Smell of Petrol

[DaveB with a Z3]

So I went out Friday afternoon to take my horses saddle in for repair ( yes I do ride a horse) and there was a choice of main roads or a longer cross country route. No prize for guessing which one I took.
I drove the hour and a half there with the hood up as we had some rain but I was hot from driving so came back with the hood down. About half way back I got a whiff of petrol to go with the burning brake pads. I pulled over and the filler cap was tight and I can't see any obvious leaks or signs of.
Is the smell normal if driven hard ?
Thanks in anticipation

 

[Sean d]

So I went out Friday afternoon to take my horses saddle in for repair ( yes I do ride a horse) and there was a choice of main roads or a longer cross country route. No prize for guessing which one I took.
I drove the hour and a half there with the hood up as we had some rain but I was hot from driving so came back with the hood down. About half way back I got a whiff of petrol to go with the burning brake pads. I pulled over and the filler cap was tight and I can't see any obvious leaks or signs of.
Is the smell normal if driven hard ?
Thanks in anticipation

I too have had this on a couple of occasions, both after refuelling, still not sure what it was but it hasn't happened for a few months

 

[Eddie Zedder]

If you can't smell it with the engine off I would guess it was probably just a whiff from the exhaust.

 

[Grumps]

No it's not normal, there must be a reason for the smell.

 

[the Nefyn cat]

Smell of petrol never good, I've had the same with mine a couple of times but not tracked it down yet.

 

[Dino D]

I've only had this happen the filler cap was not on properly, quite easy to do and not immediately obvious that's it's not quite sealed.

 

[sad_old_man]

Look on the bright side! At least its petrol your smelling along with hot brakes and not the smell of diesel ???

 

[Low Rider]

Could you require a replacement petrol cap or rubber on the cap. This was brought to my attention during one of my Zed's MOT's
If I remember a new petrol cap cost me £25ish

 

[DaveB with a Z3]

Call me Mr. Vaseline.
I removed the rubber seal round the petrol cap cleaned it and gave both sides a thin coating of Vaseline and re fitted the gap.
Went for a thrash with the hood down and no petrol smell. Obviously it's too early to say for sure but I'm well happy.
I've also applied some to the rubber seal around each door and they felt dry to the touch before hand.
A good step forward withy minor niggles

 

[David]

My understanding is:

In general, for rubber parts use autoglym vinyl/rubber conditioner, or gummipflege. Do not use anything petroleum based, as it can deteriorate rubber/plastic.

 

[DaveB with a Z3]

Bugger
I was advised to use Vaseline by a fellow Z owner who swears by it. I'll wipe it off tomorrow night and do some proper research

 

[colb]

Put some Gummipflege on the rubber as mentioned above, it will restore the rubber so it seals better

 

[DaveB with a Z3]

Ooh - we have a swear filter

 

[Sean d]

I think my problem was the filler cap as it stopped when I topped up

 

[Bozzy]

I had this happen once and it turned out to be the same as Dino,I hadn't put the petrol cap on properly .
I used some silicon grease on the rubber collar where the cap sits which made it easier to get the cap back on.
Didn't have any gummipfedge at the time,which is great for rubber seals,as has been said.

 

[the Nefyn cat]

Got round to having a good look at the filler cap today, the seal is as perished as a very perished thing. So I had a look at RealOEM, the seal is no longer listed. Well, it is listed, but it says ENDED next to it. Looks like a phone call to Sopers again sometime soon, just need to think if there's anything else I'm likely to need in the near future. On mine it looks like a big fat O-ring, but I don't want to fiddle with it in case I make a bad thing worse.

 

[colb]

One of the guys on here who breaks Z's will probably have a rubber in better condition than the one you have.

 

[gookah]

b*****
I was advised to use Vaseline by a fellow Z owner who swears by it.

did you mention that it was for the car though?........