[Healeys] Fuel smell in 100 - what did it turn out to be?/Scotland - Italy - Scotland final trip report.

[SKIP SAUNDERS]

I've  fuel smell for a few days after over filling the tank (i.e. filling
the gas right up to the filler cap).  If the gas is allowed to run up the
filler pipe, it can (sometimes) leak by the union gasket that connects the
tank to the filler tube.   Perhaps that was the issue?  (Who filled the tank
in Italy? Was it you or an attendant?   Sometimes a gas attendant can be
overzealous with selling as much gas as possible ... )



-----Original Message-----
From: n [mailto:healeys-bounces at autox.team.net] On Behalf Of mike brooks
Sent: Thursday, July 17, 2014 3:23 PM
To: Robert Duquette
Cc: Healeys
Subject: Re: [Healeys] Fuel smell in 100 - what did it turn out to
be?/Scotland - Italy - Scotland final trip report.

Robert,

We just arrived home in Scotland last night. Since I do all the driving and
had just done 10 hours I decided to leave a reply until this evening. I am
copying this to The List - hope you don't mind.


The short
answer is I'm not sure. The 100 had been running fine down through England
and France. We had been over the Grand St Bernard Pass at over 2000metres
high with no problem. it was shortly after we filled up with petrol for the
first time in Italy that we noticed the smell. The car still seemed to be
running fine. The smell lasted the whole five days we were in Italy, mostly
at high altitude. The car, whilst still seeming to run OK was only doing 17
mpg rather than the usual 25 - 27. However, most of the trips were short
ones, and all of them were up and down serious inclines. After we left
Italy, over the Petit St Bernard Pass into France, the smell continued
intermittently. But after two more fuel fill-ups in France, we noticed the
smell had disappeared (well, reverted to the usual "Healey Smell" we are
used to!!). After that, the 100 continued to run well, and returned over 27
mpg up through France to the ferry at Calais. Once back in England,  we
continued north and after two fuel fills I was convinced the Healey was
pulling better than ever. And calculations showed even better mpg figures of
28 and 29 over two fills. I don't have a clear conclusion. However, I have
the following thoughts:-

 - did we have a bad batch of fuel in Italy?
 - did
running at high altitude make the engine run so rich that we were smelling
unburnt fuel?

 - what about ethanol? UK is less than 5%, France is 10%, don't know about
Italy.
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