can anyone help me I have a 2003 TL magna and every time I come back from a drive and turn my car off there is a strong smell of fuel around the back of the car.. car has new exhaust and catt converter no smell from the engine bay, seems to be around filler cap but cap is new, when I open a rear door the smell fills the car, im worried about it because I have kids in the car, I cant seem to find any leaks, has anyone had this same problem who could help me out with some advice cheers

Coincidentally the fuel filter is about where the rear left wheel is, which is the same position where you say you smell petrol..Check under the car in that area for any leak. Have you replaced the fuel filter?

join the club..i been trying to sort out a fuel smell same area aswell.

thanks ill check it out, I know that where the fuel filler pipe heads towards the tank it is joined by a rubber hose similer to a radiator hose which feeds directly to tank so ill look there for leaks also

I had a similar issue but it didnt really come to a head until one day I filled it up with petrol and then parked on a slope so that the rear left of the car was at the lowest point. Then it started leaking petrol.

Ended up taking it to a mits dealer who dropped the tank and discovered that one of the hoses around the filler was not tightened properly.

Never had any problems since. Cost me about $100. I spent ages underneath the car trying to work out where it was coming from but you cant really see anything in that area. The dealer had all the gear to drop the tank so in the end it was the easiest option.

Replace the fuel cap with a new CPC one. I did this with my AWD VRX and the fuel smell I was getting from the rear of the car disappeared.

The seals on the caps do fail overtime.

so I've checked for leaks, none that I can see, checked fuel filter, replaced the fuel cap, and its still there.. if I start the car and don't drive it then turn it off no fuel smell its only after driving the car,.. this might sound stupid but the smell is strongest around the fuel cap/ filler area, nothing in the engine bay, so im wondering could it just be the breather pipe after around 30 seconds the smell goes away... does anyone know if the breather pipe can get blocked? can you unblock it with air pressure? or is it just nothing to worry about, just seems strange for it to be normal for a later model car, as I said I cant see any leaks what so ever and I don't seem to be using extra fuel,, its only pissing me off because when I open the left rear door after stopping the car to get my 8 month old daughter out the fuel smell fill the cabin of the car, and I don't see how this can be a normal occurrence, im asking for ideas because once you take the car to a mechanic its $$$$$$$$$$$$ for them to find anything......cheers for the replies and ideas ROUGH IDLE I haven't tried your idea yet so I will do that later on today and see if any leaks that way... thanks

No luck guess ill just have to live with it

Faulty charcoal canister maybe??

Leak around filler pipe to tank. Damaged hard line from tank would cause a drop of fuel pressure that you would most likely notice. Check it to be safe. In order:

Check the wide pipe to the tank from the filler. Check for any movement in the hose.

Remove the plastic assembly surrounding the filler cap. Check for any leaks.

Check fitting from tank to hard line.

Check for damage to hard line

Take it to a mechanic/dealership to get the tank dropped.

If it's possible that the smell is coming from the engine bay, this changes things somewhat.

thanks for all the replies, I took it to a mechanic they dropped the tank but couldn't find any leaks there only advice was to change the cap which I had already done...so at the end of the day I don't get a good experience driving the car anymore having to sniff petrol every time I turn the car off so probably going to get rid of it

I posted about this in another thread.

Exact same symptoms...

The problem with mine is the ratcheting of the fuel cap. As it ages, the ratcheting on the cap wears the lugs down and it starts clicking (can't be tightened) before it is actually pushing the rubber o ring into the filler neck.

By gripping my fuel cap like a gorilla while twisting and delaying the ratcheting, I can get it to go on a fraction further and the smell disappears.

I assume the generic cap you got from repco has the same problem. I'd suggest buying a genuine brand new cap from Mitsubishi first.

At such time my temporary solution stops working, I will also need a new genuine fuel cap.

Excessive turning of the fuel cap once it starts clicking accelerates the problem. I don't do more than 1 click on my 380 for this reason.

exactly what my fuel smell was the cap i replaced it with one from auto one smell gone!

thanks everyone,, seems stupid that I bought a brand new fuel cap and the smell of fuel continued however I did as others like FLYBOY suggested and bought an original mitsies one and low and Fu__ing behold smell gone for good.... what a joke that you buy a cap from repco saying its for a TL magna im sure the cap they sold me is fine but why cant they make one like the mitsies one, if they are going to sell you one that they claim is just like the original....then be like the bloody original......anyway people thanks so much for all your feed back its appreciated lucky it was a $30 fix instead of a $300 fix.......happy days no more fuel smell

:happy:

I get this. Makes filling the car up more enjoyable ;)

Hi Guys, I had the same problem with my TH Sport, particularly if I got clumsy filling too far. Apparently the small overflow tube which takes spills away from the fiil area was clogged with dirt which turned to mud when mixed with petrol. A couple of seconds with a stiff wire down the tube followed by a water pressure flush has cleared it and haven't had a sniff since (6 months)

I had a similar issue but it didnt really come to a head until one day I filled it up with petrol and then parked on a slope so that the rear left of the car was at the lowest point. Then it started leaking petrol.
This has happened to me twice lately, might buy a new cap now

Glad you got it sorted, Mack.

With the new cap, when you put it back in, only go one or two clicks.

Rip it around fast so it goes click click click click about ten times and you will accelerate the wear of the plastic lugs which control the racheting. Once they are worn, it ratchets far too early (before the black rubber o ring is contacting the filler neck) and you will need another new cap!