Petrol smells inside and outside

[NewmanW]

Hi,

I own a 1988 RHD 2.1L Syncro 14” campervan. There’s a strong smell of petrol when the tank is over half full. I can smell the petrol on the outside and inside the van. Which is a little concerning as we cook, sleep, etc in the van when on holiday. There appears to be no petrol leaks anywhere as the petrol tank and associated pipes, hoses, etc are all dry to touch (at least everywhere I can get access to).

Has anyone else experienced this problem and have any ideas on the solution?

Many thanks, Will.

[hugomonkey]

dont look for a place thats wet with petrol, look for a part of the tank that is way cleaner than the rest of the tank that will lead you to your leak, from my experiance its usually a build up of rust on the filler pipe where it enters the tank so there is no proper seal between the large rubber grommet and the what should be smooth surface of the pipe

[..lee..]

Sender units on the other side of the tank rust out too. Don't use it till its fixed. Google burnt out vanagon.

Better safe than sorry this is a real threat

[silverbullet]

I had this symptom with a 50% or more tank, but it only was whiffy when laning and fuel was sloshing about. As Lee says it's usually the filler pipe that sits on top of the chassis leg in the rear arch, they collect crud and rot through.
In my case, I stripped and bead blasted the pipe but it was fine. Got it re-plated, red lead primed and painted in tough acrylic.
The actual problem was with the filler neck in the rear wing, it was barely hanging together below the rubber seal in the plastic panel. Petrols seem to suffer more than diesels (from where I got my replacement part) maybe it's a solvent/rainwater problem.
PS check the "box" in the rear wing, there isn't a proper drain for rain water or fuel spills, just the gap between the rubber nose and the conduit in the body. The hose can often be a b###ard to get out, I couldn't get mine to budge.
Get it sorted!
PPS it might be the tank vents/hoses too...

[HarryMann]

All those plus... underneath and behind the pipe on the rear chassis where it gets mud between pipe and flitch plate.