Date:         Fri, 17 Jul 1998 11:06:53 -0700
Reply-To:     Austin <austins@IX.NETCOM.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Austin <austins@IX.NETCOM.COM>
Subject:      Re: Gas odor after fill-up
Comments: To: Roy Mellor <roym@ARISTOTLE.NET>, vanagon@vanagon.com
In-Reply-To:  <35B0240C.1D7C@aristotle.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

At 10:26 PM 7/17/98 -0600, you wrote:
>Hello Volks,
>
>My '85 Westy has a strong gas odor outside the van after I fill-up.
>It's mostly on the passenger side and goes away after a few days.
>
>No, don't see anything dripping from below but I suspect something is
>wrong. Has anyone else had and solved this problem before? TIA.
>
>Roy Mellor
>Little Rock, AR
>'85 GL Westy "Humbert"
>
BTST!!  (been there smelt that)

It's time to get close & personal with your fuel tank!!  LOTS of fun,
schedule an afternoon to do the job right.

Get _every_ piece of rubber (~7?) that goes into the tank from your local
VW dealer before you start, especially the crossover tube assembly (don't
neglect the humongous rubber donut for the filler tube).

Drop the tank (as close to empty as possible), clean it carefully (look for
rust-through - you're SOL if it's there); replace the rubber inserts,
pre-position the crossover tube ass'y, re-raise the tank replacing hoses as
you can.

It definitely helps to jack up the front end & remove the wheels - allows
access over/behind the brake discs.

Austin