New Old thread- gas fumes in cabin 16V

[MDE3]

....well as so often happens the soution was "right before our eyes"..at least so it would seem.

Apparently with all the smoke and pressure testing done, this leak escaped us. It was leaking at the union of the copper elbow and the tank outlet spiggot..a flared coupling...We replaced this hose in june with a used line from my donor car when finishing the engine/trans/diff swap in this car, because the previous hose was rotted out from the car sitting, and leaked profusely. I guess it's tough to get a flared fitting from one car..already used once, to fit correctly on a different male union.

We pressure tested the tank itself while it was removed (of course the hose was disconnected during the removal of the tank), and smoke tested the entire system while intalled, and saw no leak. Although there was evidence of previous leakage there at one point..no "live fuel" was ever seen until Sat. morning past (no real pressure with the smoke test, and the leak was below any air in the tank..so no visible leakage..and it was not constant, except when driving.

Now I am just hoping a new hose alone will solve the problem...the outlet pipe and male union has been "bonded" to this tank from some previous repair...we may have to swap tanks in the final fix, if this new hose and flair does not do the trick.

[Randy]

I filled up the '86 420 SEL today and I swear I could smell gas; I had the sunroof open so I closed it and they went away. Not exactly strong enough to be sure, but I really am going to check mine out after reading your posts.
I had Grand Marquis once, whcih woudl smell of gas when it was full. I finally found a tiny leak in the tank, so small that the gas would evaporate and never make a wet spot on the garage floor. Replaced the tank and problem solved.