Hi All,

I have an interesting one here! On my '83 XJ-6 Series 3 U.S. Spec, 44,000 original miles, I get a fuel smell inside the car when both tanks are full. Once one tank is down about 1/4 of the way, the smell virtually stops. I have eliminated everything else and think it has something to do with the fuel vapor canister in front of the right side, front tire. In looking at the canister, I noted that it appears to be mounted upside down. The single large hose is on the top, while the two smaller hoses are on the bottom. However, the hoses, clamps, etc appear to be very old, as in, no one did this recently. I was just wondering if the community had any insight on this? When I look in the owners manual, the two small hoses are on the top and the single, big hose is on the bottom and pictures of others on the internet are the same as the manual. Does anyone have any insight? Would this have been done as part of a service? I am thinking that it must have been a Jag shop that did this, since it apparently was always serviced by a Jag shop. Could someone have had a good reason to mount it like this? Thanks in advance!! I should mention that it was originally a California car.

 

It is not impossible that it came out of the factory like that. There was a deal of labour unrest and general anti-boss aggravation at that point in Margaret Thatcher's premieship.

 

I swear that I read somewhere that older models had it mounted rightside up but later years they inverted it. I do not know the year cutoff but will try to find where I saw this.

Why? No idea about that either 🤪

 

reinstall it like the shop manual shows to see if anything changes.

 

Great minds think alike! I just got done doing just that. Going to take it for a spin, and go fill up the tanks and see if anything is different.

 

It does appear that it came from the factory that way. I had to trim hoses to get it to fit the correct way.

I had opened up the throttle body a while back and had seen a bunch of "gunk" in the intake manifold. I cleaned it out, but some came back. When I took off the hose running from the canister to the intake, today, I noticed sludgy looking fuel dripping out. Not a lot - not even a teaspoonful. Kind of wonder if it is related.

 

So far, I repositioned it to be right side up. I got. full tank of gas. No changes.

 

there should be an electronic Purge solenoid / valve coming into the engine compartment from a line out of the charcoal canister. Located hanging under the air filter canister and connected to the hose from the charcoal canister. Two wires coming out of the solenoid. It's a standard Purge valve, used in GM and Ford cars. Remove it and test it.

 

Yup, I know exactly the one you're talking about! I will pull it and test it. It will be interesting to see if it works or not!

BTW, I really appreciate everyone's thoughts, ideas, and feedback!! This community has helped me out a lot, and I am very grateful!

 

those solenoids rarely worked from new. i don't even know what they are connected to, maybe Doug knows.
My XJ-6 is a 1984 model built in June 1983.
My 1997 Ford minivan 4.0 liter has an identical purge solenoid by its charcoal canister and it doesn't seem to work either. They get clogged. I gave up.

 

Be sure you're not getting the "whoosh" when opening a filler cap, and be sure you're not getting raw fuel pouring out of the canister vent hose, indicative of a stuck change over valve and possibly dirty/rusty tanks, and a dangerous condition...

 

I tried testing it. It does click. Beyond that, I don't know how else to test it. I'm going to try to install another and see if that makes any difference.

 

No whoosh. Tanks are both new. So far, no raw fuel pouring out of the canister. I DID have a whoosh before I flipped over the canister.

 

the "woosh" is caused by a plastic check valve / (cylindrical shape) located before the charcoal canister in the vapor line from the tanks.
These check valves are supposed to open to allow fuel vapor to pass into the canister, but they don't.
You can eliminate the check valve substituting it with a straight-thru connector sold at auto parts stores, OR push a drill bit through it to break the membrane inside it. This is an old remedy from the 1980's to prevent the tanks from inflating with accumulated vapor and eventually leaking at the seams.

 

I bought a new charcoal canister (for a GM car) and put in a new purge solenoid. I haven't noticed any difference. I filled up with gas, and sure enough, strong fuel smell inside the cabin. I looked under the hood. No smell, no leaks. I looked in the trunk. No smell, no leaks. In the cabin it smells like raw fuel. Only does this when both tanks are full. It's making me NUTS!! I have replaced every fuel line. Both tanks are new. Fuel pump, change over valve in trunk, fuel filter, hoses, seals on gas caps - all new!

 

Where are the overlow pipes from the fuel tanks routed?

 

I have changed out some fuel lines. I noted that a couple were marked "fuel hose" but not "fuel injection hose". To be on the safe side, I put in fresh Gates hoses. I did find where one was leaking at the clamp on the fuel filter under the mass air flow sensor. That may be what was causing the smell. Will report back! Thanks again, everyone!!

 

Not sure. Do you mean the ones under the parcel shelf?

 

So, I took it on a little drive and the fuel smell is much better. It still has a fuel smell in the cabin, but it is more faint. Trying to get rid of it entirely.

 

yeahh, is there such a tool as a sniffer for gasoline vapor? (there is one for refrigerant gas).

if the vapor is only in the cabin, the source must be in the cabin.
I know there is a fuel line that enters the cabin from the trunk, it is behind the rear seat Back, passenger side, then it travels to the front under the door threshholds.
To see this foam-covered line, the rear seat and back must be removed. To follow it, the aluminum door threshholds must be removed too.