M Roadster Gasoline Smell

Hi all,

I have just joined this forum and found it while I was searching thru google and I have serious problem with my car (I think its serious). I just got back from summer vacation and for 3 days interior smells like gasoline all the time.

I have just checked under the car and found out gasoline tank has some gas near by the welding around it but there is no diping so far (I hope).

Could someone point me to a direction or give some advise?

Thank you

Emre

Sorry I forgot to tell which car it is.

1998 M Roadster with 45XXX miles.

Interior smells like gas, but not the garage or place where you park it so much?

Check the fuel sending unit behind the passenger seat.

http://www.waycoolinc.com/z3/fuelsend/fuelsend.html

There's pictures there.

If the carpet is already cut, then it has been replaced - Maybe poorly.

Only thing I can personally think of, besides a leak in the tank, but then I would assume that wherever you park it would smell very gassy as well, and have drips.

Oh and btw.. our gas tanks are plastic... so yeah.. if there's welding on the tank...

Originally Posted by LynxZ3r0

Interior smells like gas, but not the garage or place where you park it so much?

Check the fuel sending unit behind the passenger seat.

http://www.waycoolinc.com/z3/fuelsend/fuelsend.html

There's pictures there.

If the carpet is already cut, then it has been replaced - Maybe poorly.

Only thing I can personally think of, besides a leak in the tank, but then I would assume that wherever you park it would smell very gassy as well, and have drips.

Oh and btw.. our gas tanks are plastic... so yeah.. if there's welding on the tank...

The carpet has been cut. But smell is coming under the car while its parked as well. The gas tank is plastic but it has weldings around it. I dont know how to explain it but it seems like two plastic parts got together so in the middle there is a welding like line.

I'll try to take pictures tommorrow morning for further discussion.

Thanks

9Krpm, It sounds like you have a very slow leak in the gas tank. When the car is parked, there is very little or no pressure in the tank (other than the weight of the fuel). When the car is running, the fuel pump pressurizes the lines to the engine, so that if you floor it, the fuel will be available. If you're coasting, or at a stop light, the fuel pump still sends too much fuel to the engine. Whatever is not used by the injectors is returned to the tank. This process can pressurize the tank a little bit. This happens even more so as the fuel heats up from going through the pump, then returning the unused portion to the tank, only to go through the pump again.

Anyway, as you're driving around town, going from stop light to stop light, some fuel might be leaking out of the tank at the weld that you describe. The airflow under the car’s body probably brings the leaking vaporized fuel into the passenger compartment. Have you ever noticed how your hair will blow forward when you are driving and the top is down? Now, of course, if you smell fuel more when the top is up and the windows up, then it is coming from the inside, and I would suspect the fuel sender repair as LynxZ3r0 accurately pointed out.

After having the sending unit replaced in my car the car would smell like gas after filling up. Even other people noticed. I took the car to the dealer and the tightened the sending unit down another 1/4 turn and it went away.