03RSTT

IMHO you are making a grave mistake.

That is how ours started.

52k the recall was performed in 4/08 and level sensor was replaced.
61k the seals failed around the level sensor and leaks started again 12/09
65k the senders failed/cracked/warped and fuel was pouring out 8/10

If you wish to test here is the procedure.

1. Fill the car up.
2. Drive straight home.
3. Park in the driveway.
4. Take rear seat out(pull up on the leading edge of the lower cushion...there are 2 tabs to depress then the seat comes up)
5. 8mm socket and take the drivers side inspection cover off.
6. As you see in my picture above there will be a fuel lake around that sender.

In my opinion, you could have a similar situation. Can you check it asap?

gazosnic

So is this not an issue if you fill to 3/4 tank? Or could this still happen in this scenario?

unagi1

Another thread lives yet again...good info, will forward to a friend that was having this problem.

dee_seal

Where is the other end of that fuel line connected ?

BrianS

It connects to a hard line that runs up to the engine bay.

dee_seal

Thanks for your response, one more question: So how long a fuel hose would i need, given that the fuel hose is my problem ?

BrianS

If the hose itself is the problem then length is less than a foot. I can't recall the exact length. Maybe as short as 6". The problem I had was a hairline crack in the plastic nipple where the hose connected.

dee_seal

I may have found a solution, Ok I took the back seat off and saw a puddle of gas , and i noticed that the pump was loose, so I hand tightened the pump and I drove into work today on a full tank without the back seats, after I pulled into work I checked the pump area and there was no small puddle of gas, the car still smells of gas but I am guessing this will go away eventually, I'll keep you guys posted. Maybe the solution is just to tighten the pump thingy.

jay_55

+1 on the DIY

Craftysince86

ok so i just checked mine and the leak seems to be all around the unit, but not really on top of it. im thinking maybe just the gasket? when they crack where do they crack?

dee_seal

What year is your CLS ?

Craftysince86

It's a 2003 e320

Craftysince86

i filled it this morning so i could see where it was leaking at it seems to start up in this area



and then it doesnt seem to leak enough to puddle but here it is a few hours after the fill up

TonyC

Both of our fuel sender were replaced last month, but the gas smell (the SA sniffed it immediately as soon as he sat in the car, we were almost getting used to it) persisted.

Yesterday, I got this gas tank pix from Penske MB. I am SO freakin' thankful this car has MB extended warranty:



with the new fuel senders + new tank, is the problem officially "resolved"? My understanding is neither part # were updated?

erifly

So I'm assuming you have the same issue as TonyC?

Craftysince86

seems like that might be a possibility

TonyC do you know if there was a crack in the tank or any damage to the tank? from the looks of the old tank just looks like gas was over flowing from where the sending unit is situated... if thats the case doesnt seem like a need to swap the whole tank. i hope this is my same situation as my car is not under warranty, i did find a used gas tank for $300 and im sure the swap isnt too challenging.

my plan was just to swap the sending unit or the gasket underneath it, clean it up real good and see if im still getting a) fuel smell inside the car and b) fuel leaks outside the car

erifly

Do you guys know what that cap is called? From what I gathered in this thread..all of the items together are "pump assembly". Is the cap easily replaceable? OR will it require some special seal,etc?

Craftysince86

a friend in the automotive industry was looking up prices at his cost and he said that you cannot buy the gaskets by themselves, not sure if that what you meant by seal? i have yet to call Mercedes and verify this because he tends to be lazy at times

the sending unit comes as whole assembly so i believe that is why you have to buy a whole new unit

erifly

Yeah my friend has a w211 and his is leaking from that cap ('gasket')... So that means the only way to resolve his leak would be a new tank!?! That's going to run 600 for the part and prob another 900 for labor. ouch

Craftysince86

well... if the tank has damage then yes, but from what i read they usually crack at the neck. the problem that tonyc and possibly i have, i dont think the tank is in need of replacement. to me, from not only the pictures but from assessing the situation seems like a simple gasket problem.

an indy shop quoted me $1800 for just the tank and sending unit, so you know the dealer is going to charge more. tank is about $1000 from the dealer on its own parts.com has it for $700 as konigstiger gave me the numbers and the cost

erifly

Well even if the gasket is the issue(which I think my friend's is as well) you have no choice but to get a new tank right? I don't suppose you could seal it up yourself. I actually saw a picture of the tank without the gasket...and i'm not sure how that could possibly crack. It's pretty flat.

Craftysince86

Why would you have to change the whole tank if it's a gasket issue? If its just a bad gasket change it out, now I'm not sure if the gasket for the sending unit is sold separately or if you have to buy a whole new unit to replace the seals on it.

TonyC

Unfortunately, I don't know if the tank had actual damage. There was never any gas on the ground, so I'm going out on a limb & suggest the tank, due to whatever reason, was not playing nicely with the fuel fender unit. Perhaps it wasn't fitting well, etc.

All I know is that despite 2 brand new fuel senders, the car still reeked. By that, I assume there was still fuel sloshing out. My symptom is duplicate of other instances in fuel tank/gas smell threads. After the fuel senders were replaced, I got too lazy, decided not to 2x check under the seats, and just took it into the dearlship.

Sorry I'm not of more help... g'luck.

Craftysince86

I don't blame you of my car was still under warranty this matter would have already been taken care of thanks anyway!

Zaphodsplanet

I know this is an old post.... but I thought I'd put my 2 cents in here. The place where the sending unit lives is much lower than the center point of the tank... where you see the fuel coming out from. The hole with the white something or another shoved in it..... that is where I believe the leak was.

I've actually had the gas tank replaced on my 04 E320... and for a while it was fine. A few months ago I did a complete top off for the first time in month... low and behold.. the freaking gas smell is back again. No CEL coming on yet... but it wreaks as bad as before. Will probably try another fill up soon and pull the back cover over the sending unit to make sure it's not leaking... Looked it it this evening and it looked dry.... what bums me out is that there looks to be a kind of greasy trail on the top of the new fuel tank... running from the same damn place that it's running from in this picture. I asked the Service Tech if they had redesigned the tank... and just like the sending unit... he said "no". WTF is wrong with these guys. I have had 6 other benzes.... there was a leak with the fuel sender on my 2000 ML... but I never got it fixed before trading for this car.. but the other 5 cars... NEVER had a completely screwed up problem of any kind with the stinking fuel tank. Should be interesting to see what happens next month when they're finally supposed to be responding to NHST.. or whatever the organization is. There are something like 300K cars that potentially have this problem. Other than this bull**** it's a great car. Whoever engineered this part of the car should be fired. I do not want to flip the bill again for another gas tank that will just leak yet again.