Hi all,

As i am new firstly thank you for reading this post. I have just bought a 2008 Cayman here in Dubai and all is wonderful apart from i have a fuel leak and i am after advice if any.

It generally starts if i have been motorway driving and then go to a more town type driving, i.e. with traffic lights and a bit of starting and stopping. Now as i am from the UK it would be the offside front wheel arch. and i am here in Dubai its the nearside front wheel arch or from the same wheel arch as the petrol cap. When i look under the car there is no fluid apart from water off the air conditioning. when i look in the wheel arch there looks like there is the fan outlet for the radiator(s)?? and the smell seems to be coming from there. It can sometimes get into the car too.

Has anyone seen/hear of this before?? I am an engineer but not on cars. Do I start de-panelling the wheel arch or do i start in the front luggage compartment. I have looked on google and i get everything from the petrol cap o-ring to open heart surgery is required.

I have checked the fuel cap and there is no leak from there. When i undo the cap i can hear the air being drawn into the tank so it seems that part is ok.

If anyone has suggestions i appreciate your time. I would rather try and fix this rather than rush straight to the porsche dealer.

Thanks again

 

For USA cars with the fuel filler on the right front fender the fuel vapor recovery hoses and such are under the fender. A fuel smell from this area could be the signs of a bad vapor hose or fitting that has cracked. It could be even a sign of a bad fuel cap.

However, I would think the CEL would be on with at least one error code pointing the the fuel vapor recovery system.

More likely the fuel leak is at the fuel pump access panel that seals the fuel pump into the tank or with a hose that brings fuel out of the tank and routes it to the engine compartment.

To gain access to this area you open the front trunk lid, remove the panels on either side of the battery and then maybe even remove the battery.

You will know if you need to remove the battery to gain full access to the fuel pump access panel.

You may even spot fuel on top of this panel.

Be very careful. Turn off the ignition and remove the key from the ignition.

Position a fan to blow air over/across the open trunk to disperse any gasoline fumes.

Ideally you should have proper fire extinguishers handy just in case but if you have to use one it is a sign you pardon the expression screwed up.

Follow the proper procedure to disconnect the battery.

When it comes to fuel leaks I'm a big chicken and really prefer to turn this over to a qualified/experienced tech to avoid setting the car, myself, or the garage/house alight.