Fuel leak, 1.6FSI

D

Deerfoot

Member
So,

I`ve driven around 100 problem free miles in my A2 today. At around 1800 I had to nip out for some milk. The shop is around 1.5 miles away. When I got there I could smell petrol but didn`t think anything of it as there`s a petrol station next to the shop.

Once I got home I could still smell petrol, quite distinctly, from the front of the car. I removed the bonnet and it appears to be leaking around the nearside rear of the engine somewhere (obviously it`s dark so couldn`t pin down the point of origin completely) and there`s a bit of petrol on the undertray.

Has anybody else suffered this? Any ideas where it could be coming from?

Regards, Simon
 
I have an FSI. I have not heard of this ever happening to a user on this forum before!
Hopefully that means its simply a pipe thats come loose.
Please post your findings on here to help the next person.

Good luck with the fix.

CHB
 
I will certainly let you all know how I get on!

I`m going to try and locate the leak today sometime and then tomorrow it`ll be in the garage and I`ll be commuting to work on my bike.......
 
Well,

I`ve spent the morning trying to locate the leak. I`ve jacked it up, removed the nearside front wheel, loosened a small section of undertray and started it up.

And....nothing. I then rebuilt it and took it for a 20 mile run and removed the bonnet on my return and still nothing.

I`m at a complete loss to explain the smell last night. There was no leakage on the undertray either this morning.

I`m going to run it as usual as my commuter next week and see how it goes. I`m also going to have a chat with my local Audi specialist (they did the cambelt and water pump a few months ago so they know the car) and see what they suggest.

I`ll keep you informed.
 
Thanks for the update. Seems you are as puzzled as the rest of the forum with an explanation for you! (Normally everyone piles in with loads of helpful experience, yours is the first post I have seen in ages that drew a blank!). All the best, hope it does not re-occur.
 
We`ll see!

There`s still a slight whiff of petrol in the cabin but the engine bay is normal today.

I did notice that the oil filler assembly (on the engine, not the service flap one) appears to be quite loose. It`s OK as far as I can see but not as solidly attached to the cam cover as I`d thought it might be.

Is this normal?
 
I am tempted to say "no". However without seeing pics of what you mean I will refrain!.
What I can say is that I have never noticed anything being "worryingly loose" when working under the bonnet (eg changing the bastid oil filter which is a pig to get at).
 
chb said:
I am tempted to say "no". However without seeing pics of what you mean I will refrain!.
Click to expand...

It`s the `normal` oil filler cap on the forward nearside cam cover appears to have quite a bit of play, in fact I can lift up the entire assembly by a couple of mm or so.
 
You might have a rubber gasket missing, or, it might have come loose - I repaired exactly this same problem last week for another member (Jlee12), but that was dribbling oil down the head and there was no smell of petrol.

The smell of fuel is a mystery, but on very cold days such as we've had recently, fumes will always accumulate at ground level, so you might be smelling other peoples fumes.

Cheers,

Mike
 
If you email a picture to a2 "at" ukeat "dot" com
Then I will compare against my 1.6FSI.
 
chb said:
If you email a picture to a2 "at" ukeat "dot" com
Then I will compare against my 1.6FSI.
Click to expand...

I will grab a photo tomorrow, thanks for your offer!

Mike, there`s a bit of oil dripping down my head too. I`ve cleaned it off as part of my morning`s investigation and will check tomorrow when I take a picture.

Many thanks Gents, I`ll be honest and tell you I didn`t sleep too well last night worrying about my A2, it may be seven years old and have 70,000 miles on it but I`m pretty fond of it.
 
Sleep well, we'll do our utmost to keep you and your A2 together for a good long while yet.

You can simply twist off the entire filler cap assembly from the head - just turn anti-clock until it comes off (you'll see a slotted black plastic piece on the lower front edge of the assembly, this locates onto a metal protrusion on the head).

Check there's a rubber gasket on it and take it from there.

An entire new cap assembly, including gasket is around £20 or so, so it's not going to break the bank.

Cheers,

Mike
 
Skipton01 said:
You can simply twist off the entire filler cap assembly from the head - just turn anti-clock until it comes off (you'll see a slotted black plastic piece on the lower front edge of the assembly, this locates onto a metal protrusion on the head).
Click to expand...


Many thanks again Mike, mine has a black rubber tube attached to it that heads off towards the rear of the engine bay also, what`s it for?
 
Yes, they're all the same - the tube is a breather tube that feeds back into the system.

It can be pulled out of the filler cap assembly, there's a white disc shaped one way valve which has one outlet going to the tube and the other end goes into a black rubber grommet which then fits into the cap assembly.

As you've got a loose cap anyway, the system won't be working properly at the moment, as the pressures won't be correct.

Cheers,

Mike
 
No symptoms as such, it's just that the internal pressures won't be right and eventually, you could get problems from a lack of oil flow. Don't worry too much though - you know there's a problem now, so it can be fixed.

Cheers

Mike
 
I`ve managed to fix the loose oil filler cap assembly.

Basically, the `bayonet` spring cam on the lower surface of the oil cap was bowed too much, I`ve straightened it out and now it`s nice and tight on the cam cover. The rubber gasket is fitted as well.

I drove 10 miles into work this morning, -7 degC showing on the DIS and had no petrol smell when I arrived at work so hopefully that was just a one off, I`ll keep an eye (nose?) on it this week.

My coolant was pretty low though so I`ve topped it up to between the min-max markings on the expension tank.

Many thanks once again.
 
Update.

OK,

This morning I started the car, set the climate to 20 deg and pushed the screen clear button.

After about 15 minutes (I had to clear snow from two cars) I opened the door to shut it off and almost passed out from exhaust fumes.

If I leave the climate on recirculate everything in the cabin is fine, if I`m driving (regardless of climate setting) everything is fine, however, if the climate is on, recirculate is off, and the car is stationary, the cabin starts to smell of fumes very quickly.

I removed the bonnet and there is a strong smell of fumes in the vicinity of the heating / climate intake snorkel. Everything else appears OK, performance is normal, mpg is normal. I think my coolant level is down a little bit as well.

I`ve booked it in to a local VAG specialist as there`s obviously a problem somewhere.

Any ideas from you gentlemen?
 
As that intake 'snorkel' is dead centre of the engine bay, then it could be just about abything.

Slightly leaking fuel pump gasket is top of my list, as it's directly beside the aforesaid intake, but do get it checked out, as if there is a leak, it could conceivably lead to a fire.

Cheers,

Mike
 
Skipton01 said:
Slightly leaking fuel pump gasket is top of my list, as it's directly beside the aforesaid intake,
Click to expand...

Mike, where abouts is the fuel pump?

The smell is predominantly stronger in the vicinity of the snorkel, not much help I know!

If it is the fuel pump gasket is it easy (cheap!) to replace?
 
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