Club 80-90 Forums

When I've filled up I can smell fuel quite strongly when I park up. I guess this is part of the known problem with the fuel tank and leaks, but could I ask for a little more detail about how to set about finding the cause.
Would you normally drop the tank first? Can you see the breather system and all the relevant pipes from just getting under there or is anything hidden and a little hard to get to. I don't have a pit so I will be crawling under there, and probably in the wet.
I guess I am asking for those with experience of looking for the faults to give me a quick run down on what they did and any problems they encountered. Forewarned is forearmed as they say.

Also is it normally necessary to get a new fuel tank? I've seen them for sale on JK, didn't seem too expensive.

Thanks in advance.

Some of the pipes you can access under front wheel arches (with wheels removed) but often best on a T25 that has had no work in that area to just remove tank so you can check seams for leaks etc and do a thorough job. They can rot from the top & along seams, and rubber grommets can deteriorate. Hoses too.

Yep. Those expansion tank hoses seem to be a key culprit (I know I'm driving around with a split one) for causing a whiff when you fill up.
Unless your filler neck has gone too...
Or the top of the tank's holed..

This used to happen to me and fuel spilled out quite dramatically when filled to the top. Eventually had to have a replacement tank - a little expensive but well worth it!

check the pipes and seas first though - if you're lucky it'll be one of those and a lot cheaper!

There are a few rubber grommets that seal pipes on the top of the tank. they could be perished or not seating properly.

Like Covkid said check around the expansion tanks and if your still baffled then drop the tank. But before you do that get a good length of good quality fuel hose to replace all the pipes

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5mm for expansion tank hoses

Having just had a seriously leaking tank, I would definitely drop the tank to check it out properly. Check the tank and all the breather pipes, and all the fuel lines front to back.

I've slowly been working through and replacing all the fuel pipes - this is the kind of thing I've found:



This 2 inch piece of pipe leads into the engine bay and is easy to miss. When I found it (and you can usually sniff it out!) it was sodden with fuel and dripping on to the engine. The smell was stronger after driving.

Mines is an injection engine and I would recommend fuel pipe rated to SAE J30R9 or R7, which handles modern fuels much better. You can get this from Volksbolts.

But do get it seen to as a matter of urgency.

p.s. Brickwerks also do the full range of fuel tanks.

Ronnie, did you take that hose to work and photograph it in their studio? Looks almost like a new line of 'retro' GSF fittings to add that 'ilved in' look

CovKid wrote:Ronnie, did you take that hose to work and photograph it in their studio? Looks almost like a new line of 'retro' GSF fittings to add that 'ilved in' look

yes - they're all using them in T2 land!! It's a new JK line for Christmas!

i think that's what the gsf pipes look like after 3 months!!!

Managed to spend some time on it today, first time I have managed to have a good look around. Found one of the pipes not connected on the nearside expansion tank, I joined the only two pipes I could find hanging around together, so hopefully they were the right ones. Couldn't see anything else wrong. I haven't filled up again yet, so we shall see if that was all it was. Mind you the fuel gauge was saying full to the brim, so I would of expected the unattached hose to have drained it down a bit, but maybe the gauge is a bit vague.

Apart from that though I didn't find much else wrong with it, not a lot of rust and everything else seemed in good order for its age. Maybe I have got lucky for once? Do they normally keep this well?

And thanks for the advice/suggestions, spot on.

Guage is nowhere near accurate. Ages ago I ran out of petrol. At that time 'reserve' meant there was at least a tenner still in it but I pushed my luck one night and conked out. After much clearing of fuel line/carb/filter I was back running again but after a dash clock hardwire (membrane was prone to probs), the connections on the actual guage changed and now reserve means "if you don't see a garage within the next 20 yards, you'll be pushing mate".