Strong petrol smell

[Farrell]

Hi,

Over the last couple of weeks i have been having a really strong smell of petrol after driving & i cant work out where its comming from.

Have noticed it now & again over the last few months but now seems to be every time i drive

Any ideas of where it could be comming from or where i should be looking ?

My car is a 07 1.6 special edition a3

 

Thanks for any help

[Dan3222]

Lots of cars are different but I am sure your A3 has access to the petrol tank under the base of the rear seat. My ber is that one of the plates/caps/lids or pipes is a little loose. Definately worth a look.

[Farrell]

Thanks, i did read about that before so have pulled my back seat up.

Everything looks ok & seems to be connected but will leave the seat off & have a look after a drive tomorrow. 

Thanks again

[Dan3222]

Does it smell of petrol more when you have a full tank?

[Farrell]

No its all the time

[Dan3222]

I have come across this two times in the past, one petrol one derv. The petrol one was obvious. One of the plates had been ill fitted. The diesel one was a pipe join. However, to find where each one was I followed advice on brimming the fuel tank, driving home (9 miles) lifting the seat and seeing what was wet. Easy to find.

But with petrol please be mindful, the liquid itself is not actually that flammable, but vapours are extremely flammable. Take care if you are doing anything here by yourself. Keep all doors open and if you need to move wire connections etc you might be safer to disconnect the battery!!

If the leak is not from the tank it is in the engine bay or somewhere along the flow and return pipes from-to tank and engine bay. Using some kitchen towel or tissues follow the pipes, dabbing the tissue on until you find a wet patch. Other than that I am out of ideas.

Good luck.

[cliffcoggin]

It may not be a leak of liquid fuel causing the stink. It's not unknown for a fuel tank vent pipe to be broken and allow fumes into the cabin. I have no idea where the vent pipe is located on a A3, but it's worth looking into.

[Charlie Daniels]

I have had the same problem in my audi A1 30tfsi sportback I got it in July brand new from audi warrington since I got it there has been a strong smell of petrol coming through the air vents audi have said its blowing from the exhaust in the wind but even on hot days no wind the problem still occurs audi haven't yet fixed the problem or even bothered to check out where the smell is coming from I have now given the car back as a 2 faults occured the power steering unit has failed and the windscreen wiper motors failed on the car leaving the windscreen wipers stuck in the middle of the windscreen they had to be replaced by audi but I'm not sure audi have replaced them or the power steering unit there is also another problem with the car every now and again when I start the car it sounds like a bad diesel van and when I lift the bonnet the engine is shaking violently these cars should be re called any faults like this found for the safety of drivers and passengers but all these car companies are interested in is money money money audi sort these problems out with your faulty cars before someone gets seriously injured or falls asleep at the wheel due to the bad petrol smells 

[cliffcoggin]

I sympathise with your troubles Charlie, but ranting about them here will achieve nothing as this forum is not owned or run by Audi. If you can not get satisfaction from the dealer you really aught to take legal advice on the matter.