Hi Volks,

Several mos. ago, the smell of gasoline fumes led to discovery of a leak,
and a strong warning that my '87 Westi was not safe to drive until it was
fixed.  I took it in; the leak was attributed to fuel injection hoses and
was fixed, with a warning that the hoses "would probably need to be replaced
sometime down the line."

Friday, 4/3, I noticed the fumes again, very strongly.  The tank is below
half full, so it wasn't related to filling up, much less topping off.
Later, someone else noticed it, too.  Nothing was obvious on the ground,
perhaps because it was raining.  Saturday, with intermittent showers, there
was nothing to see underneath, but also no fumes that i could detect.  [My
sense of smell is somewhat compromised, so that I can't completely relax
just because *I* don't smell anything.]

Then, today the fumes were back.  I ran a brief errand and on my return, the
smell was brought to my attention.  It took a moment, but then i did smell
it, increasingly strongly.  The driveway was dry, and the leak was obvious.
There was no difficulty seeing the circular "puddle" of gasoline below the
back of the van, on the right [passenger] side, just behind and inside of
the rear wheel.  It was 10-12" in diameter, but evaporated and was gone when
I went back about 10 min. later.

The condition of my lungs precludes my trying to "sniff out" the specific
location of the leak.

So--Any ideas? It seems obvious that i'm going to have to take it in, but
would like to keep the cost down.  Based on the price I was quoted last year
for f.i. hoses, *if* i were fairly confident that that was the problem, i'd
try to find some hoses at a reasonable price [but still good quality] to
take in to the shop.  [I can't remember the price last year, but I couldn't
afford it at the time.]

But it may well be something else, and I realize that the info i've been
able to provide doesn't offer much to go on.  Still, if anyone has
suggestions, I'd appreciate hearing them.

And to the West Coast Vanagoners that made it to Kelley Park, sorry i missed
you--again.

Thanks for being there,

Gail
__________________________
Gail Fitzpatrick
'87 GL Westi, 125k   [Frieda]
Sacramento, CA
<redwood@speedlink.com>