Fuel smell from rear offside

[Zeitgeist]

Hello everyone.  On my 1997 9000 CSE, there is a smell of petrol coming from the rear, only when the engine is running.  It's worse with a full tank than an empty one.

The smell seems to be coming from the offside rear wheel arch.  Just behind the fuel filler in the wheel arch just above the wheel is a loop of tube about 7-8 inches long, presumably something to do with the tank breather.  Well on mine this has split right in two.  It seems to be a clean cut though, which seems very odd.

I am guessing that these two tubes should actually be joined together?

[sgould]

Welcome! 

I have no experience of he 9000.  But I do have a parts list.

I'm confused...  I've attached three pictures.  The first one is for the 1997 car, but has no loop.  The second is for cars up to 1991.  The third is an intermediate design for the mid 90's.

[Zeitgeist]

Actually, I got the age wrong - it's a 1995 car!  I've had three Saabs before, and the previous one was a 1997 model.  This one is a 1995, an "N" registration.

So it might be the intermediate design option (#3 of your pictures).

[alang]

These vent pipes often seem to break.  I have just fixed mine by pushing some small petrol pipe into each end of the  broken tube.  Currently bound with gaffer tape until I get some clips!

[Harvey]

I too have a 'slight whiff' from the same area on my 1992 CDE so this has prompted me to investigate instead of ignoring it

Harvey

[phoenix]

Yes, failure of this pipe is not uncommon. It happened on mine. I bought a short length of fuel pipe and replaced it. To do this easily, jack up the car & support it, and remove the wheel. You'll need to brush the much & dirt off the clips at each end to relaease them.

[danilo]

Actually there is no need to remove the wheel .. lots of room to reach in and work on it :-)

[phoenix]

I've done the job. It may be possible to do it without removing the wheel (I'm sceptical) but for the minute it takes to remove it, you will have much easier access. Just do it