UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

Just this morning i started to smell petrol in the car as i was driving to school and the smell got much stronger when the heater was turned on.
I tried to find if there was any wet spots on the ground if it leaked and couldn't find anything, i also revved the engine while stationary and didn't smell anything only when its moving.
I popped open the bonnet to see if any fuel is leaking from any of the lines and checked the fuel filler cap as well and found nothing, no leak or wet spots.
My dad did fill up the car last night to a full tank and thought if he overfilled it by accident that might be the problem. I checked the fuel cap again and it was perfectly dry. It also smelled of petrol just now as i was coming back from school.

Not sure what the problem could be and i haven't found any solutions online.

The car is a 62 plate Polo 6R 1.2 TSI 105PS Petrol 5Dr.

Any help is appreciated.

It does sound like the fumes are being drawn in to the cabin via the heater inlet, a small quantity of petrol will go a long way though, but you don't want to be in that situation, ie petrol being released into the engine area.
If it is a small quantity of fuel escaping then it would not necessarily appear any where at any time as liquid as the engine temperature would gas it off and maybe quite soon after the engine was stopped the fuel line pressure would reduce.
Still needs looking at though, for safety reasons, my friend has an old SAAB 95 and it is a bit smelly, he does not believe his wife, she can smell it but he can't, not a good car to travel far in!!

As RUM4MO says, get it checked out as soon as possible as you can't be too careful with potential fuel leaks. Leaking petrol and a hot engine doesn't make a good combination.

Some years ago when I owned a Vauxhall, I was getting the smell of petrol in the car. Turned out to be petrol seeping from one of the fuel injectors where it fitted into the fuel injector rail. There was no visible sign of leaking petrol because it was vaporising in the hot engine compartment, but the smell indicated there was definitely something amiss!

Thanks for the warnings, i'll give AA a call tomorrow and see if they can find anything.

Just going to throw this into the mix could your dad have stood in some petrol and dropped onto the petrol forecourt and tramped into the car? Although I've had fumes come through my air vents from the engine bay when I topped up the anti rust I have around it, really not nice stopped after 5 minutes though.

Willni wrote:Just going to throw this into the mix could your dad have stood in some petrol and dropped onto the petrol forecourt and tramped into the car? Although I've had fumes come through my air vents from the engine bay when I topped up the anti rust I have around it, really not nice stopped after 5 minutes though.

Probably not, i was driving to school today and when i turned the heater on, its still smelled of raw petrol, it only happens when i have the heater/AC on now for some reason. Going to call AA right now.

Ash6R wrote: Probably not, i was driving to school today and when i turned the heater on, its still smelled of raw petrol, it only happens when i have the heater/AC on now for some reason. Going to call AA right now.

Not gonna lie it does sound better than most air fresheners

Willni wrote: Not gonna lie it does sound better than most air fresheners

Haha its been giving me a massive headache xD

Ash6R wrote:Haha its been giving me a massive headache xD

Over here it's either you get the smell of petrol or slurry from the fields You end up enjoying both

Willni wrote:

Ash6R wrote:Haha its been giving me a massive headache xD

Over here it's either you get the smell of petrol or slurry from the fields You end up enjoying both

Heh, come on, he is from London, that stuff goes straight into the Thames (- then the water is filtered and is "as good as new"?)

Pig's slurry is a bit special!

RUM4MO wrote:

Willni wrote:

Ash6R wrote:Haha its been giving me a massive headache xD

Over here it's either you get the smell of petrol or slurry from the fields You end up enjoying both

Heh, come on, he is from London, that stuff goes straight into the Thames (- then the water is filtered and is "as good as new"?)

Pig's slurry is a bit special!

Lol true I hate going into cities can't breath to many fumes and that's using Belfast as my example is barely a city , and we don't talk about pig slurry... ever lmao, although chickens pretty unique as well. You know it's bad when you've have multiple conversations rating the best smelling slurreys Cow, Chicken, Pig, Human if you're wondering.

This is strange. I have been getting the same issue on my 6R 1.2 TSI.

Going to investigate this weekend as I too have been getting strong headaches while driving.

Turning recirculation on seems to stop the smell which leads me to believe its going through the HVAC system.

I have had a slight buzz when reaching 2500RPM which was from a fuel line, i am not sure if this has buzzed so much that it is effecting it.. not sure.

Will update what I find out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

chrispy. wrote:This is strange. I have been getting the same issue on my 6R 1.2 TSI.

Going to investigate this weekend as I too have been getting strong headaches while driving.

Turning recirculation on seems to stop the smell which leads me to believe its going through the HVAC system.

I have had a slight buzz when reaching 2500RPM which was from a fuel line, i am not sure if this has buzzed so much that it is effecting it.. not sure.

Will update what I find out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

The buzz could be from a missing clip along the fuel line, most people just put some foam between the line and the body to fix it.

Had a very quick just now and found this. Its located under the turbo pipe which goes from the turbo to the inlet manifold.






Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Found it!

Turns out, my cylinder head breather hose has snapped at the engine end.

Part number 03F 103 558






Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro