Gas Smell through Air Vent in 2002 Boxster

[Tony190]

I have recently picked up a 2002 Boxster. I have noticed that there are gas smell coming into the cabin through the air vent. I looked at some previous posts and took out the battery to check the fuel sender unit. With the battery tray remove, I see gas all over the cap that keeps the fuel sender unit in place. See Picture . Do you guys think I should replace the whole unit or just the O-ring? For anyone who has gone through this repair, what are some thing I should look out for? Thanks in advance!

[Gilles]

Tony, I had exactly the same issue with my wife's 2008 Volvo S60, on which the plastic that surrounds the connector developed a crack and fuel was sipping out.. (BTW, on the S60, the fuel tank is underneath the rear seat, so you can imagine the smell..)

The cracked plastic cover was a part of the fuel pump, therefore I ordered a new FP and a the large O-ring that sits between the bottom of the plastic cover and the fuel tank.

I would suggest you to lube the large O-ring with silicone grease so when you are tightening the collar you don't squeeze the O-ring.

Note: Before you loose the collar, I would suggest first to blow compressed air and properly clean everything! Otherwise you will be dropping dirt and grime inside the fuel tank..

[Tony190]

Hi Gilles,
When you replaced the fuel sender unit, did you have the drain all of the gas or did you just drive the car to close to an empty tank and replaced the unit without draining? Also how did you clean the gas leaks next to the sender unit ? I find it quite hard to just wipe it off, it still smells really bad when I cleaned it with just degreaser and towel.

Thanks

[Gilles]

Hello Tony, I first tried to fix the fuel leak on the cracked base of the connector with epoxy.. unfortunately didn't work out, so I bought a new fuel pump assembly.

I did Not have to drain the tank, I just run the car a little longer after the fuel light came on (perhaps half reserve) and then was able to remove the collar without spilling fuel everywhere (guess how I learned about this tip.. LOL). Before removing the external lock (collar), just try to clean the lid and all the surroundings as much as possible to avoid getting dirt inside the fuel tank.

As long as you are in the reserve and clean the lid you should be ok, one more thing, "mark" the position of the lid on the tank as this will ensure that you have an accurate reading afterwards, not sure about the Boxter, but on the Volvo the lid is not keyed (you can install it ant any position) and the fuel level reading was not accurate, therefore I had to do it again..