Hi,



Started car today (2011 TA) and on setting off could smell petrol. Turned car off and underneath the car was dripping petrol from around the middle. As I'd only gone about 5 metres I checked where I parked and the area was bone dry. When I restarted the car to put it back in my spot it appears the petrol leaks much more when the accelerator is pressed.

Any of you guys (and gals) point me in the right direction? I want to try and avoid the dealership costs. I'm in Derbyshire so any independent garages anyone can recommend would be helpful also.

Thanks

did you have the aircon on? if so it is probably the condensation from that. Try doing the same with no aircon on.

It's definitely petrol, it stunk and it came from below the car, just in front of the rear wheels. Colleagues thought maybe fuel pump but weren't sure.

You need to get it on a ramp to see if it is a split hose or something else. Any small garage should be able to look at this and do the necessary work.

Not an issue anyone else has had before tbh. Get it seen to asap

306maxi said:

Get it seen to asap

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:yeahthat:

...and if it is a fuel leak, I'd think carefully before driving it anywhere. Fuel + hot exhaust = potential fire.

Just thought I'd give you all an update as well as a word of warning.

Had car over pit today checked underneath as fuel leaked when ignition on also. Removed two pipes from fuel tank to find the feed pipe had worn through due to rubbing on the tank and thus jetting petrol out of it.

If I can post pics on here I will. Work was carried out by ex touring car mechanic (Alfa Romeo) and he was horrified by the placement of the pipe and pointed out that it was clear this was original placement as nothing had previously been removed and replaced. He's asked me to take the offending pipe to my local dealership and highlight his concerns. As previous poster has said, petrol leak as bad as I had and hot exhaust are not a good combination.

Forgot to mention car is just 4 years old with 35k on the clock.

Proff999 said:

View attachment 160398

View attachment 160399

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thanks,

this is from the bulkhead / firewall
to the engine / inlet manifold I assume..??

Charlie - Punto TA

Sorry, not sure. He had to loosen the fuel tank in order to remove as the abrasion damage was caused by the tank. Said it was the feed pipe.

What concerns me is that this could have happened whilst driving normally and my car could have been a deathtrap. It's not like it's an old vehicle and we bought the car in the belief that Fiat had upped their game somewhat. How many more 500's are there out there developing the same issue?

Will update when I've been to the Fiat service desk tomorrow and let you know what there opinion is. Surely a recall would be in order?

Proff999 said:

How many more 500's are there out there developing the same issue?

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That's a good question.

How much dismantling is required to inspect the pipe at the point of failure?

Proff999 said:

Surely a recall would be in order?

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Depends on the answer to the above question.

If a significant number of cars are found to be damaged on inspection, then yes, most definitely.

If it's a one-off caused by faulty alignment of the pipe during manufacture, then you've just been very unlucky (or lucky, depending on which way you look at it).

I'm not aware of any reported incidents with 500's attributable to this cause thus far.

Tbh I'm reasonably sure there was at least one other car that had similar issues?

306maxi said:

Tbh I'm reasonably sure there was at least one other car that had similar issues?

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yes I recall that too a good while back, think it was at the engine end though, a split pipe IIRC

Removal took my guy around 20 minutes. I'll ask him tomorrow exactly what he did but he thought that given the length of the pipe/hose then there would be no other way to route it.

I consider myself incredibly lucky with this incident, could have been far, far worse.

Will update tomorrow. Hope the mod is ok with me highlighting this but I feel it's what forums like these are all about, sharing knowledge and experience.

Proff999 said:

Hope the mod is ok with me highlighting this but I feel it's what forums like these are all about, sharing knowledge and experience.

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Yes, absolutely. This has the potential to become a serious issue as the fleet ages.

This is just speculation on my part, but it could turn out to be a rerun of the hatch wiring issue, but with a longer average time for the fault to develop to the point where visible fuel leakage occurs.

If that were to be the case, then I'd say a recall would be mandatory, on safety grounds.

jrkitching said:

Yes, absolutely. This has the potential to become a serious issue as the fleet ages.

This is just speculation on my part, but it could turn out to be a rerun of the hatch wiring issue, but with a longer average time for the fault to develop to the point where visible fuel leakage occurs.

If that were to be the case, then I'd say a recall would be mandatory, on safety grounds.

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Only way it'll become a recall is if enough owners with this fault bypass FIAT and go direct to DVSA.

but surely, due to cost effectiveness grounds, all the fuel tanks in the range, and associated pipework, would be the same, up to a certain point, anyone with access to parts catalogue with diagrams might enlighten us. In which case its not restricted to TA's

This has just happens on a 11 plate twin air,rubbed through on the return pipe.!!!

Question, was the pipe secured in every pipe clamp and anything near it in its correct position?