I just bought a 1989 Volvo 240 DL that is in excellent shape. But the gas gauge seems to be going a little faster than it should, but it might just be in my head. After driveing, if I stuck my head near the rear tire and I can smell faint gas fumes. Is this normal since the gas tank is there or is there a small gas leak?

 

You might have some sort of leak I would inspect ASAP.

 

Check your mileage against the others here and at fueleconomy.gov

 

Grr....I'll check do a milege check first. It'll take a couple of weeks because I just filled it up and didn't look to see how many gallons i put in.

If there was a gas leak, are they really hard to find? Is it like an on going issue where I have to keep takeing it back to the mechanic and it might get found on the 10th time if I'm lucky?

 

Hi there,

I recently picked up an '88 240 wagon from a single owner. I had gas fumes coming into the back of the car, too. It was intermittant and definitely more noticable after I filled up. I checked all over for a gas leak. I looked everywhere. Finally, I noticed that the filler neck where the gas cap screws on was a little bit 'egg' shaped. It was more of an oval instead of the circle that it should be. Kind of like it got pinched or squeezed somehow. For some reason I was told that this just happens over time. I'm not sure how. Maybe the previous owner liked to drive off with the gas nozzle still in the filler neck. Regardless, it looked to me that the threads of the after-market gas cap weren't completely matching up with the threads on the filler neck.

I used a large set of channel lock pliers and a heavy rag (so that I didn't scrach the metal) and pinched the filler neck back to being more circular. I've since filled up (all the way up) four or five times and have not had a gas smell since.

Other things to check just in case:

There is a little rubber drain hole under the gas filler cap. This drain hole runs down a tube that is supposed to exit out the bottom of car. The tube can be checked on the passenger-side compartment in the back of the wagon. Make sure that this drain hose is actually exiting to the outside. Sometimes the tube can rest inside.

Also, it's not too difficult to pull up the 'floor' in the back of the wagon (there are a series of screws just behind the back seat when you fold it forward). With the 'floor' off there is a cover piece you can take off to look at the top of the gas tank where the fuel-level guage attaches. Make sure that there isn't a leak here. With a flashlight you can kind of get a look at the top of the tank, too. You might be able to see any leak trails if they exist.

Another place could be the fuel filter area. If your fuel filter hasn't been changed in a while it would be worth replacing it anyways.

Good luck,

I hope this helps.