GetBoosted

Hello everyone,

I'm having some trouble with my 2002 Turbo that I was hoping to get some opinions on. The car had a gas smell coming from the front end so I brought it in for service. They found that the fuel level sending unit was the problem so they replaced it.

Got the car back & the smell still exists when I fill the car up (not topping off... just filling till the pump shuts off).

Ok so I buy a new fuel vent valve (3 way valve) and put that in to see if that fixes it. Nope, still getting a fuel odor when I fill the car all the way up.

I've read that it could be that the car is filling up the charcoal canister filter however I was under the impression that was only if you were topping off the car which I am not attempting to do. My next step is going to be to replace the gas cap and see if that helps but the seal & cap look fine so I doubt that is the issue.

Any ideas on what I could check out or what it could be? My step to avoid it currently is to never fill it higher than 3/4 full or after filling it, go for a spirited drive before bringing it back to park it. Both of which are not optimal so I would like to fix the issue rather than just avoiding it.

Any ideas?

Macster

One explanation is there's a fuel or vapor leak. There are a number of hoses that carry the fuel and fuel vapors and any one of these hoses or hose fittings can fail and leak.

Based on the fact there is no CEL and thus the fuel vapor recovery system appears to be working ok my money (just a tiny tiny amount) would be on a fluid leak. It doesn't take a gusher of a leak of gasoline to have the car reeking of gasoline.

Not sure how to trace this down or eliminate this from list of possible explanations. The fuel/vapor lines are not that accessible: the canister and some of the fuel/vapor lines are under the right front fender and the wheel has to be removed along with the wheel well lining to gain access. Some lines might be accessible from under the car. Underbody panels might have to be removed.

Another possibility is the fuel pump gasket is leaking and fuel is seeping through this. There have been a few reports of a fuel line at the pump can develop a crack and leak fuel. This can be checked by opening the trunk lid and removing the panels that are on either side of the battery box and the battery box cover.

Because you only smell gasoline after filling the tank and because the absence of a CEL I like the fuel pump gasket as the source of the smell.

Try to check for signs of fuel in a breeze as if there is fuel sign this is a fire/explosive hazard.

Then of course the fuel line to the rear of the car and the fuel lines/injectors at the engine can also be a source of the smell, unless you are sure the smell is only present at the front of the car.

neanicu

Macster's hypothesis about the seal on top of the fuel pump/fuel sending unit seems very plausible,especially since you only smell gas when the tank is full. But here comes the problem : the OP stated that the dealer already replaced the fuel sending unit assembly-why they did that-I have no idea...certainly not to fix the " gas smell " problem...that would be idiotic. Unless the OP forgot to mention it was malfunctioning...? Anyway,my point is...if they went in there,they most likely replaced the seal as well,yet the smell is still present.

GetBoosted

Thank you for the feedback. I'm going to need to yank the stuff in & around the battery & check (still at work but I'm going to check that out).

The dealer replaced those components because they found that there was fuel vapor coming thru the sender due to something rubbing the sender which produced the hole & there was a legitimate leak there. To elaborate, when I brought the car in for service, the gas smell was more pronounced for sure and there was a slight leak that was visible on the side of the tank. So their corrective action did help but it didn't fix the issue. Now I cannot find any visible leaks and the smell is much less pronounced so I think it is just vapor escaping but still a problem that I need to resolve for sure. Here are the parts they replaced per the work order:
* 996-201-043-08 - Fuel Filler Neck (ordered but not installed so no changes here supposedly)
* 1J0-919-133-A - Rubber Gasket
* 996-620-827-02 - Fuel Level Sender

Then after I received the car back & I found that I couldn't fill it, I replaced:
* 996-201-143-01 - Fuel tank bleeder valve

I apologize for not including the part numbers originally. That is my mistake.

Sam Lin

I have the same issue and am about to shotgun the vapor canister and the line with check valve to try and solve it. Over 3/4 tank the passenger fender smells strong. Under that there's no smell at all. I already tried a new gas cap, nothing. I also pulled the old vapor canister and verified all the connections were sealed. I'll be watching this thread.

Sam

GetBoosted

Finally got around to checking for the source of the leak. I noticed that there was in fact a leak showing. I pulled the belly pan off & you can see the spot it left. It's coming down the back of the tank so I'm going to need to check from the top to see what exactly is leaking from that side.

I cannot fathom how the dealer smoke tested the car & didn't catch this. And also, how they didn't catch this when they were replacing the parts from before. This to me is a major safety hazard given the amount of fuel that is leaking. Am I wrong in assuming they should have caught this?

EDIT: Checked & found the source of the leak. It's coming from the fuel filler neck connection to the fuel tank. I'm going to contact the dealer on Monday since they replaced that part and now my car is leaking at that piece.

fly2low

that sucks, but conversation should be short

GetBoosted

I called them up and they are claiming they didn't touch the fuel filler neck so they are going to "get back to me with a quote to fix". Does that sound like BS to anyone other than me? They ordered the fuel filler neck (part # 996-201-043-08) but ended up not replacing it or charging me for it after I double checked the invoice so I understand that but at the same time, they sent me away twice now with a very dangerous fuel leak in my car and they didn't notice it either time when I brought the car in originally for a fuel smell.

So what does everyone think here? Is this dealer trying to rip me off here or am I overreacting?

"02996ttx50

i'd get the svc manager and dealer mgr together at once ( if this is porsche dealer ) and they'll try to buffalo you, but just do not cave.

labor on their dime you pay the part they neglected to replace.

GetBoosted

Thank you for the feedback. I think that is fair as well. Service adviser called me back and quoted me at $385 to fix ($45 for the gasket & $340 for the labor). I'm going to contact the service & dealer managers over lunch to see what they say about it.

"02996ttx50

good luck with them, and remember. being "overly" firm will not be a mistake. they will not accede to your perfectly reasonable request unless you are firm and demand in fact they pay the added labor!

i trust you'll prevail!

GetBoosted

Contacted the service manager over lunch and explained the situation and the info from the adviser. The service manager said they will resolve the issue and they are ordering the gasket that it looks like I need so they can resolve the issue. So I'll need to reserve judgement until after I bring the car in but the manager did seem pretty genuine about fixing the issue on their dime.

Thanks again for the feedback!

"02996ttx50

^ outstanding, you'll be back up and running soon. as these cars age the strangest things seem to go south, but seemingly never anything major. good to hear they are sorting it out for you. cheers.

Macster

Glad you found the fuel leak. I don't know about you but I hate fuel leaks.

It is not clear to me the filler tube was worked on but regardless I hope the dealer fixes this on its dime. It won't cost it a "dime" anyhow as it gets the tech's labor for far less than you do and the gets the parts at dealer cost.

GetBoosted

Just heard from the dealer and they took the filler neck out while waiting for the new gasket (still in transit). The adviser said he isn't very confident that the new gasket is going to fix the issue since the gasket is made of foam with an aluminum ring on it. He said that he is guessing that the tank itself is leaking or the rubber sleeve that surrounds the filler neck inside the tank. I'm not sure how that could be if they really did smoke test the system before but who knows.

Any thoughts or feedback on what you guys make of the story they gave me?

Thanks,

Chris