petrol smell and brake problems

[nick_w]

on my mk1 im getting a petrol smell coming the car when your driving it hard round corners, also when you brake it feels like the brake pedal is pulsing

[Lauren]

its quite common tbh. You can replace the valve on the breather system, it is located on the chassis rail ahead of the gearbox, sort of the bottom of the rear cabin bulkhead.

change your fluid, check your brakes... particuarly the rears to ensure they are working properly, the sliders get gummed up and stick and there is often corrosion around the rear caliper bracket under the clips which cause the pads to get stuck and not move freely.

[nick_w]

cheers lauren, do you know how much the valves are, it does sound like the brakes might be gummed up as the car was stood for 5 months by the previous owner

[j0nathan]

cheers lauren, do you know how much the valves are, it does sound like the brakes might be gummed up as the car was stood for 5 months by the previous owner

Yeah, how much are these valves and what is the part number?

ta,
jon

[Lauren]

cheers lauren, do you know how much the valves are, it does sound like the brakes might be gummed up as the car was stood for 5 months by the previous owner

Don't know the part number (i still cannot and will not use the EPC) but IIRC about £30ish.

[mart1975]

if not what lauren suggested try this.
i had the fuel smell problem with my old mk1, i found that the fuel cap was blocked so for a tempory solution i drilled a tiny hole in the cap which sorted it.
i guess you could try soaking the cap in thinners.

[j0nathan]

if not what lauren suggested try this.
i had the fuel smell problem with my old mk1, i found that the fuel cap was blocked so for a tempory solution i drilled a tiny hole in the cap which sorted it.

How does that work? It's a pressurised fuel system is it not?

[mart1975]

not sure though the cap has a pressure release valve which sometimes gets blocked, the hole bypasses this

[coverco]

I priced up the vent valve last week, £38+VAT from Mr. T

[Tony jinxy froude]

Ok, i'll go through this again. Buying a new vapour trap will not cure your problem & you will be throwing nearly 40 quid away. I have this info on good authority that Toyota realised they had this problem way, way back & their only cure was to take the pipe off of the passenger side of the vapour trap where it goes into the chassis & route a longer section of pipe facing towards the rear of the car, this can be attached using cable ties to the top of the handbrake cable, this is perfectly safe as any fumes exit to the rear of the car & not into the engine bay. the reason for your cabin smell which is nearly always when the window is open, is due as mentioned above that the system is partly presurised. Toyota in their wisdom put a valve ( vapour trap ) in the system with one end connected to the upper part of the tank & the other end via the trap venting it into the chassis section, unfortunately when the spring in the vapour trap is weak fumes are allowed past & enter the chassis, with the windows down, the fumes are drawn into the cabin through various holes in the chassis/ floor. On the flip side of this, when the spring is strong in the vapour trap & the fumes are held back they exit via the non presure tight pipes on top of the tank & fumes enter the cabin this way. believe me i had the most awful petrol smell in my cabin since i owned the car, i even dropped the tank ( nightmare job !! ) & replaced it prior to replacing every gasket on the top ( sender & petrol pump gaskets ) tightening every bolt, even bought a new vapour trap, put it all back together again, went for a drive............. and the smell was still there, put my old vapour trap on, vented the other end to the rear of the car & not a sniff of fumes since then [-o< .... absolute bliss !!, i hope youve not all dropped off to sleep, but this is the only way to explain it all, hope this helps everyone, cheers, Jinxy

[nick_w]

cheers tony, i didn't really want to spend £40 on the vapour trap

[Tony jinxy froude]

Oh Nick, i forgot to mention, the pulsating you feel on the brake pedal is not down to sticky sliding links but due to disc warpage, most likely place are front discs, when you put your foot on the brake pedal the pads follow any deaviation in the disc surface, hence the pulsating due to warped discs, hope this helps, Jinxy

[nick_w]

i thought it might of been as they aren't very good either

[nick_w]

tony - forgot to mention that the pulsing also comes through the steering as well as the brake pedal

[Tony jinxy froude]

Yep Nick it will do, if you think about it they are all connected, the shuddering from the brakes will transmit up the the steering collumn which is what your feeling under braking, Jinxy