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Wed Jun 18, 2014 10:53 pm

I have a 78 camper 2.0 fuel injected. I always smell fuel after I fill up. I have had all fuel lines replaced because I have already had a engine fire in my other bus 86 vanagon.!!! Worst shit in the world!!! I am new to the air cooled world and am looking for any responses!! Thank You!!

Wed Jun 18, 2014 11:05 pm

Did you replace your fuel filler neck? How about all of the vapor lines including the one up and behind the spare tire well?

Thu Jun 19, 2014 7:43 am

I had the same issue on my bus when I bought it until I rebuilt my engine. I replaced all my fuel hoses at once, but the one that was giving me the smell in the cabin was the red one in this photo:

http://ratwell.com/technical/FuelHoses/09-FuelBreatherHoses.jpg

You have to replace it kind of blind unless you have your engine out and do some contortionist maneuvers to get your head in place. I just used my phone to snap a shot so I could see what things looked like in there.

Sun Jun 22, 2014 6:29 am

Hey,
I noticed that you are from NY.
I have been having the same problem.
Last month I took a trip out to Pennsylvania and filled up 3 or 4 times.
No Fuel smell the whole trip. Got back to NY and filled up, smell came back.

I think the vapor seal on the NY pumps, aside from making it a PITA to get the filler onto the bus, might allow the pump to overfill, by not allowing the pump shut-off switch soon enough.

I still plan on checking my filler hose anyway though.

Sun Jun 22, 2014 8:59 am

90* elbow at the top center of the tank...almost always cracked wide open. It is also NLA.

Sun Jun 22, 2014 9:03 am

You'll need to pull off the firewall and that pie plate on the right side. Doubtful that there's an easy fix.

Sun Jun 22, 2014 9:24 am

udidwht wrote: 90* elbow at the top center of the tank...almost always cracked wide open. It is also NLA.

The later buses don't use the elbow so he should be good there. All he needs to do is buy a length of 5/16" 30r9 or 30r14 hose and cut it to the appropriate lengths to replace all the short hose section in the vent lines.

The Dodge Sprinter (search) hose will work in place of hose #7 and the filler elbow #1 and the rubber "T" used in place of #15a can be had from Bus Depot, WCM, or many other sources.

Might as well do all the hoses and the elbow at the same time and get it over with for the next ten or fifteen years (with luck).

Sun Jun 22, 2014 10:31 am

Start simple before you start pulling out firewalls, pie plates, filler necks, etc. Ask me how I know.

Check to make the rubber seal on your gas cap is in good order.

It is most likely something more involved than this, but it is the least labor intensive place to start. That's what did it for me. New gas cap and I was good to go.

Sun Jun 22, 2014 9:05 pm

Yup what Wildthings said -- look at the diagram and go through them all. I had to replace mine -- they were total crud after 37 years...

Sun Jun 22, 2014 9:05 pm

Yup what Wildthings said -- look at the diagram and go through them all. I had to replace mine -- they were total crud after 37 years...

Sun Jun 22, 2014 10:11 pm

Be prepared with an assortment of Really really short screwdrivers. I think we eventually pushed the damaged filler neck into the body and got to it via the pie plate since the hose clamp screw was facing the body. We then lifted it to align the new filler neck then again lowered it to tighten the clamp. Getting the filler neck to align to the body is sort of tricky too. Just have to do it.

If you're prone to swearing a lot during automotive operations... this one will bring out some interesting vernacular!

Mon Jun 23, 2014 7:39 am

If you end up replacing the upper 90 degree metal tube to body rubber piece you can use your old one as reference to line up the new one (just be sure to NOT loosed the clamp while removing it). That will save you a lot of time and trouble. :)

Mon Jun 23, 2014 8:38 am

I had that same issue when i bought my 74 bus. I ended up just taking the filler hose out so i could check it out. Pretty easy to do. Only need two tools. A phillips head screwdriver and flathead, maybe. The flathead was basically just to pull the hose clamps off.
The only thing that made it a little tricky was the angle you had to get your arm into that hole inside. Wished i had two elbows. But, it was still a really easy job, and a cheap fix for that rubber piece. Less than $20 if i remember correctly.

Mon Jun 23, 2014 8:49 am

aopisa wrote: Start simple before you start pulling out firewalls, pie plates, filler necks, etc. Ask me how I know.

Check to make the rubber seal on your gas cap is in good order.

It is most likely something more involved than this, but it is the least labor intensive place to start. That's what did it for me. New gas cap and I was good to go.

I think its best to just pull the plate and firewall to see the condition of the fuel lines. then get all the replacement tubes all at once. I was new to buses when I got mine, I didnt know where the gas tank was. :D I'll be doing the breather and filler lines next.

Mon Jun 23, 2014 9:34 am

aopisa wrote: Start simple...Check to make the rubber seal on your gas cap is in good order.

One reason I love The Samba, the potential for simplicity to emerge out of nowhere. I don't have this problem going on, but if it appears, that's what I'll check first.

I'm also in the NY area, and wonder what affect the vapor nozzles might be having: stands to reason if it is only just after fill up.

Having said that, it does seem like a good maintenance idea to replace all the lines. And what's better than wishing you had 2 elbows?

Tue Jul 22, 2014 7:54 pm

An experience I had recently got me thinking about the logistics of how the tank fills up and how the fuel travels when the tank is full.

Basically, while on a camping trip (read: miles from home) I had a gas pump fail to shut off resulting in fuel not only splashing out of the filler, but also dripping out of the other side of the bus.

Seems my vapor connection behind the spare tire well was cracked. (new one only lasted 2 summers)

Pic courtesy of Ratwell

Upon getting towed home (after 2 nights in a tent next to a smelly bus) I looked into how gas pumps actually shut off.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFKOD3KRkZs

Basically, the pump shuts off when the gas reaches the end of the nozzle.

As the nozzle is higher than the majority of the vapor lines, is it safe to say that when you full the tank, the bottom portion of the lines are full too? Just due to gravity?

Tue Jul 22, 2014 9:12 pm

Never top off the tank. I just fill on the slowest speed with the nozzle pushed in as far as it will go and when it clicks off it is done, you would not be doing yourself any favors trying to force another tenth of a gallon in. Not sure what hose I used on my vapor lines, probably the European FI hose I can get pretty cheap, but it is 7 years old at this point.

If you fill you tank as full as you can get it and then park it on a hot day without having driven it very far, you have to get gas leaking out somewhere as it will expand as it warms.