Strong smell of fuel !!! HELP!

[Anonymous]

I've got a problem with a stink of fuel everywhere I drive....which is not good!


It all started when I filled the tank the other day (for the first time), and after paying and returning to the car, I could see fuel running out from under the car...I though fuck!

I looked under, and it was draining out of the breather pipe that comes from the off-side top of the tank and runs along to an open end at the near-side.
The tank had obviously been filled way too much, so I recon the petrol pump was faulty or something 'cos they should automatically shut off before that happens, but it didn't until it was too late.

Anyway, it soon stopped draining out as fast, but every time I went round a bend to the right, I looked in the rear view mirror, and saw a trail of fuel on the road behind me! Definitely not good!

The rest of the tank seems fine though....I'm sure there's no leaks in it, and that it was only coming from the breather pipe.
I had this on my old A-reg Nova, which meant that I could never fill up fully 'cos it would always over fill and piss fuel from the breather, so it might not have been the fault of the petrol pump after all :-/

The other thing too, is that the fuel filler cap is not sealing properly, and when I get home after a journey, there's always fuel running down the side of the car from the filler cap! I tried the cap off of the Antibes but it still leaks :-/

I can't smell fuel in the car at all with the windows shut, and I can't smell anything under the bonnet with the engine on or off, so I'm sure there's no leaks at the front end of the car.......it's just the tank end.
As soon as I open the window though, I get a strong smell!

Has anyone else had this, and has anyone got any suggestions?

I'm going to try and pad-out the rubber seal on the filler cap to force it to make a better seal and see if that helps, but should the fuel be able to lap about so easily in the tank? Don't fuel tanks have baffles in 'em to reduce the amount the fuel splashes about?

Is it worth getting a new tank, and if so, are all MKI Nova tanks the same...i.e can I fit one from a 1.2/1.3 on the GTE?
It looks the same as the one on the Antibes, so would think so.

The GTE is mint...runs like a dream, drives smooth etc, and it's an arse that the only thing wrong with it is this stupid problem X-(

[Anonymous]

i had same prob with mine, there is like a breather tube on the top, 1st time i filled up mine is did the same, i jus dont fill it all the way up now!

[Anonymous]

my 1.2 did it when I filled it way too much!-it leaked from the fuel pipe to the petrol tank-wasnt good,especially for driving from wales!

"she may not look much but shes got it where it counts..."

[Anonymous]

you need a new non return valve, its the ping pong ball type thing thats meant to be trapped in the filler neck, yours will be floating around in the tank,

I had this on mine and after using a good petrol cap and respraying the rear qtr panel with no success I was told to change the non return valve, I think? it was about ?11 from vauxhall, you just need to wait until your running low on fuel, jack up the drivers side and undo the filler neck to tank hose, and then prise out the old plastic holder and replace with new one with plastic ping pong ball still inside,

[Anonymous]

i had a similar problem, i fitted a novatech fuel cap and when the tank was full it pissed it out, but with the nova cap it was fine then i found out theat my non-return was knackered, but i have never had it comming out of the breather. You wont be able to change the tanks either i dont think cos the gte is injection you will need a gsi/gte/sri fuel tank !

[Anonymous]

Cheers lads.....I thought there must be a non-return valve or something.

Funnily enough though, I managed to stop it leaking from the filler cap by padding out the seal as I said I would.
All I did was cut out a load of circles in cardboard, and put them under the rubber seal on the cap, to force it the push harder against the top of the filler pipe, and it seams to have worked as a quick bodge.

I'll get a new none-return valve too though, so it's sorted properly.

As for the fuel tank, I'm sure mine on the GTE is the same as the one on the Antibes, but I'll have a better look tomorrow.

From reading above, it seams that loads of peeps have had the same problem of fuel running out of the breather pipe....not good.
I was going to put a screw in the end of the pipe to stop it leaking form it, but obviously the tank won't be able to breath then......it's fucking stupid design fault again, but my Antibes doesn't do it...why?
I wonder if the non-return valve also plays a part in filling the tank....maybe since that seams to be fooked, that's why the tank is being allowed to over-fill???

I'll try the new none-return and see if it does it again next time I fill up.
My old A-reg must have also had a knackered none-return valve too 'cos that also leaked from the filler.

Dicko and Bob.......do you also get a smell of fuel from the filler neck? Just wandering 'cos if you do, it might be related to the none-return valve, and that might be why the tank is allowed to over-fill, and leak from the breather :-/

[Anonymous]

the antibes and gte tanks are very different,

The non return valve works by letting fuel past it and as the level of the fuel increase it pushes the ping ball part of the valve back into the filler neck, the fuel in the tank can then not run from the tank to the filler neck, and hence leak through the breather which connects at the top of the filler neck

[Anonymous]

I do get the smell yeah,but my car has only leaked once... it absolutely wreaked of petrol,and sometimes if I fill up well I can smell the petrol with my windows down also,I will look into it thanx,Im gonna have to stop driving me car soon cos Im fed up of finding little problems :( I am eyeing up a nova mk2 flair,mk2 SR or maybe a corsa sri(god forgive me!)-it depends what comes around

"she may not look much but shes got it where it counts..."

[Anonymous]

kev....the pipe I'm talking about doesn't connect at the top of the filler neck, so it's not the breather after all.....it comes out of the top of the tank at the off-side, right under the car, then runs down along the bottom front edge of the tank and exits at the near-side of the car above the area where the rear brake pipes are.
If you have the Green Haynes, look on page 0.13 at the under-body view at the bottom.
This pipe is comes from the tank near where the number 3 is.....you can see one of the clips that holds the pipe to the tank to the left of the 3.
The pipe runs along that front lip of the tank (you can see the other clips further along) and ends at the other side of the car below the 8 on the pic.
It's from this pipe that fuel was leaking, which is the same place as it was on my old A-reg.
What's weird on that pic though, is that that pipe is shown to come out and curve towards the front of the car (down on the pic) and looks like it's connected to something? BUT, on neither the Antibes nor the GTE is it like that....on both, it just comes out at a straight angle and isn't attached to anything. (and it was like this on my A-reg)

I haven't been able to have a proper look at both tanks yet to compare, but the GTE one looks very similar to the one on the Antibes, apart from the large fuel out-let to the pump, which comes from the rear of the tank.
I've not really looked to see the differences to be honest.....I'll have a proper look tomorrow. I always thought they were a lot different, but I've not noticed any major differences.



Bob...it sounds like you've got the same problem, with exactly the same symptoms. I'm going to go the local Vaux dealer tomorrow if I've got time, and find out about getting a new valve, or at least get a price....I suppose there's no point in getting one until the tank is well down on fuel, 'cos I can't be arsed pumping the fuel out to do the valve swap.

I'll take some pics of the two tanks to compare them, and illustrate where this breather (or what ever it's there for) pipe is.

Remembering back, I had another problem on my old A-reg......I couldn't fill the tank at one point, 'cos as soon as I tried, the fuel backed-up and shot out of the filler neck. I had to trickle the fuel in extremely slowly to let the air out and the fuel in.
I sorted this though (well, my Dad did) by doing something with the breather pipe....I don't know what he did, but it worked....I could put fuel in as normal, but it started chucking fuel out of the pipe under the tank X-(

[Anonymous]

I've been to the local Vaux dealer this afternoon, and ordered a new none-return valve....only ?7.64 which I'm quite happy with :)

They'll have it in on Friday for me to pick up.....it was quite late on today that I ordered it, otherwise they'd have it for tomorrow.

I'll keep you posted as to how it helps and if it also solves the filling-up problem, which hopefully it will.

Bob.....if you're still getting the strong smell of fuel, check if any fuel is running down from the filler neck. If so, your may as well get one of these valves for the sake of ?8 (give or take a bit depending on your dealer prices)