I've got a nasty case of fuel vapor smell, and the prime suspect at the moment is the fuel filler assembly. There are three problems that need tackling.

There is no hose on the overflow pipe. The overflow pipe is at the top of the filler just under the cap hinge (well above the flap) and ideally prevents spillage on the top of the car. I believe the overflow hose is attached to the pipe by simple friction. The hose then runs through the trunk space out below the car to drain gas out to the ground. My problem is, I don't know how this hose is intended to be routed to the outside of the car. On my other convertible, I can just see this hose as it comes off the pipe and then dissapears behind the tank. What do I have to do to replace this hose?

The flap on the bottom of this filler is pretty bad. The spring pressure is weak, and worse, the crude, primitive hinge is super loose and dodgy. As a result, the flap never really closes properly on it's own; it just kind of sticks slightly agape and off center. It looks hinky even from the outside of the car during fueling. I noticed it right away after I bought the car. The rest of the filler assembly looks good, the lock barrel is good, and I have a key for it. So replacing the whole thing smacks of throwing the baby our with the bath water. Has anyone else seen this problem?

Finally, the gaiter and attendant seals and clamps are fire damaged and need replacing. The gaiter and the o-ring for the tank filler neck are still available from Jaguar Heritage. The band clamps seem pretty generic, so I should be able to source replacements easily. This really does look like the easy part of the fix, but if anyone has any tips in this regard, they are appreciated.

Thanks!

 

Oookay.., I did some more poking around, and I believe I may have misunderstood how the gas filler overflow scheme works. There is an overflow hose that drains from a hole in the lip of the bodywork at the filler cap down to a port on the bottom of the rear quarter-panel just behind the wheel well. This hose in intact and in great shape.

The drain pipe under the hinge of the cap, which I have seen referred to as the "overflow pipe", doesn't drain out to the ground; it goes back to the tank, doesn't it? Or at least the vapor recovery system?



The part in question is Filler: 15. Where does part CBC4238 "Hose" go? Also of interest are parts Tank: 10 & 19; "Breather hose" and "Fuel breather hose", respectfully.

I tried a little experiment with my other '93 convertible, where I attempted to feed some weed-wacker line down that overflow pipe and only got about 15 inches in before hitting a hard stop. Either a 90-degree bend or a T-section. So that hose is attached to something hard.

I'm going to have to pull that tank brace/bulkhead plate off to sort this out, aren't I?

 

As I suspected...



I cleaned this up with a wire brush. I found the remains of a zip tie on this pipe. A zip tie and nothing else. Gas fumes, anyone?

Can anyone confirm that the overflow pipe on the filler cap is intended to connect to this tank recovery pipe? I know this is pretty obvious at this point, but this is one car where a fuel system mistake would be particularly unfortunate.



(BTW, that now-uninsulated wiring will return in a future "Identify These Fire Victims" game show thread.)

**** UPDATE: Nevermind; I just found the documentation I needed, sort of. Should have finished this before posting the question. Anyway, here it is...



"One outlet is used for the filler neck vent hose on 1991 model year vehicles and is capped-off on later vehicles." Uh.., I don't think so, Mr. AJ6 4.0L Engine Management System Diagnostic Guide.

 

Howdy folks, I'm updating this thread with a bit a of a progress report because I've only made a bit of progress in the last month. In this case, parts come off the car much easier than they go back on. Funny how that pattern inverts back-and-forth.

Accessing that back corner of the trunk with the supports for the boot lid in place appears entirely futile. My plan was to attach the clamps for the overflow hose and the gaiter on the filler while out of the car, slip this all through the bodywork, and then tighten the tank side of these connections (which are accessible). I was able to sneak the overflow hose clamp through the body, but I honestly have no idea how that gaiter is supposed to go on at all; that's turned into quite the puzzle. The old one was perished from the carpet fire and came out in tatters.



Nevertheless, just putting a fully connected overflow hose on the filler without any clamps has eliminated the fuel vapors for the moment. The tank filler neck has a new o-ring and the filler is actually quite difficult to slip all the way into place now (it used to be pretty trivial). I've have had to judiciously apply some WD-40 around the outside of the filler shaft to get it even close to seating all the way down.

This is just a temporary jury-rig (no clamps, no gaiter), but it has eliminated the gas smell for the moment. Eventually, the boot lid will be coming off, and I will tear down most of the trunk to reinstall a bunch of things, including the fuel filler.

So, yay, I guess?

 

Good to hear you are making progress on this. Just getting rid of the gas smell is a big improvement I am sure. I have not had to take out my gas tank yet on the XJS but does not sound like a fun project so sounds like you are on the right track by doing this while you have the trunk lid off.

Good luck with getting everything back to pre fire condition.