Subject: Re: [Healeys] Fuel smell in 100

From: Bluehealey <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2014 22:30:24 +0100

Hey Mike
This is just a wild guess but the fuel tank sender gasket may be the culprit.
As it is under the armacord and the luggage, the smell tends to become
pervasive.  During my recent trip around the UK I found that frequent brimming
of the tank caused the blue hylomar sealant that I had used on the cork gasket
to decay.  It turns out that regular blue hylomar isn't fuel resistant! Who
knew? There is another variant of blue hylomar that comes in a yellow tube/box
that IS fuel resistant including ethanol.

Just my two 'pennorth.

Thanks for sharing your report.

Alan - from my iPad

> On 10 Jul 2014, at 21:51, "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>
wrote:
>
> We're still in val d'aosta and the 100 has started to smell of petrol. It
> still seems to be running fine. I've been over and tightened up the obvious
> connections in the fuel system and can't find anything obvious.  We're
> planning to exit italy via the Petit St bernard pass, heading for an
overnight
> in Oyonnax on Saturday,  then heading north taking two or three days to
Calais
> for the ferry back to UK. Does anyone know of a garage on our route through
> France that could have a look at the 100's fuel system for me?
>
> Mike Brooks
> 56
> BN2
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From: mike brooks <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2014 20:23:12 +0100

Robert,

We just arrived home in Scotland last night. Since I do all the
driving and had just done 10 hours I decided to leave a reply until this
evening. I am copying this to The List - hope you don't mind.

The short
answer is I'm not sure. The 100 had been running fine down through England and
France. We had been over the Grand St Bernard Pass at over 2000metres high
with no problem. it was shortly after we filled up with petrol for the first
time in Italy that we noticed the smell. The car still seemed to be running
fine. The smell lasted the whole five days we were in Italy, mostly at high
altitude. The car, whilst still seeming to run OK was only doing 17 mpg rather
than the usual 25 - 27. However, most of the trips were short ones, and all of
them were up and down serious inclines. After we left Italy, over the Petit St
Bernard Pass into France, the smell continued intermittently. But after two
more fuel fill-ups in France, we noticed the smell had disappeared (well,
reverted to the usual "Healey Smell" we are used to!!). After that, the 100
continued to run well, and returned over 27 mpg up through France to the ferry
at Calais. Once back in England,
 we continued north and after two fuel fills I was convinced the Healey was
pulling better than ever. And calculations showed even better mpg figures of
28 and 29 over two fills. I don't have a clear conclusion. However, I have the
following thoughts:-

 - did we have a bad batch of fuel in Italy?
 - did
running at high altitude make the engine run so rich that we were smelling
unburnt fuel?

 - what about ethanol? UK is less than 5%, France is 10%, don't
know about Italy.

Others may have ideas.

I've just added up the total
mileage - 2633 miles, 96.44 UK gallons of petrol = 27.3 mpg. Only issues with
the car were a broken boot prop bracket and several door seals coming adrift -
easy fixes. Not bad for a self-maintained 58 year old car?

On another subject
we called in to the Heritage Motor Museum at Gaydon. I had always wanted to
see it, had passed it on the M40 several times times, but had never planned
properly to stop in the past. I can report, for those who haven't been, that
it is a must for anyone interested in British cars. There were only two
Healeys there, both 3000's. But there was an A90 Atlantic. Highlights fo me
where the several famous prototypes, production firsts and well-known
competition cars.

All in all it was a great trip. Where next year?

Regards
Mike Brooks
'56 BN2
Scotland

Reply to: [email-masked] 
________________________________
 From: Robert Duquette
<[email-masked]>
To: "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>
Sent: Wednesday, 16 July 2014, 20:35
Subject: Re: [Healeys] Fuel smell in 100
What did it turn out to be?

I had a similar issue with my BN1 last summer.  I
could smell gas.  The rear carb was dripping on to the exhaust manifold.  It
was just a loose nut ( bolt? ).

Robert
I intend to live forever, or die
trying.

On Jul 10, 2014, at 04:55 PM, "[email-masked]"
<[email-masked]> wrote:

We're still in val d'aosta and the 100 has
started to smell of petrol. It
>planning to exit italy via the Petit St bernard pass,
heading for an overnight
>in Oyonnax on Saturday, then heading north taking
two or three days to Calais
>Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android
>Support Team.Net
>Suggested annual donation $12.75
>Archive:
>Forums: http://www.team.net/forums
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>[email-masked]
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---

From: "SKIP SAUNDERS" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2014 16:27:18 -0400

I've  fuel smell for a few days after over filling the tank (i.e. filling
the gas right up to the filler cap).  If the gas is allowed to run up the
filler pipe, it can (sometimes) leak by the union gasket that connects the
tank to the filler tube.   Perhaps that was the issue?  (Who filled the tank
in Italy? Was it you or an attendant?   Sometimes a gas attendant can be
overzealous with selling as much gas as possible ... )

-----Original Message-----
From: n [mailto:[email-masked]] On Behalf Of mike brooks
Sent: Thursday, July 17, 2014 3:23 PM
To: Robert Duquette
Cc: Healeys
Subject: Re: [Healeys] Fuel smell in 100 - what did it turn out to
be?/Scotland - Italy - Scotland final trip report.

Robert,

We just arrived home in Scotland last night. Since I do all the driving and
had just done 10 hours I decided to leave a reply until this evening. I am
copying this to The List - hope you don't mind.

The short
answer is I'm not sure. The 100 had been running fine down through England
and France. We had been over the Grand St Bernard Pass at over 2000metres
high with no problem. it was shortly after we filled up with petrol for the
first time in Italy that we noticed the smell. The car still seemed to be
running fine. The smell lasted the whole five days we were in Italy, mostly
at high altitude. The car, whilst still seeming to run OK was only doing 17
mpg rather than the usual 25 - 27. However, most of the trips were short
ones, and all of them were up and down serious inclines. After we left
Italy, over the Petit St Bernard Pass into France, the smell continued
intermittently. But after two more fuel fill-ups in France, we noticed the
smell had disappeared (well, reverted to the usual "Healey Smell" we are
used to!!). After that, the 100 continued to run well, and returned over 27
mpg up through France to the ferry at Calais. Once back in England,  we
continued north and after two fuel fills I was convinced the Healey was
pulling better than ever. And calculations showed even better mpg figures of
28 and 29 over two fills. I don't have a clear conclusion. However, I have
the following thoughts:-

 - what about ethanol? UK is less than 5%, France is 10%, don't know about
Italy.
cribe/Manage:
http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/healeys/[email-masked]
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Archive: http://www.team.net/archive

[email-masked]

---

From: mike brooks <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2014 22:10:53 +0100

Yes that's possible. It was an attended petrol station and I had to stop him
just waiting for the auto-shut-off but think I stopped him in time. I don't
think we will ever know for sure what the cause was.

Thanks

Reply
to: [email-masked] 

________________________________
From: SKIP SAUNDERS <[email-masked]>
To: 'mike brooks'
<[email-masked]>; 'Robert Duquette' <[email-masked]> 
Cc:
'Healeys' <[email-masked]> 
Sent: Thursday, 17 July 2014, 21:27
Subject: RE: [Healeys] Fuel smell in 100 - what did it turn out to
be?/Scotland - Italy - Scotland final trip report.

I've  fuel smell for a
few days after over filling the tank (i.e. filling
the gas right up to the
filler cap).  If the gas is allowed to run up the
filler pipe, it can
(sometimes) leak by the union gasket that connects the
tank to the filler
tube.   Perhaps that was the issue?  (Who filled the tank
in Italy? Was it you
or an attendant?   Sometimes a gas attendant can be
overzealous with selling
as much gas as possible ... )

-----Original Message-----
From: n
[mailto:[email-masked]] On Behalf Of mike brooks
Sent:
Thursday, July 17, 2014 3:23 PM
To: Robert Duquette
Cc: Healeys
Subject: Re:
[Healeys] Fuel smell in 100 - what did it turn out to
be?/Scotland - Italy -
Scotland final trip report.

Robert,

We just arrived home in Scotland last
night. Since I do all the driving and
had just done 10 hours I decided to
leave a reply until this evening. I am
copying this to The List - hope you
don't mind.

The short
answer is I'm not sure. The 100 had been running fine
down through England
and France. We had been over the Grand St Bernard Pass at
over 2000metres
high with no problem. it was shortly after we filled up with
petrol for the
first time in Italy that we noticed the smell. The car still
seemed to be
running fine. The smell lasted the whole five days we were in
Italy, mostly
at high altitude. The car, whilst still seeming to run OK was
only doing 17
mpg rather than the usual 25 - 27. However, most of the trips
were short
ones, and all of them were up and down serious inclines. After we
left
Italy, over the Petit St Bernard Pass into France, the smell continued
intermittently. But after two more fuel fill-ups in France, we noticed the
smell had disappeared (well, reverted to the usual "Healey Smell" we are
used
to!!). After that, the 100 continued to run well, and returned over 27
mpg up
through France to the ferry at Calais. Once back in England,  we
continued
north and after two fuel fills I was convinced the Healey was
pulling better
than ever. And calculations showed even better mpg figures of
28 and 29 over
two fills. I don't have a clear conclusion. However, I have
the following
thoughts:-

- did we have a bad batch of fuel in Italy?
- did
running at high
altitude make the engine run so rich that we were smelling
unburnt fuel?

-
what about ethanol? UK is less than 5%, France is 10%, don't know about
Italy.
cribe/Manage:
http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/healeys/[email-masked]
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Archive: http://www.team.net/archive

[email-masked]

---

From: WILLIAM B LAWRENCE <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2014 01:02:03 +0000

That is how I would vote too. Remember the 100 fuel cap vents to the boot. If
the tank was full And you were climbing a steep grade there would likely be
some fuel expelled through the vent hole. I live in the Rocky MountIns and my
luggage always smells of fuel.

2,000 meters? Around here that's an anthill.

Bill Lawrence
BN1 #554

> From: [email-masked]
> To: [email-masked]; [email-masked]
> Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2014 16:27:18 -0400
> CC: [email-masked]
> Support Team.Net http://www.team.net/donate.html
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---

From: Bob Spidell <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2014 15:44:49 +0000 (UTC)

If the smell persists or comes back, it's probably pinhole leak(s) in the tank, esp. if it's an original or very old tank. It doesn't take much petrol to stink up the joint, and there may not be any other evidence (e.g. puddles of gas). 

Bob 

----- Original Message -----

Thanks 

Reply 

[email-masked]