Excessive Fuel Smell in Cabin - Solution

[System-G]

NB: From Admin: We would advise anyone reading not to do this to your Mk1 as safety issues from fuel vapours leaking into the engine bay could cause serious safety issues


I took the MKI out today for it's first long run since I've owned it and had it MOT'd and taxed. It was only about a 100 mile round trip.

On the way out, I began noticing a smell of petrol in the cabin. Initially I thought the car was just over-fueling a bit. But the smell got worse and worse until I thought I had a severe leak somewhere. I pulled over to check, but couldn't find any leaks whatsoever anywhere, so I contiued with caution. On my way home it was getting so bad I had to pull over a couple of times just for fresh air as I was getting light headed and wanted to double check on leaks.

As I got back into Northampton, I went straight to my mechanic's who showed me the problem.

There is a hose going into the chassis just below and to the left of the fuel filter on the bulkhead. This is a fuel "vent" hose which was originally designed to go into the chassis rail. To solve the problem simply remove the hose from the bulk head and allow to dangle down.

According to my mechanic, this was the first "modification" done to the early cars and all Toyota mechanics were informed to unplug the hose/ensure the hose was unplugged during servicing. He was quite shocked that this hadn't been done before as the car has main dealer history up to 80k

BTW, smell has been cured
Apparently the smell is worstened by a missing grommet elsewhere in the chassis rail.

Photos of the offending hose:
Note the hole left open.


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[System-G]

Oooppss...

Forgot to mention in the title this is MKIa related

[poyntesm]

Good post. I am going to take this and place it in the new knowledge base system we are producing. That OK?

[Lauren]

Good post. I am going to take this and place it in the new knowledge base system we are producing. That OK?

Great idea Esmond and great post Garrick!

Just had a look at mine and it is connected to a metal pipe that goes into the chassis rail. I've sometimes had a petrol smell in the cabin though it is reasonably rare..

[Speedy]

I was looking at this the other day and wondered what was venting to atmosphere.. and now I know

Good post!

[Mk1 Turbo Powered Steve]

Good post. I am going to take this and place it in the new knowledge base system we are producing. That OK?

Great idea Esmond and great post Garrick!

Just had a look at mine and it is connected to a metal pipe that goes into the chassis rail. I've sometimes had a petrol smell in the cabin though it is reasonably rare..

Your right Lauren,i used to get a fuel smell but as you say was rare,so no need to worry about.
Luckily don't get the fuel smell in my sc at all!!

[System-G]

Glad I could help out for a change rather than being a sponge on others' knowledge

I was expecting replies along the lines of "been there done that" or "use the search function"

Post it wherever it needs to go as long as people can still have access to it

[PW@Woodsport]

G, not wishing to put a damper on things but that pipe MUST be connected to the chassis....if you have petrol smell in the cabin it will be due to the tank vent valve just before that pipe needing replacing,the reason the pipe enters the chassis is to keep things safe.......ever travelled behind someone who has just tossed a fag end out of the window? always seems to throw sparks everywhere....id be the last to want petrol vapour venting onto the road if you see where im coming from......cure your cabin smell it may well do but it just isnt safe bud,just my 2p.

Doesnt surprise me at all that toyota would unplug the pipe from the chassis during servicing,sounds just like them instead of actually fixing the cause of the problem.

[System-G]

G, not wishing to put a damper on things but that pipe MUST be connected to the chassis....if you have petrol smell in the cabin it will be due to the tank vent valve just before that pipe needing replacing,the reason the pipe enters the chassis is to keep things safe.......ever travelled behind someone who has just tossed a fag end out of the window? always seems to throw sparks everywhere....id be the last to want petrol vapour venting onto the road if you see where im coming from......cure your cabin smell it may well do but it just isnt safe bud,just my 2p.

Doesnt surprise me at all that toyota would unplug the pipe from the chassis during servicing,sounds just like them instead of actually fixing the cause of the problem.

Never thought of it like that. The smell was so bad in the cabin, I would never have lit up in fear of going bang. So I guess the fumes are now just being passed into the engine bay.

I would have thought the fuel vapour/surrounding air mixture would be to week to ignite from a spark? I don't want to take a chance though.
Does anyone have a part number for the vent valve (seen in the pics a couple of cm up from the end of the hose)?

The mechanic I use is ex-MrT, but went independant many years ago after he got fed up with their Bureaucracy (sp?). I trust him with any mechanics I am incapable of doing myself as he has been working on our cars for a good 4 years now. His advice has always been spot on.

[PW@Woodsport]

no doubt they removed the pipe cos it will fix the problem but toyota didnt design the pipe to be pulled off at the first service interval,its meant to be there.

You are probably right though,the chance of anything happening is very minimal,you would have to be seriously unlucky for something to ignite but theres always a chance.....i just wouldnt want petrol vapour venting onto the road on my car and someone chucking a fag out in front......that by the way is a personal hate of mine,i find myself swerving to avoid the ignorant w*****rs sparks!

[sadako]

What about getting one of those stupid looking crank case breather filters that are supposed to prevent sparks entering the crank case. Could one of these be modded to safely vent the fuel?

[PW@Woodsport]

i dunno,probably...but most mk1s dont have this fuel in the cabin smell so it must be the valve at fault,they are only £26 from toyota part number 90917-10020

[System-G]

Cheers for the part numbers Paul

Will get one ordered in ASAP regardless. As I said I don't want to take chances. But I am confused as to why my mechanic reckons that it's fine just to vent the fumes to the engine bay. OK, he is ex-MrT, but he's got a damn good head on his shoulders (good reasoning as he left Toyota I suppose ). I will have another chat with him and get more detailed explanations

[Tony jinxy froude]

You will also fail the MOT with it not connected, i had this problem on mine and just disconected it like yours last year and forgot to re-connect it when i went for an MOT, he told me it was a failure if he didnt re-connect it........... so i let him , dont be tempted to just block the hole, it allows vapours to escape blocking it would be extreamely hazadous, Jinxy

[crazylegs]

just my 4 penny worth not directed at anyone specific.it cant be right to just vent petrol fumes into the engine bay.where is all the heat ? where are all the sparks ??.if you have ever seen how easily a spark can ignite those harmless fumes you would never even think of doing this.i had a volkswagen van that a mechanic told me had a head gasket failure.i took out a plug to have a look,turned the engine over and woosh.it was an injector fault but one spark ignited the lot.the van was toast inside 3 minutes.so no i will never just vent the fumes anywhere near the engine bay.that non return filter is there for a reason, it stops the fumes entering the engine bay!!!!
if however you know better than the cars designer feel free.i wish you luck if those fumes ignite you will need it by the gallon.

[System-G]

Sorry forgot to update the post

I have replaced the breather valve and the fumes are a lot less. There is still quite a heavy fuel smell though, but I think the car is overfueling as well - 180 miles on a full tank is not good.

It's booked in for a major service tomorrow morning so hopefully all will be resolved. I will also be checking with my mechanic on MrT's reasons for just unplugging the hose from the chassis rail.

Will keep updated...

[Tony jinxy froude]

WHAT !!! i cant believe my eyes, a moderator has actually put this in the "knowledge base " as being the correct thing to do ????? DO NOT & I REPEAT, DO NOT LEAVE THIS PIPE DISCONNECTED, IT IS A FIRE HAZZARD. There are so many sources of ignition in the engine bay and the pipe is close to the starter motor !!!, get a replacement vapour trap its only £26 from Toyota as Paul said.
Note to moderators :- get this article removed from the knowledge base, not only could it cause loss of life but the loss of a well loved car.

[System-G]

I tell you what, why doesn't a moderater delete this entire thread?

With regards to people not knowing better than the designers:
Why then do so many owners "modify" and make "improvements" to their cars and slate MrT's short falls so frequently?

I was trying to help based on information given to me. As the thread progressed, I began seeing the problem in a different light. I was quite surprised that it had been put into the knowledge base myself. I agree, It should be removed and this thread closed/deleted.

[Lauren]

I tell you what, why doesn't a moderater delete this entire thread?

With regards to people not knowing better than the designers:
Why then do so many owners "modify" and make "improvements" to their cars and slate MrT's short falls so frequently?

I was trying to help based on information given to me. As the thread progressed, I began seeing the problem in a different light. I was quite surprised that it had been put into the knowledge base myself. I agree, It should be removed and this thread closed/deleted.

Okay. I have had a think and i agree that it shouldn't be in the knowledge base. I have removed it and will now lock this thread.

Lauren