How to get rid of the smell of gasoline in a car

The smell of gasoline appears in the car interior for various reasons, mainly related to a malfunction of the fuel system. To eliminate the pungent odor, it is necessary to prevent fuel leakage. This is especially important to do as a malfunction can lead to a fire.

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All elements of the car’s fuel system are located along the length of the body - this was designed specifically for safety. The gas tank is placed away from the engine, in the rear of the car, to reduce the risk of explosion.

There are, of course, disadvantages to such a fuel system: the gas line is very long and it uses many connections and wiring. Most often, fuel leaks occur exactly where it is stored - that is, from the gas tank or other element that is located on or near it. You need to know how to eliminate such dangerous leaks.

The main causes of odor in the car interior:

• Tank

Since the bulk of the fuel is located in the tank, the search must begin there. Perhaps it is simply worn out or rusted.

The tank can hold up to 100 liters of fuel, so the weight when full can be very large, resulting in a lot of stress on the mountings. Most often, the tank is suspended from the body, and the suspension looks like curved iron strips that are evenly spaced under the bottom of the tank.

These strips are attached to the body using high-strength bolts, and, ideally, the tank should not move, but during driving, due to high vibration, it often rubs against the body of the car. The designers of the VAZ2110 thought about this, so they installed special rubber gaskets between the tank and the car body, but with intense and extreme driving, these gaskets slowly wear out, and therefore the tank begins to move a little, which leads to rubbing of the tank.

Advice
Periodically inspect all elements of fuel equipment and gas lines, as your safety depends on it.

The tank may also rust due to low-quality metal or fuel. This mainly happens in old cars and cannot be restored. If the tank on your car is worn out or rusted, then you need to change it immediately, and for prevention, monitor the tension of the tank fastenings more often.

• Tank neck

This is the second weak point. The neck is attached to the tank using a special gasket and bolts, as well as by welding. The latter method is less reliable because the welds are often destroyed - a bolted neck will last longer, even when the tank swings violently in different directions.

Therefore, when the smell of gasoline appears in the interior of a VAZ, the welding seams on the tank should be checked first.

• Neck cap

It should fit snugly to the neck, gasoline should not leak from under it, so monitor the condition of the gasket.

The lid also has a special valve through which steam is releaseds gasoline when the pressure in the tank increases (in summer). But due to wear of the gasket, the vapors will freely escape into the atmosphere.Basically, in modern cars, the neck of the tank is recessed into the car body and is closed with its own lid and on top with a hatch cover; as a result, when the gasket wears out, vapors enter the cabin and not outside.

If the gasket under the tank cap is in good condition, then you need to continue searching for the leak further. If the gasket is dry or cracked, the cover must be replaced.

• Fuel pump manhole cover

There is another rather vulnerable place in the tank - this is the cap to which the gas pump located in the tank is attached, this applies to modern cars, such as the VAZ2114.

The fuel pump cover is attached to the tank using bolts. There is also a rubber gasket under the cover, which is the weak point of the structure. This gasket is exposed to gasoline, which quickly destroys the rubber.

Advice
Experienced VAZ 2109 car owners recommend that if there is a smell of gasoline in the cabin, first of all, check the entire gas line for leaks, starting from the area under the rear seats and reaching the carburetor. However, if the car smells not of gasoline itself, but of exhaust gas, then special attention should be paid to the seals of the lights and rear doors.

If the fuel pump breaks down and the cover is removed and placed unevenly, the gasket may break or fail to fit tightly. In this case, it does not create the necessary tightness of the connection, which is why fuel leakage occurs. A torn or worn gasket must be replaced. You need to make sure that the lid is level.

Valve for the system of releasing gasoline vapors from the gas tank. Most often, a special valve is placed on the gas pump cap to release gasoline vapors from the gas tank.The valve has a pipe onto which a hose is placed—it is through this that gasoline vapors enter the adsorber tank. During the operation of the car, this rather fragile pipe may break, resulting in a leak, and as a result, there will be an unpleasant smell of fuel in the car interior. To get rid of this you will have to change the valve. Such a breakdown is especially typical for injection vehicles, including the VAZ2107 model.

• Fuel line (clamps, pipes)

In the fuel line, elastic hoses are used in moving places, which can fray when driving on uneven roads, and the clamps on them can become loose at the joints. Because of this, gasoline will begin to escape through them, which will lead to the penetration of fuel vapors into the cabin. And this is the most common reason for the smell of fuel in the car interior.

• Carburetor

As a result of incorrect adjustment of the carburetor, the fuel will overflow, and gasoline vapors from under the hood will penetrate into the interior of the car. This does not apply to injection machines.

• Fuel filter

During long-term operation, the filter may become clogged with dirt, as a result of which the pressure in the gas line will increase and cause leaks, for example, of clamps. To prevent this from happening, you need to change the fuel filter on time.

Knowing all the vulnerable points of the fuel system, you can quickly eliminate the causes of the smell of fuel in the cabin by performing a simple inspection of the car.

Advice
If the smell of gasoline appears after turning on the heater (in winter), then the leak is happening somewhere under the hood.

How to eliminate the smell of gasoline in the car interior?

Gasoline vapors can appear in the cabin for many reasons, but there are few effective ways to solve this problem.Below are the most common ways to get rid of this difficult problem.

1. Weathering. This method of elimination is the most effective; it allows gasoline vapors to quickly dissipate. If the smell in the cabin appears in the summer, then you need to open all the doors, as well as the trunk, to create a draft. A fan can be used to speed up this process. If you smell gasoline in winter, turn on the heater at full power and open the rear and front doors alternately to ventilate the interior. Weathering will be useless if there are problems with the tank, as it needs to be replaced.
2. Adsorption of gasoline vapors. To eliminate odor, you can use caustic soda, activated carbon, silica gel and natural coffee. One of these products is sprinkled on a gasoline stain. After three days, the product can be removed, but before you remove the absorbent, you need to prepare a rag and detergent to wash off any remaining gasoline. The seats and instrument panel must be wiped with a damp cloth. If you cannot get rid of the smell of fuel the first time, then you need to repeat the procedure.
3. Washing car upholstery. If you want to eliminate the smell of fuel in the car yourself, you need to add lemon juice to the washing water, as well as a spoonful of regular baking soda. However, this method is quite labor-intensive and does not guarantee that the smell will be eliminated.
4. Car wash. Many car owners do not always have free time, so they solve the problem with the help of a car wash and dry cleaning. Experts select special products to completely eliminate the smell of gasoline in the cabin, as well as to wash gasoline stains. In addition, they can ozonate the interior.This will take 20-30 minutes; if the smell does not disappear, then ozonation can be repeated.

Important
Before trying to remove the smell of gasoline from the interior, you need to eliminate its cause, and to do this, eliminate breakdowns in the fuel system or faulty seals on doors, headlights, and other parts of the car.

To clean the interior from gasoline stains, the website purity-en.htgetrid.com advises using high-quality detergents, and in difficult cases, contact specialists at car washes.