Petrol Smell in Car

[daniel11]

Hi,

I am a little concerned about my 58 plate Aygo Platinum. There is a smell of petrol coming through the air vents when the air con is set to bring in fresh air as oppose to recirculate the old air. The smell gets much stronger when manouevering at low speeds but is almost undetectable when driving at normal road speeds. I also can't smell anything from the outside or under the bonnet either.

I can't see any signs of a visible leak of petrol either so it's a bit of a mystery. 

Has anyone else experienced anything similar?

 

Thanks

Daniel

[fordulike]

Did it on a Micra I had. Only happened during the first 10 minutes of driving, starting engine from cold. The engine dumps more fuel into the combustion chambers when cold, so can expel petrol fumes from the exhaust until warm. The fumes used to enter the cabin on slow manoeuvers.

If you can still smell petrol once engine is up to temperature, then best to investigate further.

[Plob]

I if you put heat on in the wife's Citroen Berlingo it smells of chicken Korma!!!! Mmmmmmmm.....

[Konrad C]

15 hours ago, Plob said:

I if you put heat on in the wife's Citroen Berlingo it smells of chicken Korma!!!! Mmmmmmmm.....

Years ago, I had a Mk1 Ford Fiesta with a similar smell, and it was a leaking heater matrix, not a bad leak. It was cheap and easy to replace matrix, so not a problem.

Personally I would have the fuel system checked, as it sounds like there is a leak with the fuel enrichment system. May be a seal? 

[Kenny500]

If you can smell it, them it's leaking somewhere l'm afraid. It needs to be sorted hopefully it's just a small problem at the moment but leave it and it will only get worse. After it's done might be an idea to change to A/C filter and recondition the A/C.

Good Luck 

[daniel11]

Its been a while since I lasted visited these forums. Thanks for the input. 

I had 2 separate mechanics look at the car but they couldn't see any obvious leaks. It went in on Monday for some in depth investigation and the problem turned out to be a leaking inlet manifold gasket which has now been fixed and the smell is gone.

Just thought I'd post this here in case it turns out to be helpful to anyone else may have a similar issue.