Strong Petrol smell when filling up

[zippy320]

Hi guys I have a 2002 E46 318i Automatic Exclusive package.

I get a very strong petrol smell in the cabin when ever I fill up , Any amount of fuel and its there .

It last for about a minute of driving then goes away , Also when ever I fill , the attendants nozzle tends to cut off all the time , forcing the guy to hold the pump down in order to fill .

This never happened before , What could it be ?

I have changed the fuel filter and installed a new fuel pump recently . Could this be a contributing factor? Or could there be a clogged pipe or venting pipe of some sort causing the vacume?

Or could the pump be an issue?

I would assume that should the fuel pump seal be leaking , the smell would be present all the time , filling up the car and the garage when parked?

Thanks for all replys !

Regards

 

[ChefDJ]

The pump stopping is the safety on the pump, causing it to stop when your car is full (aka first click). Anything filled in after that is usually "over-filling".

This happens on all cars.

 

[zippy320]

Agree, but this happens while filling, even though the tanks not full.

 

[GPGrobler]

My E30 started doing the cut off thing after the petrol tank got dented on a rock. The strong smell might have to do with a ventilation pipe of the tank being blocked or loose.

 

[zippy320]

Thanks GPgrobler

Any idea where the ventilation pipe is in an e46?
i wonder if it could be a dent, iv always assumed the tank on the e46 was some form of plastic, though I wonder if the two problems are related.

 

[MikeR]

also check the seals at the pump on the tank.

 

[Pho3niX90]

I vote for vent pipe. The reason the pump switches of is because of a airlock, a blocked vent pipe causes it to lock quicker than normally and also causes the smell

 

[Maljan]

I found this drawing on realoem.com marked as fuel system, ventilation. It is the expansion tank. I didn't even know there was such a thing.

http://realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=AY72&mospid=47632&btnr=16_0375&hg=16&fg=10

 

[zippy320]

Thanks guys! I also suspect that it might be the vent pipe, Im going to have a look at this , Thanks for the diagram Miljan

Where on the cars body would this pipe exit? Is it close to the fuel pump?

I had no idea that this car had an expansion tank , on my E30 , I assumed that the tank behind the back seats was this and on this car there wasn't any.

Would I be correct in saying that this pipe should be under the car?

There dosnt seem to be any at the fuel filler.
Will also check up on the pump seal , I did replace the pump a few weeks ago, and did not replace the seal as it looked good .

How would you guys suggest I "unblock" the pipe if it is blocked? Pushing in some electrical wire? I wouldn't want dirt falling into the expansion tank.