Mar 17, 2013

Thats just a cap for the body, lift it off and the sender unit will be below, but as said take it back asap!

Rom · Mar 17, 2013

As said, thats the seal / cover to access the tank. It should still be sealed. Usually have some kind of bonding on them, sticky but doesnt harden.

You could lift that cover off if your comfortable doing it, and check the tank, it should be dry. There will probably be a large ring which unscrews, then the sender unit and pump lift out. This also should be sealed. Though id not advise you remove this yourself. If theres any fuel around the outside of the ring, its not sealed. Any fuel they spilt doing the job will have evaportaed by now.

Certainly take it back if it remains or your un happy.

shady-ninja · Mar 17, 2013

did you pay audi for this work??
Audi dealers seem to be worse than back street mechanics.
shame on them.

Monsoon · Mar 18, 2013

Thanks all for the advice. Yes, the work was done at an Audi garage - £180. The smell doesn't seem quite so bad now, but is certainly still there around the seal area. I'll take it back to get them to check it, just to be on the safe side.

_G_ · Mar 19, 2013

How are you getting on with this one? Is it sorted?

I replaced my in-tank fuel pump some months ago but what I did not know at the time is that it is good practice to change the o-ring seal with the pump because old seals are often worn or sometimes get stretched upon removal. Seals can also lose their shape over time especially if they have once been contaminated or penetrated by diesel or something e.g. putting some diesel into a petrol car can cause such damage to sensitive seals like that one. Another thing is torque, it needs to be spot on. Too much and the pump will be difficult to remove next time and too little there can be room for vapours and fuel to escape. Especially if you do a full tank, it will slosh around and find its way out.

Insist on having the seal replaced with it. Keep us posted on the fix. Even after a good fix it can take a week or so for the smell to go away but more than a week then I would want to find out why it is still happening. Best wishes. G.

shady-ninja · Mar 20, 2013

could you name this dealer ??

Monsoon · Mar 23, 2013

The latest is the smell started to fade so I held off taking the car back to the dealer (Hitchin Audi). I've also kept the back seat outside in the garden to air and the smell from that has now pretty much gone - I'm planning to refit it this weekend.

It's now at a point where I can't smell anything when I get into the car, and there's only a faint whiff when up very close to the pump housing. I'm pretty sure there's no fresh fumes coming into the car, and best guess is a lot of petrol was spilt when they changed it so it's taken a long time to evaporate.

I'll keep a check on it, but hopefully all sorted now. Thanks for the help/advice everyone!

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Car interior smells of petrol after fuel pump replacement

Monsoon

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Rom

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shady-ninja

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_G_

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