Hi! I'm new to the forum.
I have a 94 C280 it has about 113K miles. A couple days ago i noticed the smell of gas inside the car. I thought I had just tracked in some tar on my shoes, but it has progressively gotten worse. I notice the smell is stronger in the trunk. I suppose the smell permiates the interior of the car through there. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

 

Change your fuel filter, if there is no fuel on the ground, this is probably your problem, one of my other German cars a 94 Audi had a bad fuel smell under the hood, I changed the canister fuel filter, no more smell. I believe our cars, (I have a 99 C280)have the filter is under the car in the fuel line. Make sure you depressurize the system first, take off the gas gap and let the car sit for 1/2 hour, also have a pan under the filter and some clamps to clamp the lines as it will leak a bit and make sure you point the arrows on the filter forward, check the installed one first and see how it is installed . Some folks suggest to pull the fuse for the fuel pump as part of the depressuring the system, but I disagree, even thou the pump is electric, sometimes thes pumps don't prime themselves and you get air in the system.

 

hey thanks for replying!
after posting the first message, I went out and checked under the car. there is a small fuel puddle on the ground under the area where the gas cap is (fuel line?) could a bad fuel filter be causing a leak?

 

Most likely, the line from the filler neck to the tank could be the problem, I'd check that first, also it could be the pump itself, the filter in the fuel pump might be clogged and it also acts as the float. if the lines are ok, then the fuel pump has to be checked, hard and dangerous, if you don't know how to do it, I would then go to a good mechanic or dealer.

 

cool! thanks a lot mr. wizard...

 

tHE Audi I mentioned had 106K plus miles on it and still had the original fuel filter, still has original shocks, had a few oil leaks fixed, a new brake master cylinder, oil pan gasket and oil filter attachment point gasket replaced, other then new tires now and then and regular oil changes with Mobil1 the cars has been very faithful for 10 years. My 99 C280 is also very faithfull except for the batteries, I bought it 2 years ago and so far I am on my third battery, too much electronics I think.