leaking gas from wheel well edge

[Stephen Kormilo]

At 05:53 PM 31/01/04 -0500, quattro-request at audifans.com wrote:

>Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2004 16:08:03 -0500
>From: Brett Dikeman <brett at cloud9.net>
>Subject: leaking gas from wheel well edge
>To: quattro at audifans.com
>
>So I clean out the car today, take it up for full tank of gas, run an
>errand or two, and return intent on an oil change- pull it into the
>garage.
>
>I come back down maybe 45 minutes later, to the smell of gas.  Huh?
>
>Look around, floor's dry except for some puddles of melting ice.
>
>Except...that's a fast drip.  I grab a little, give a sniff-yup, that's gas.
>
>It's coming from the front passenger side, right at the very edge of
>the wheel well, where slush usually accumulates in the winter.  The
>top edge of the liner inside the well is wet with gas.  So this looks
>like one of the lines to the charcoal canister, or the canister
>itself, because the undercarriage is completely dry, and all the
>metal lines and fittings are dry as a bone+intact(and the lines were
>replaced 4-5 years ago).
>
>I've relieved the pressure in the tank- but to me, the question is
>"how did the gas get into there?"  The canister is supposed to only
>catch vapors.  About 2-3 weeks ago, I was on my way to the winter
>driving school and the auto-stop on the pump I was filling up at
>stuck and overflowed(shooting about a half gallon all over the
>ground, luckily none over me).  When I asked listers if that could
>cause problems with the vapor recovery system, the answer was "nope".
>
>The coincidence that I just filled up the car, and then brought it
>into the warm garage(it's usually outside), is too great to ignore;
>something's fishy here.  I think my recent problems with stumbling at
>very light throttle might also be related, since it started recently.
>
>Then of course there's the "how do I get into there" and "what the
>hell is leaking" questions.
>
>Any ideas?

It _may_ just be thermal expansion of the gas in the tank being forced into 
the vapour recovery system and then onto your garage floor.  You filled up 
with 'cold' gas and went into a warm garage.  Your previous overfill may 
have contributed to the problem by leaving some gas in the canister or 
piping, but not being familiar enough with the 'plumbing' of that system I 
cannot say whether this is a possibility or not.  Good Luck.


Stephen Kormilo
Winnipeg, MB
CANADA

Silver 2002 Audi A4 3.0QM
Now departed:   Silver '98.5 Audi A4 2.8QM
                            Black '85 Mazda Rx7 GSL-SE

email: skormilo at rrc.mb.ca
OR
           stephen at kormilo.ca