Gasoline Smell In Trunk (Boot)

[Alberto]

I have a 1965 XKE OTS that has developed a now strong gasoline smell in the trunk (rear boot I believe for those of you in England). I searched here but did not come up with much.

Before I open the boot and dive in with spanners in hand without a clue as to what to look for or do, I thought I'd try to get some insights from the group. What are the likely culprits? What's the best way to get at the likely offending parts?

Thank you.

Alberto

[Mark Gordon]

Remove the boot floor boards and take a good look at the fuel filler hose, the plate holding the fuel pick up line, the line running to the fuel pump and the output line from the pump. Another possibility is the sump on the bottom of the tank and which protrudes from beneath the right hand side of the tub. It can turn into a bit of a detective job finding the source. Once found, the fix becomes pretty obvious. Good luck!

[cactusman]

Mark beat me to it. Check his list. Worst case there is a pin hole somewhere in the tank. That requires removal of the tank and is a bast@@d job! If you do wind up removing the tank then replace all the rubber hoses and seals while the tank is out. There is a seal around the sump that might leak.

[Alberto]

Thank you guys. Will do as suggested. Seems pretty straight forward.

Alberto

[64etype]

...one other item to check if all else fails is the vent hose between the top of the tank and the filler neck. It's way back toward the tail light on my '64...sort of buried at the back of the fender well. The one on my car was cracked when I removed the tank during the restoration. Access is via the oval shaped panel.