I've read about recalls on other brands of cars due to minute amounts of fuel vapour leaking out through fuel lines that weren't sufficiently impermeable. Geesh...

 

All,

I had this issue with mine and thanks to my extended warranty the dealer replaced the entire gas tank and the drivers side (which was leaking) fuel sending unit.

My co-pay/dectuable was $75.

Dodged a bullet there!

Alex

 

is the TSB from 2008 still active? i've started smelling fuel in my car randomly... i dont have warranty and I'm at about 48,000miles...

 

Has anybody in the NJ has success with a dealer on this ? I've spoke with 2 service centers. The one that performed the campaign hasn't heard anything about this and the other said they'd have to charge a diagnostic fee and can't guarantee they'll get MB USA to pay for it or warranty it. I think the dealer that performed the campaign should pay for it.

 

Talked to MB USA today and they were no help either. All they said was to talk to the dealer service manager directly. I'm going to start researching about changing all the o-rings and seals and possibily the sending unit/pump. Does anyone have the procedure from the WIS they can send me ?

 

+1 I called my dealer today and they told me to kick rocks. I even called MBUSA and they told me they couldn't do anything about the issue until I had the dealer diagnose it for a fee and even then there would be no guarantee of them covering the job to fix it.

I too have the gas flooded driver side unit. The passenger side seems un-affected.

 

Everyone having problems needs to file a NHTSA report. They take this seriously they just need enough complaints to follow up on this. I'd stress the heavy smell of leaking fuel and even liquid fuel spilling out onto the ground.

Wonder if we can light a fire under the right EPA *** about all this fuel evaporating into the atmosphere and killing all the poor trees or whatever gets those nutjobs riled up.

 

add me to the list as well. I have an 06 e55 with about 67K miles. Came out to the car on Monday and it wreaked of fuel. My 6 year old complained of the smell. I took the rear seat out and low and behold the drives side unit has a puddle of raw fuel on top. I called my service advisor today to see what they had to say. They basically told me that they have never heard of this issue before and that I would need to bring the car in for a diagnosis. Of course they charge a fee for that. I also asked them to check the recall history on my VIN to see if the 2008 recall campaign was ever performed on my car. they told me that there was only one recall that applied to my VIN and that it had already been done. The recall had nothing to due with the Emissions/fuel system. Is the sending unit replacement straightforward? Is it something I can do myself?

I did submit a complaint with the NHTSA as well.

 

Well after a month with no gas smell after repacing the sending unit and the seals ..It's returned on the drivers side after filling the car up today. I pulled the seat up and sure enough gas was puddled up. My only problem is it's not coming from the seal or the sending unit. After drying everything up. The gas was draining downward out from the body of the car down to the seal. I know I quit pumping gas on the first click at the gas station which we've done since we replaced everything. So I don't think we over filled the tank. Any ideas what might cause this and where it might be coming from?
__________________

 

i don't remember if i posted my experience with my e55 but i too had the gas leak and went into the dealer knowing about the recall. they performed the recall which was that tiny metal sleeve inserted into the fuel pump and i went straight to the gas station to fill up and it puddled up with fuel again. back to the dealer and they said they couldn't do anything else. i reminded them that the recall stated if the pump was already cracked then replacement would be neccesary under recall. dealer said they searched high and low but my vin does not fall into the window. i had no choice but to pay for a new fuel pump and fuel filter. i called mbusa and had them send me the actual recall notice. i took it back down to the dealer and talked to the main tech boss and had him read it for himself. they refunded me all my money after a few weeks of reminding them. as for my car, it still leaks. i have now discovered that the leak is coming from a vent connection that is on top of the tank and in between both pumps. i only put in 3/4's of a tank and its been fine with no smell. waiting to see if it becomes a recall. hope this helps anyone.

 

Add me to the list.

2004 E500 w/ 120k miles, daily beater. Filled up last night, and my garage had a very strong fuel odor this morning. So much so, that I pulled it outside and was afraid to drive it today. I'll pull the rear seat when I get a chance and see what's what. Times like this I'm very happy to have options in the driveway....

 

Let me preface this post by stating that I am normally a lurker and not a poster, however the issue I describe below alarmed me, as most of you know "gasoline vapors and heat don't mix well". Whether this issue is a time bomb or merely an annoyance can be discussed ad nauseum and to be frank I don't want to be part of that discussion. Below is my story so far for what it is worth.

I purchased a new to me E55 on Tuesday this week, last night I filled it with gas, later that evening I got an extremely strong smell of gas from rear drivers side wheel arch. I arrived home, checked online and discovered this thread.

That evening I called MB USA I suggested that the issue may be related to the fuel sender under the rear seat and should be covered under their recall, I was advised by them that my VIN is not part of their voluntary emissions recall campaign (# 2008-029991) even though my model year (2006), my model (E55) and my engine family (6mbxv05.5lbi) are ALL listed in their 2008 filing with the EPA for their voluntary service campaign for this vehicle.
They suggested I bring the vehicle to the dealer for diagnostics.

I did so this morning. The dealer advised that the fuel sender part number that I had in my vehicle did not match that for the recall. The issue was a leaking O ring in the fuel sender, the dealer replaced the O ring at a cost of $305 ($250 labor, the balance tax and O ring). Also the dealer very graciously said they will proactively attend to the "nipple" on the fuel sender by inserting the metal grommet free of charge next week (they did not have the part(s) in stock).
I later today called MB USA again advised them that I felt this issue should be covered under their recall notice, they have escalated my concerns to a case manager who will call me within 24 hours.

I will update as I have news.

 

Thank you for your post. Interested to see how MBUSA treats this matter in your case.

Everyone needs to keep calling and complaining, but MOST IMPORTANTLY FILE COMPLAINTS WITH NHTSA/EPA. This is who can force Mercedes to actually fix this for us.

Funny how companies try to fix recalls with .02 cent pieces of metal and send you on your way. Just like Mercedes is doing here, and like Toyota did for sticky gas pedals. Its BS and emissions is a huge deal on a federal level. Some of you people in California need to start calling the crazies in your state. They'll have Mercedes buy us all a new E63 or something crazy the way that state works. lol

 

Just tore into mine to see what's what. As fuel level decreased, so did the smell. Passenger side is bone dry but driver side looked like this! Notice the pool of fuel on top? There was also a pool that you couldn't see, collected at the top of that picture, but outside of the assembly. Also, that large black retaining collar that keeps the unit in place was loose. I put all my might into tightening it as much as I could, and got a good 1/4 full rotation. Hopefully, that loose collar was my source.

Now, it off to the gas station to fill her back up and look to see where the leak is coming from. Will report back...

 

Wow.. If you could move it with your hands..then it was pretty loose. Probably because your seal has broken down and allowed it to come loose. As dirty as everything is there it looks like your whole unit is being submerged in gas. You might want to get a extra big size of channel locks and see if you can tighten it just a little more for safety sakes. This ended up being the same problem I had in my earlier post. After I replaced my sending unit I didn't get the ring back on quite tight enough and it finally loosened up enough to start leaking again.

If you do end up having to replace the seal. Be extremely careful removing the fuel line . It's hard to come off and you can break the plastic nipple off really easy. Go ahead and buy a new hose clamp too. Be sure and pay attention exactly how your sending unit is set in place. If you put it back in a different position ( even a 1/2 inch) It can cause your fuel gauge switch(Float) to hang on the wiring in the tank.

 

Ok, so mine is leaking still. From what I can tell, it's coming from the seal, of whatever that unit is in my pic, with the blue dot on it, and the connector. I guess that's the fuel sending unit? Where the the two pieces of plastic join, the appears to be a gasket there that's leaking. It's hard to tell since, it's not shooting out, but I dried that area and that's where it's getting wet again.

If so, can just that part be replaced, or does that whole fuel pump need to come out and replaced as a whole? I'm not quite sure what I'm looking at here.

 

Here's a close up pic, of where I believe it's leaking from. I dried that white plastic area pretty well, but you can see it glistening again after a minute or so...

 

Only way to know for sure is to do a smoke test. Cost me $80 at a indi shop.
I know its my fuel filter but my tech dont bother with the part and live with the Check Engine Light. I only fill mine up 3/4 full now and cleared the code.

I'll fix it when i feel like saving up $ 386

 

Add me to the list, mine though back when the car had about 50k miles on it. Many seals, Many different pickups and it still leaked. At the end of of the day, mercedes paid the dealer to replace the fuel tank as long as I paid for the part (car was not under warranty) After they got the factory tank out, close inspection found that there was a tank molding issue up by where the threads and pump mount to the plastic tank.

 

How much did paying for the tank set you back?

 

I was monkeying around with this again today and now I'm starting to believe that the problem with mine is the gasket beneath the large black hold-down collar. I sopped up all the fuel again and dried everything as much as possible. I then started the car and watched, and watched, and watched, and rev'd and watched, and rev'd, and watched...you get the point. It didn't leak at all, nothing, zippy, nada. The fuel line and nipple are dry, and without cracking or dry rotting, so I don't think it's that. My working theory is that with the tank full, or near full, fuel is sloshing around in the tank and leaking out at that gasket. Since it's not leaking at idle, and the fuel smell is greatly increased after a fill-up, I think (hope) that I'm correct. This would also be the reason that as I burn off fuel, the smell seems to dissipate. I'm assuming it's because the fuel level isn't high enough to reach that egress, when sloshing around.

So, I'm going to go ahead and order a gasket, for both sides. And for now, try to run the car with no more than 1/2 tank.


Guys, since checking is such an easy thing to do, I suggest EVERYONE take 10 minutes and do so, if you haven't already. It takes 30 seconds to remove the seat, 10 seconds to lift up the sound deadening material, and another 45 seconds to remove the 6 or 7 screws holding the caps on, with a cordless screw gun. As you can see, there are 2 wiring harnesses down there on the driver side, so all it would take is one of those to short, and arc, and it's boom city.

 

Were you trying to tighten the ring by hand? Not sure what kinda angle you can get at it but use a wide flat tip screw driver or pry bar or similar and a hammer and go around the ring giving it light/moderate taps to tighten it up more if you feel that you want it tightened more. Trick is to keep going around in circles with where you hammer it to spread the load around. Took off and replaced many of these rings in this fashion.

May wanna just throw a new seal at it if there's one under the assembly as its easy enough to replace since you have an access port and don't have to drop the tank. Unscrew the ring, lift out the assembly, slip on the new seal and put it back together. You've been in there enough times you can do the whole job in probably a half hour being careful and for only a few dollars. Would also give you a chance to examine the molding of the tank for the imperfections people have mentioned.

 

The green gasket is like $25
I replaced mine but that did not solve the problem

 

Here are the part numbers that solved my gas leak smell.

 

Not surprisingly MB USA called me on Friday and restated that my VIN was not covered and they would not pay for any necessary repairs.