What’s leaking here?

[porterpainter]

Not been out in the car for a couple of weeks, but noticed a strong smell coming from the garage today found a puddle under my MK1 Tuscan in the front drivers side.

Doesn’t smell like fuel but it’s a strong smell all the same.

No visible leak or damage to pipes in the engine bay, and the whole area seems dry on the inside.

The leak appears to be emanating from whatever this is within the fibreglass of the wheel arch. From below the leak is coming out from a small hole next to the rear of the front splitter.

I have to be honest, I don’t know what this is…part of the Aircon? Anyone shed any ideas?

Thanks in advance for any help

[sunbeam alpine]

That looks to me like a power steering pipe.

[porterpainter]

Interesting…as it’s just had the steering rack refurbished a few weeks ago.

Not red fluid though.

What is the item inside the cut out in the front wing, as that’s where the leak is…can’t see any pipes leaking.

[NicBowman]

Whatever it is should result in a shortage of it where it should be. So, power steering reservoir would be low, if it were power steering. Etc. any fluids low? Cooling? Washer fluid? Brake reservoir?

[Basil Brush]

Aircon dryer?

[porterpainter]

Thanks for the comments folks.

As far as I can tell nothing is looking low on the fluids front.

Yes, googled the air dryer and it certainly looks like the top of it.

No idea if it’s supposed to come out of that hole…doesn’t look big enough!?

[Caddyshack]

If it was in the hours after a drive then it could be the air con defrosting. It could also have got to level that allowed it to seep out from where it has sat and stagnated.

[porterpainter]

Thanks. Not been driven for two weeks so not sure it would class as either of those.

[Caddyshack]

porterpainter said:

Thanks. Not been driven for two weeks so not sure it would class as either of those.

No, that rules that one out.

[nawarne]

OP - in that void in your second picture you have the aircon dryer and aircon trinary valve.
Below it, is the carbon canister.
I've known Tuscan owners who've suffered running problems because the canister has been so full and the condensate return to the engine has been unable to cope with the volume of petrol to return to the engine, thus the engine sort of over-fuels.

I understand there is a vent/dump to atmosphere which exits via a tube just in front of the OS front wheel. Could it be this you are seeing? Does it smell of petrol?

The most common cause of a full carbon canister is over-filling at the petrol pump.

Nick

[porterpainter]

nawarne said:

OP - in that void in your second picture you have the aircon dryer and aircon trinary valve.
Below it, is the carbon canister.
I've known Tuscan owners who've suffered running problems because the canister has been so full and the condensate return to the engine has been unable to cope with the volume of petrol to return to the engine, thus the engine sort of over-fuels.

I understand there is a vent/dump to atmosphere which exits via a tube just in front of the OS front wheel. Could it be this you are seeing? Does it smell of petrol?

The most common cause of a full carbon canister is over-filling at the petrol pump.

Nick

Thank you Nick, that is very helpful.

It had a strong smell, but not what I’d call a petrol smell…but then again I don’t know how good my nose is post-covid!!

I did fill the car up just before I can home, and it’s only 1 mile from the petrol station to my house so I don’t get a chance to burn much off.

Strange it’s taken two weeks to start leaking, and looking this morning it’s no longer dripping. I’m guessing it’s perhaps due to atmospheric conditions?

I always notice a sucking noise when opening the fuel cap, which I just thought was normal.

[Speed 3]

porterpainter said:

nawarne said:

OP - in that void in your second picture you have the aircon dryer and aircon trinary valve.
Below it, is the carbon canister.
I've known Tuscan owners who've suffered running problems because the canister has been so full and the condensate return to the engine has been unable to cope with the volume of petrol to return to the engine, thus the engine sort of over-fuels.

I understand there is a vent/dump to atmosphere which exits via a tube just in front of the OS front wheel. Could it be this you are seeing? Does it smell of petrol?

The most common cause of a full carbon canister is over-filling at the petrol pump.

Nick

Thank you Nick, that is very helpful.

It had a strong smell, but not what I’d call a petrol smell…but then again I don’t know how good my nose is post-covid!!

I did fill the car up just before I can home, and it’s only 1 mile from the petrol station to my house so I don’t get a chance to burn much off.

Strange it’s taken two weeks to start leaking, and looking this morning it’s no longer dripping. I’m guessing it’s perhaps due to atmospheric conditions?

I always notice a sucking noise when opening the fuel cap, which I just thought was normal.

When you say "filled it up" did you brim it ? Tuscan is known for not liking that due the carbon canister issues nawarne indicates. I never put mine to more than 51-52 litres when I had it for that reason.

The sucking noise I always had when I'd used most of a tank, assumed it was due to poor venting on the filler cap creating a vacuum as fuel was used and the tank returning to atmospheric pressure when you took it off.

[porterpainter]

Speed 3 said:

When you say "filled it up" did you brim it ? Tuscan is known for not liking that due the carbon canister issues nawarne indicates. I never put mine to more than 51-52 litres when I had it for that reason.

The sucking noise I always had when I'd used most of a tank, assumed it was due to poor venting on the filler cap creating a vacuum as fuel was used and the tank returning to atmospheric pressure when you took it off.

Yeah I filled it up until the pump clicked full. I never knew to do anything differently but I will do in future. Cheers

[NMNeil]

Did the liquid on the floor smell sweetish?

[porterpainter]

NMNeil said:

Did the liquid on the floor smell sweetish?

Hard to describe it really. It wasn't a nice smell - definitely a sort of chemical smell. It has stopped now, so I can't check.

I will see if the A/C runs cold next time I take the car out and I guess we'll then know if it was fuel or A/C gas.

[nawarne]

PP - just be aware that in high(ish) ambient temperatures petrol will expand.
It might be that when the dampness on the floor happened, it was during a 'warm' spell. The carbon canister then vented to atmosphere?

Nick

[porterpainter]

nawarne said:

PP - just be aware that in high(ish) ambient temperatures petrol will expand.
It might be that when the dampness on the floor happened, it was during a 'warm' spell. The carbon canister then vented to atmosphere?

Nick

Thanks for all the input. Yes I'm going to chalk it up to this for now, and just continue to monitor the situation. Cheers

[BIG DUNC]

Did you not taste it.
Petrol R22, and PAS fluid are all distinctive.....
(sorry, for not adding anything useful, it just reminds me of a thread ages ago (on another forum) where someone did claim to have tasted the fluid!!!

[porterpainter]

No tasting for me

I wasn’t red so definitely not PAS fluid. Perhaps the fuel did not smell fuel-like because it had been through the carbon filter. Either that or my sense of smell is terrible!

[TwinKam]

E10 (petrol-lite) probably smells of maize...