Air Con smelling like petrol

[Back Door Shenanigans.]

Hey,

Driving around today with the air-con on and most of the time i had a strong smell of petrol inside. It got worse as i was stationary. The dealer said the fuel lines might have to be replaced could that be it?

[YellowDieselGolf]

I had a slight petrol smell with my 1.8T, which was cured by replacing the lines on the left side of the engine bay.

Open the bonet and take a sniff, to try and trace the leak.

[Back Door Shenanigans.]

Hmm. Does anyone know how long the fuel lines are?

[Back Door Shenanigans.]

I think i found the culprit to it. The breather hose that runs from the activated charcoal filter to the petrol tank has about 5 splits and even a section thats missing. $50 to replace so ill have to find another alternative.

Pipe:

Location in car:

[brad]

It's only a breather, so almost any tube will do the job. A piece of fuel line, possibly with some spring or jubilee clamps would be ideal.

[balkanac]

which hose are we looking at? The one that goes around the bottle?

[balkandishlex]

keep us posted - mine's a bit stinky too.

[PranK]

Just updating this thread, I know its very old but as it ranks really well in Google for "fuel smell air conditioning mk4" I assumed others will find it also.

Mine was stinking of fuel when stationary (at lights after it was warm) I could stick my head in the bay around the coolant bottle and smell fuel pretty badly. After reading this thread and chatting to Luke (OP) I pulled out the breather pipe that just fell apart on me. It had so many cracks in it and was old and brittle. The replacement part was $67 (1J0201160D) so I just grabbed some 5/16 fuel line from Autobarn and put that on. Its been 3 days and 90k's since then and not a single whiff of fuel in the car.

Thanks Luke, your pics and info were great.

[dcups(dailymk4)]

ive got a similar problem, well close to, the re-circulating the air button doesnt seem to work so im always getting in the air from outside through the vents when the a/c or fan is not on. Kind of annoying especially when you're behind a truck thats blowing out smoke and it comes through into the car. The button works like as you can see it on the screen but it doesnt actually activate and close off the vents.

[Back Door Shenanigans.]

Thanks Chris,

Likewise i believe my issue is solved with some generic fuel line (I can't remember the problem so it must be solved).

For anyone curious here is the replacement

Just updating this thread, I know its very old but as it ranks really well in Google for "fuel smell air conditioning mk4" I assumed others will find it also.

Mine was stinking of fuel when stationary (at lights after it was warm) I could stick my head in the bay around the coolant bottle and smell fuel pretty badly. After reading this thread and chatting to Luke (OP) I pulled out the breather pipe that just fell apart on me. It had so many cracks in it and was old and brittle. The replacement part was $67 (1J0201160D) so I just grabbed some 5/16 fuel line from Autobarn and put that on. Its been 3 days and 90k's since then and not a single whiff of fuel in the car.

Thanks Luke, your pics and info were great.

That sounds like the common re circulation flap motor problem. Can you check your codes to see if one exists for it? Further info VWVortex.com - Cabin Air Recirculation Not Working - Manual, No Climate Control

ive got a similar problem, well close to, the re-circulating the air button doesnt seem to work so im always getting in the air from outside through the vents when the a/c or fan is not on. Kind of annoying especially when you're behind a truck thats blowing out smoke and it comes through into the car. The button works like as you can see it on the screen but it doesnt actually activate and close off the vents.