I've had an intermittent problem with a gas odor in my 280sl. Tried a new fuel cap, checked the gas stuff in the trunk, etc.
I'm beginning to think that it's actually an oil odor, not gas.
Recently I noticed that the oil cooler hose (only present in 280 sl's, I believe) had some oil leaking out of its coupling near the engine block. I noticed that the smell of 'gas' was strong when the coupling was leaking. However, the leak is intermittent; right now there's no leak and there's no smell either.
Once I noticed the oil leak, I tried to determine if the smell was more oil than gas. I'm pretty sure it smelled more like oil than gas, so I think this is another thing 280sl owners with an intermittent 'gas' smell should check.
Meanwhile, I've also ordered a new oil cooler hose since the intermittent leak is a bad sign (I'm replacing all the high temp high pressure hoses at 150,000 mi), and hopefully the smell will be gone for good when the new hose goes in.
(Of course, I thought the smell was gone for good when I replaced the gas cap and reconnected the hoses to the gas evaporator tank, so I'm hopeful but not delusional that this will completely eliminate the problem).
Bruce
1971 Copper 280SL Automatic
