General: Petrol smell and leak from top of tank

[simonc1984]

Hi , my 04 v70 petrol has had quite a strong smell of fuel from around the back and sides of the car for a few weeks , probably more on the drivers side and was in the boot area a few nights ago and I could smell petrol in the boot , I had a volvo specialist have a look and he said that they could see the leak and it was coming from the top of the tank and they wouldn't elaborate for possible causes and wanted to drop the tank , I cant afford what they were quoting to do this work so I'm looking for the possible causes to do the work myself , a few people have mentioned the in tank fuel pump being the cause and this would make sense but is there anything else that I need to be looking for , thanks in advance , Simon

[b1mcp]

How long have you owned it?

I ask only as when I bought my 04 V70 some years ago it had similar. When I collected it was running on fumes. I filled up immediately and when I got home there was a petrol leak from top of tank.

Investigation showed that leak was from O Ring for Sender unit. This can be accessed easily under the rear seat.

Turned out the PO (not the selling dealer) had pulled the sender to syphon off the petrol before disposing of vehicle but had not replaced sender properly. New O ring and all sorted.

(BTW I inadvertently bought a box of 10 O ring seals instead of one, so if you need one you can have it for cost of postage. PM me).

[ilmiont]

Could be the short rubber filling hose down to the tank :



How mine was when changed last month

Part number 9141423. <£20 but extremely tight to get to; most people say to drop the subframe a little, although the place I went to while on holiday managed without.

[volvo2]

Originally Posted by simonc1984

Hi , my 04 v70 petrol has had quite a strong smell of fuel from around the back and sides of the car for a few weeks , probably more on the drivers side and was in the boot area a few nights ago and I could smell petrol in the boot , I had a volvo specialist have a look and he said that they could see the leak and it was coming from the top of the tank and they wouldn't elaborate for possible causes and wanted to drop the tank , I cant afford what they were quoting to do this work so I'm looking for the possible causes to do the work myself , a few people have mentioned the in tank fuel pump being the cause and this would make sense but is there anything else that I need to be looking for , thanks in advance , Simon

I had the same issue here: https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showt...94#post2825494

[old onions]

About 2 years ago I had exactly the same symptoms as you describe.

It was diagnosed by my Volvo Indie as a split fuel hose just on top of the tank. Fuel was spilling through this on filling up.

The part was less than £20 if I remember correctly , but it took them 4 hours of labour to fit. Although expensive I felt it was not a job I was capable of tackling because I don't have a garage with sufficient access around the car.

Expensive yes, but peace of mind followed.

[simonc1984]

Originally Posted by b1mcp

How long have you owned it?

I ask only as when I bought my 04 V70 some years ago it had similar. When I collected it was running on fumes. I filled up immediately and when I got home there was a petrol leak from top of tank.

Investigation showed that leak was from O Ring for Sender unit. This can be accessed easily under the rear seat.

Turned out the PO (not the selling dealer) had pulled the sender to syphon off the petrol before disposing of vehicle but had not replaced sender properly. New O ring and all sorted.

(BTW I inadvertently bought a box of 10 O ring seals instead of one, so if you need one you can have it for cost of postage. PM me).

Hi , sorry for the late reply , so I have owned the car for around 2 years , there was a smell of fuel about a month ago that I recall and has since become stronger , the filler pipe which is a known common fault was checked by the mechanic that looked the car over and he seemed to believe that this wasnt the cause and instead it was on top of the tank which then leads to either a split pipe of something to do with the in tank fuel pump cracking which is apparently another common issue, I've put quotes in now with around 6 different garages and all want to drop the tank as the access ports are useless and have quoted between 800 - 1200 all in if it was the in tank pump causing the issues , they have all believe it or not said that the pump is a strong possibility, thanks for your comment , Simon

[simonc1984]

Originally Posted by old onions

About 2 years ago I had exactly the same symptoms as you describe.

It was diagnosed by my Volvo Indie as a split fuel hose just on top of the tank. Fuel was spilling through this on filling up.

The part was less than £20 if I remember correctly , but it took them 4 hours of labour to fit. Although expensive I felt it was not a job I was capable of tackling because I don't have a garage with sufficient access around the car.

Expensive yes, but peace of mind followed.

Hi , thanks for your reply , like you there are some things I am comfortable with and others not , I dont really want to have to replace a fuel pump myself but given the quotes I have received it doesn't look like I have much choice in the matter, the pipe in question was checked and was found not to be the issue and instead was coming from further up so top of tank basically , hopefully it's just an o ring that's failed but I will still need to remove the pump , these in tank pumps dont appear to be that expensive to be fair , so we shall see where I go from there, thanks for your comment, Simon

[simonc1984]

Hi thanks for your reply , it would seem that this was checked first , but in the event that I have no choice but to have the tank removed , I will have this common part replaced at the same time , thanks for your comment ,

[simonc1984]

Originally Posted by ilmiont

Could be the short rubber filling hose down to the tank :



How mine was when changed last month

Part number 9141423. <£20 but extremely tight to get to; most people say to drop the subframe a little, although the place I went to while on holiday managed without.

Hi thanks for your reply , it would seem that this was checked first , but in the event that I have no choice but to have the tank removed , I will have this common part replaced at the same time , thanks for your comment ,

[rogereld]

I assume the split filler hose would cause a leak when putting fuel in to the tank, noticeable at the time of filling or soon after. I have arrived at this thread because I have just discovered the same problem as the original poster which is not associated with any times of putting fuel in the tank. (2001 V70 2.4T petrol).
The fuel leak is evident as a "damp" patch which smells of petrol, when looking under the car adjacent to the drivers (RH) side rear passenger door and is running down the side of the tank from somewhere above. I cannot see where by looking under the car whilst it is on the ground.
Initial online research is leading me towards checking the fuel sender hatches accessed under the rear seats inside the car.
I am waiting for daylight tomorrow (Saturday) to take a look and will report back if I find anything useful.