So I moved this from the end of one of my previous posts about something else, just so it has it's own thread and gets some attention. I'm going to see if my Jag Indy can take a look at this, but just wanted to throw this out there.

My 99 XK8 runs great, but I still have one major issue - the inside of the car has a very, very strong gas smell. Primarily inside the car, not so much outside in any certain spot that I can tell. The worst is if I drive it for awhile, park it, come back to the car a few minutes later and get in, it's extremely bad. It will almost make your nauseous driving down the road...not healthy I'm sure. That said, no other symptoms or running issues, no CE light, etc....I'd really like to get to the bottom of this, as it almost makes it undriveable. Anyone had an experience like this?

 

Is the tank totally full when you have the smell? Does it get less as you drive down the tank? Read thru this thread, though this is a long thread it may give you a spot to start.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...s-smell-50466/

You may want to go to the end first there seems to be alot of fast progress towards the end of the post and a successsful solution as well.

Good luck!

 

Thanks - I did read that post, and am curious about one thing....I don't have any noticeable smell or "clicking" outside the car, as my smell is inside the cabin of the vehicle. Would this possibly point to a different issue? I seems that the purge valve and CCV issues cause a gas smell outside the car on the driver's side. I could be wrong about this, but that's what I seemed to read. I actually have a much better experience when the windows are down or the top is down. Top up / windows up is a bad experience inside the car.

 

You can get a smell of "bad eggs" if your catalytic converter has gone u/s

 

Actually could be right rear outside or inside....that is why one of the TSBs relocates the evap vent. Also one of the TSBs includes doubling up of the tank seal inside the car.

 

I may be posting on here too quickly....more info here to consider. I have been less than 1/4 tank the last few days with the gas smell being very bad. Last week after having rich codes, we replace one of the O2 sensors (which ended up having a short) and all of my symptoms / CE lights, etc went away and all was good....except for the gas smell. Long story short, I filled it up today at the gas station, drove it all day and NO gas smell at all. The first person on this post asked if it made a difference whether it was full or empty....it's been almost unbearable to drive when the tank was low the last several times, and I had NO odors all day today with a close to full (3/4+) tank. This may be nothing, but figured I'd at least add that piece of info to the conversation. I'm going to monitor it over the next couple of days, but I was pleasantly surprised today.

 

At first I was going to point out that I believe the fuel lines run along the right hand inside of the tranny tunnel. The you had to mention the disappearance of the smell when the tank was full...

Can't recall what year OBDll began requiring evap leak tests but do know that most cars (makes/models) won't run the tests when the tank is over 3/4 or less than 1/4.

Just thinking out loud....

 

I think there is a chance (per my previous comment) that I posted on here too quickly....I had a shorted O2 sensor that made my car run rich for months, and after 3-4 days of driving after the sensor was replaced, the gas smell seems to be about gone. I'm guessing there is a chance that the cats needed to burn off some of that build-up, but that could also be a very un-educated guess. I'm going to keep an eye on it for awhile as I'm at about 1/4 tank but thanks for the feedback either way.

 

So did you come up with a fix, I am having the same problem, I am ready to buy the purge valve as long as that is the fix, can't drive like this, thanks so much for the responce

 

garagemahall4 - I don't believe the op is still active on the forum - his last activity was August 2012.


As this is your first post, please stop by the New Member area and post an intro.
New Member Area - Intro a MUST - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum

You can also check out the How To's in the first few threads of the XK8/XKR section as they may give you some things to look at.


https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/xk8-xkr-17/

regards,
steve

 

Sounds like the classic problem of a failed purge valve. There is an excellent video of how do it posted.
LaRue

 

Having the same problem in 2015! Thanks for the info

 

Does anyone have a procedure for the removal of the fuel rail and injectors on a 4.2 naturally aspirated engine?
Reading through various threads I'm leaning towards using injectorrx (of Houston TX) to close the damper port on each rail and to service the injectors while this is done. It looks like it would cost just a little more to do this compared to the damper replacement.

 

Do you have a link to this video?