# Gas leak/Gas smell in car



## macalata (Mar 31, 2010)

Our 3 1/2 year old versa started having gas fumes in the car last October...we took it to our dealership and they discovered a leak in the O ring of the gas tank and replaced it for a couple hundred dollars. We have continued to smell gas in the car for the last 6 months, bringing it back to the dealership for the 6th time yesterday (each time saying there is no reason for the smell). Yesterday they found the source of the problem is the 'fuel sending unit' is cracked and it will be $500 to repair (though they are going to give us a slight discount- down to 412$). They also stated that the car is not safe to drive! Thank God that we did not have an accident. So, for 6 months we have driven this car, with our child in the car, and it has not been safe. I've contacted Nissan Corporate Consumer Affairs, but what I want to know is this: Is there anyone else out there that may be having the same problem? 3 years old seems to me to be a pretty young car to have a major problem like this. I read the post about the exhaust fumes, wonder if could be related?


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## NissanPartsDept (Mar 31, 2010)

Just as an FYI, the o-ring of the gas tank is used to seal the sending unit in place. I would suspect that you have had the same issue all along.


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## macalata (Mar 31, 2010)

So how dangerous has it been for me to drive it (and not only for the fumes)? Am I right in assuming that it is a young car to have this problem?


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## NissanPartsDept (Mar 31, 2010)

I can't really say how dangerous it has been. Because I cannot see the leak. The sending unit is located at the top of the tank. So unless your tank was competely full, there is a possibility that no actual fuel was leaking, just fumes.
I have personally never seen a sending unit just crack without some kind of outside force being applied to it. But, that does not mean it can't happen.


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## macalata (Mar 31, 2010)

Could it have originally been an O ring leak, and in the course of repairing it and several attempts at making the sensor stop tripping the check engine light (the technician thought he may have bent a prong or something like that), then caused a crack? I don't know dangerous either, only that they said we couldn't drive it until it was repaired, and we have dealt with the same level of fumes since October, and yes, more significant when we fill up...but it did linger until almost 3/4 empty.


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## PbLead (Aug 8, 2009)

If they didn't put the pump back in correctly it could have cracked when they put the lock ring back on. I've seen it happen on a frontier.


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## Bmahoney (Feb 28, 2014)

I have a 07 versa and I have the same problem. When the tank is full and I park on the hill outside my house the next day the smell of gas is so strong outside and inside my car. It lingers in the car for days.


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## 460racer (Nov 21, 2015)

I have a cracked fuel pump/sending unit cover on my 1999 Altima. It has never been apart until now. I went to the salvage yard and got a replacement piece and it is cracked too. There is no strain on the piece and you don't have to force it to remove/replace it so it conclude it cracks over time and with fuel exposure. It looks like there is not enough strength in that area. In addition to cracking, the fuel leaks into a recessed area that becomes a pool of fuel. The connections are protected somewhat but the protective rubber boots in the electrical connections have swollen because of fuel exposure and they are difficult to push in far enough to latch. I love my little car with 227K miles on it but I think this problem is clearly caused by a design failure.


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## Shut-Trip (Oct 18, 2012)

Just some quick notes , observations on fuel smells in the cab of a car:

1. if the car is only 2-3 years old, (like in the first post) and the dealer has repaired it multible times, 
can you say LAWYER? yeah, I thought you could.

2. if the car, or truck is over 4-5 years old,then yeah, you could have a fuel line that leaks, or something, and 
maybe its not the manufaturers fault then.

but hell, if its some thing in the feil tank, and the car is only got 20-30 K miles,
I would be pissed off, and I d talk to a good lawyer, (not just some ambulance chaser).

3. I have a fire extinguature that I plan on mounting some where in my 1997 Nissan Pickup.


Peace - out.


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