Hi all, just bought another Volvo 240 after selling my last.

Now I'll mention first up, if anything rusting can cause this issue, it's highly likely, this car has rust everywhere, you can poke a screwdriver through the wheel arch from the boot, the body is fairly rusty but the cars relatively sound as a whole.

Has 242,000KM and a broken odometer, no idea how long it's been broken for.

Anyway, on left hand turns, there is a very, very strong fuel smell in the car, if a 10 is sticking your head inside a jerry can, the interior is an 8 after turning left.

Today after turning left fairly hard with a full tank it actually dumped enough fuel to leave a 5 meter trail behind the car, the rear qtr was fairly wet, seemed to be coming out the filler if I'm not mistaken.

I've never seen it leak like that before, but the fuel smell has always been constant, so the leak would appear to be somewhere fairly obscure, only coming out the filler tube in extreme situations.

Is there meant to be some sort of one way valve in the filler tube that's potentially been removed or broken? Very strong fuel smell inside the boot, but no evidence of a leak, removed panel and inspected filler tube, appears in good condition and intact.

Any ideas?

thanks.

 

Inspect the tank itself, as you say the car is so rusty, the tank may be rusty on top and it spills over as you turn, especially with a full tank... Hard to do this without having the car up in the air on a hoist. And, use caution, spilling gas all over the place is bad for all kinds of reasons, only one of which is fire.

 

Well the tank doesn't look too bad from the bottom, there's an oily residue on the bottom which doesn't really have a smell, sort of dark green in colour, seems pretty consistent with what the rest of the car looks like..

There's no fuel smell evident under the car, but the boot even after sitting all night still smells strongly, and always has, so I'm thinking the issue is above the tank somewhere.

How would fuel leak out on a left turn anyway, is the filler tube the only way it can go? Any vents etc? Is there a diagram of the fuel system anywhere I can find?

thanks

 

Left turn with a full tank will cause spillage if there was a leak on the right high side. Above the tank, there sis nothing except may be the fill pipe neck.
Wait for other members here to chime in, they look up things like diagrams, etc.

 

Assuming the 1989 is like my 1993, could be the opening for the fuel pump. That retaining nut can rust like a demon and if the car has as much rust as you're saying it could very well be. When I went to put in a new in-tank fuel pump, the top metal part of the pump and the retainer were pretty thin and shot but weren't leaking.

After I put the new pump in; I didn't have that retainer in correctly and it didn't have a perfect seal (the O-ring under yours might be deteriorated) it leaked big time. Mine would pour out gas after filling up all the way until the level got down enough below the top of the tank and would spill a little while turning until the level was lower. Even when the level was lower, it wouldn't spill anymore but the gas smell would stay in the car. Once I fixed that seal, smell all gone.

Does yours quit "spilling" after the gas tank level is lower? If so I would look there. Access panel should be in the trunk, mine is a wagon.

 

you got three hoses going to the top of the gas tank....

I had oily residue on the bottom of my tank as the fuel spilled from the top and mixed in with road grime and oil....
check the thickest hose from the tank to the pump as it is rubber....
check your fuel rail.....take a look if there is fuel leaking out the injectors or the two hoses on the fire wall check your fuel pressure regulator hoses....

 

Two places I would suspect a leak. Top of the sending unit as nuclearseal suggested. I don't know what kind of metal they use for it but it seems to rust like crazy. Other place is where the filler pipe enters the tank. Perhaps the filler pipe has rusted out. To see it, you need to jack up the rear of the car and crawl underneath to take a look. Feel around in there for rust holes (or dampness from the gas). The leak could be on the filler pipe itself or where it enters the tank.

 

Yeah that filler neck connection could be bad too. I had that issue after I dropped the tank to redo my fuel pump but it was my fault for not putting it back on correctly.

There is a clamp on it with a screw, either of which could have rusted out, even if that clamp is on but loose it can still leak. The O-ring on it could have easily dried up and cracked. Or the two "lips" the clamp holds onto on both the neck and tank could have issues.

 

I think the possibilities for the leak source have been covered. I just wanted to say I hope you're in another state or country rolling around in what has been described as a very unsafe vehicle in more than one way. I sure don't want something like that on the roads I travel with my wife and kids. That said, get it fixed or get it and keep it off the road.

 

Brakes work, 4 new tyres, and an attentive driver, I think I'm doing better than most on the road, rest assured.

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There is definitely no front end leak, all injectors are sealed properly (had an oring crap out on my last car, fuel in a hot engine bay isn't fun!)

No leaks front/middle end of lines.

Parked or highway cruising it will not leak a drop or even smell, it's just left turns.

Is there at all meant to be a one way valve or something? It definitely seems to be coming out of the filler tube on left turns and I think that's my only issue.

Note inside fuel cap was wet, dripping down rear right bumper/mudflap.
I just don't understand why it seems to be coming out the filler tube... Doesn't make sense to me.

Filler tube inside the boot is all dry and what not, literally the only leakage comes out of the fuel cap, so what the hell lol...
A failed one way valve is all I can think of, but do 240s even have one?

 

Cool, by the way you made it sound [rust] I thought it was about ready to break in half or the brakes lines might be rusted out Not that leaking fuel isn't dangerous

I just went out and looked at my old '83 and it has a little flapper where you stick the gas nozzle so I would assume newer ones would as well. I'm not sure if that is designed to keep fuel from spewing but a good sealing gas cap surely would if it's coming from within.

If you see no apparent issue with the tank, sending unit, lines etc... and as you mentioned the exterior quarter panel was wet then I'd take a close look at the cap. Get it fixed, you're wasting money on lost fuel and if you or someone nearby you smokes or there's a spark ....................

 

Yeah the cap is rather old, original metal type, probably as old as the car is, I'm trying an old oil cap oring (came with flame trap kit) at the top of the cap, will see if it helps seal better.

Ordered new cap off ebay.

 

the little flap is mostly there as an anti-siphon device, and as a restrictor so you can only use an unleaded gas pump nozzle which is skinnier than the old leaded gas nozzles were.

the cap is supposed to be air tight, and the tank is vented to the charcoal canister. if those vent tubes were disconnected or cracked, then fuel certainly could slosh out of there.

 

99% sure its fixed.

3/5 full tank, belted it around a few corners and not even a whiff, whereas before a mild turn would have the car smelling worse than a servo .

I'm very pleased it was as cheap as using an old oil cap o-ring to seal up lol, almost a perfect fit.

Left over from a flame trap kit..

Very nice car to drive now lol.