I can smell petrol...

[Hendrix55]

We have an ancient Vauxhall Cavalier. It has just managed a 400 mile round trip but this morning I can smell petrol fumes in the car. Despite opening windows the smell did not clear so it doesn't seem to be a one off. The petrol gague is not dropping unusually fast. It makes me feel woozy - Help!

[KebabMeister]

Lift the bonnet and see if you can see any fuel leaks under there.  Look around the air filter housing, and preferably remove this to have a better look.  Is it fuel injected or caburetted?  Look for cracks/splits on petrol pipes etc., and if it has a carb then around the casing/autochoke area.  Check that the grommets on the bulkhead are in place too.

Last but not least is your boot shut?  (fumes from exhaust).  Worth checking around the wheel arch where your filler pipe is.

[hedgehog661]

Are you sure it is not exhaust fumes?

[sexyblackcdx]

If its like my old 1.8 cav Ingection I ended up replacing most of the fuel lines under the bonnet this is common on these old beast but can be a cheap fix also check the rear door seal if its a hatch it could be from th exhaust system but more likely fuel lines