1983 fuel smell in truck after gas fill up still their 30 miles later

[nh500sl]

I have a 1983 Mercedes 500 SL. I filled the fuel tank yesterday and drove it thirty miles. I have found there is a smell of fuel in the car particularly in the trunk. The gas cap is on the car. Any ideas at to what to check? Thanks Nick.

[meltedpanda]

there are vent lines from the tank, they somtimes can get cracked, they also have rubber connections that can soften and leak , have to get to them and look. I had that issue on several of my old MB's all have some sort of vent system, you just have to expose and repair

[abiby]

I'd replace the fuel cap as a first attempt.... cheap & easy.

Then as Ron says, there are vent hoses and a plastic expansion tank, all which may have leaks.

In my case the leak was a screw hole in the plastic expansion tank courtesey of a previous owner.

[nobby]

I had the same issue on my '83.

After replacing all the expansion tank cloth covered lines....the smell disappeared.

[Tom McMenamin]

I get criticicized but change the gas tank cap.

[97 SL320]

A few things.

1 Don't top off ( at least until the issue is taken care of. )

2 At the last fill, was there any fuel spillage? If so, the body to fill neck grommet might be letting some fuel drip into the trunk. Same goes for the fuel pocket drain.

3 As others have said, vent hoses crack. Also have a look at the fill neck hose clamps.