fuel vapor smell

[Whaanga]

Hello,

Recently I replaced my single progressive Weber with a set of rebuilt dual Solex’s. It’s taken a while but they are now dialed in and working very well.

The only issue is I’m getting a fuel smell from the left side of the engine - which is especially noticeable from the air scoop. I noticed it with the single Weber, but it seems to be more prominent with the dual Solex’s. I’ve done my best to check the vent lines and the small rubber joints in the system (including the one under the spare tire) and they are all solid from when I replaced them a few years ago.

I would be grateful for suggestions of how I might track down the source of these fuel vapor smells I’m experiencing.

Thank You,

Jeff
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Late 1973 Bay w/a transplanted 914 Engine

[SGKent]

look up under the spare tire well really hard with a flash light and you will probably find a broken vapor hose
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Canned Water - the new California approved parts cleaner (except in a drought in which case rub it with sand).

George Carlin:
"Most people don't know what they're doing, and a lot of them are really good at it."

Skills@EuroCarsPlus:
"never time to do it right but always time to do it twice"

[lil-jinx]

removing the left tail light allows access to that hose ,at least it allows you to see it,even if your arm don't fit thru it
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https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=620186
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=668799
1974 Bay Westfalia. she likes to be called Ethel.
1968 Dune Buggy sold dec 2024

1974 parts bus
A smart man learns from his mistakes,a very smart man learns from other's mistakes.

[lil-jinx]

my left side solex will wet the throttle shaft ,when i pump the fuel with engine off,the gas hits the throttle plate and seeps out the front .not a problem when running.
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https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=620186
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=668799
1974 Bay Westfalia. she likes to be called Ethel.
1968 Dune Buggy sold dec 2024

1974 parts bus
A smart man learns from his mistakes,a very smart man learns from other's mistakes.

[mikedjames]

It could be a broken breather pipe joiner - the inaccessible one up behind the spare wheel tub can fail in a year or so: when you fill the tank to the top, there is fuel in the pipe on the left at the joiner, but not on the right hand side (it is downstream of the loop in the vent on the right) . Then it gets hard and cracks with heat rising .

Or it could be a sticking float valve in the left hand carburettor.
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Ancient vehicles and vessels

1974 VW T2 : Devon Eurovette camper with 1641 DP T1 engine, Progressive carb, full flow oil cooler, EDIS crank timed ignition.
Engine 1: 40k miles (rocker shaft clip fell off), Engine 2: 30k miles (rebuild, dropped valve). Engine 3: a JK Preservation Parts "new" engine, aluminium case: 26k miles: new top end.
Gearbox rebuild 2021 by Bears.

1979 Westerly GK24 24 foot racer/cruiser yacht Forethought of Gosport.
1973 wooden Pacer sailing dinghy

[Whaanga]

Thanks for the replies. I took a look at the rubber joint for the caper system u see the spare tire well. The hose looks a little small so I swapped it out with one that was longer to cover both ends of the metal vapor lines.

The photo shows the hose before I swapped it out.

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Late 1973 Bay w/a transplanted 914 Engine

[Wildthings]

[SGKent]