I’ve got one of those stainless lockable petrol caps - every supplier seems to sell the same one. Works ok but as my bus is currently covered in a thick layer of winter crud and dirt I can see I’m getting a bit of a dribble past the seal and running down the outside of the bus. seal all looks fine and it fits tight. Don’t want to get another one as I think it’s just going to be the same. Any suggestions? Should I try to track down an original?
There should only be air up there, nothing to dribble.. It might be the filler cap seal or corrosion on the plate the seal presses on. You can see on my filler how the seal has made it shiny round the hole. You could try another piece of nitrile rubber sheet..
Thanks Mike. Yes it’s only leaking when it’s just been filled and I go round a left hand bend. the rubber seal is new and not perished. :/
I would check the rubber seal on the cap for splitting or being hard , if it looks like its pressing properly onto the metal. My filler cap is quite hard to turn with the friction from the sealing rubber..on a cold day even worse.
Seal is still rubbery and soft, seems to be making a proper seal against the filler neck. It’s tight to turn like it’s sealing but obviously isn’t otherwise I wouldn’t be getting the dribbling :-/ going to try to clean up the surface of the filler neck see if that helps
Just given the rim of the filler neck a polish up with some wet-and-dry to make sure it’s got a good flat surface to seal against. Managed to get a bit tighter on the screws that hold everything together. Cleaned the bodywork so hopefully I’ll be able to see if that’s fixed it or not.
excessive speed coupled with left hand bends just after filling up tbh I thought you’d be more interested in the potential double-entendres: polishing my ring and my issues with unwanted dribbles
Have you checked the rubber hose behind the filler? Mine was perished so badly that the fuel was coming out around the edges, even though the cap was tight
Yes that’s all good. I replaced all the rubber in the filler neck last year. I will double check it’s seated properly though.. good call.
Does the rubber neck coming up from below seal properly against the back of the metal plate ? The rubber seal on the cap looks OK , and the wear on the plate looks like its mostly sealing OK. But if theres a gap behind the plate where its screwed down and pressing onto the new ? Thinner ? rubber neck it could be avoiding the obvious seal under the cap and running out from behind the plate.. I would get yourself some gasket maker and put it between the rubber neck and the plate.. Theres a black Loctite one that's like a runny silicone but it doesn't dissolve in petrol or alcohol that they sell in Halfords. Saved me from a leaking fuel hose in Cornwall discovered where you park across a 1 in 6 at the Helford Seal Sanctuary- was able to permanently re seal the original big rubber fuel elbow on the tank through the paint tin lid hatch by touch and with fingers coated in gasket maker. Got us home. Only for the lower quality brand new hose to go all calamari style and pop off a year or so later resulting in loss of about 40l of petrol while driving. Noticed the fuel gauge plummeting but carried on driving .. stopped in a boat yard (my destination) then ended up bus sitting in a pool of petrol until it evaporated. Then I drove it home , as I thought it was a bad connection to the bottom of the tank, which I tightened. Then found out it was the big new hose..
I rechecked the rubber gasket and it’s flat, no kinks So I used my big manly screwdriver and got the plate super snug tight - surprised I could actually do it up a lot more, maybe that’s the issue? nice seal now between the rubber of the cap and the rim since I smoothed it out. Next time I brim it I’ll do some left hand bend testing.
