The car has a strong gasoline smell both inside and out with no visible leaks. Mechanic performed a smoke test and found a hairline cracks in the top of the fuel pump thus allowing gasoline vapors to escape. Mechanic states he has seen this problem several times before in these volkswagens.
2008 Volkswagen Passat: gas smell in the cabin
5 of the 168 complaints about the 2008 Volkswagen Passat describe gas smell in the cabin.
- owner complaints
- 5
- of this car's complaints
- 3%
- recalls
- 1
Is there a fix? There is 1 recall for this area of the car. See below
Gas smell in the cabin by model year
What owners say
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 volkswagen passat. Upon starting the vehicle, a fuel odor was detected inside the vehicle. The contact received notification of the federal safety agency campaign number: 17v509000 (fuel system, gasoline); however, the part to do the repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer and local volkswagen dealer were not contacted about the failure. The failure mileage was unknown. Vin tool confirms parts not available.
Smell of gasoline inside car
Coming home from the grocery store my wife noticed a fuel smell coming from the back seat. I removed the back seat to see a access panel to the fuel tank. I removed the rubber cap and saw the top housing of the fuel pump, which is plastic, had a crack and fuel was spraying out of the crack. Called dealerships in az and they all said the same thing, no fuel pumps available in the united states. They have discontinued the part # 3c0919051ag and replaced it with 3c0919051am. Why did they have all dealerships return that part and no recall was issued?
Check engine light comes on intermittently starting in march 2010 with a low fuel pressure fault. Car runs fine most of the time, but sputters when the fault occurs and fuel economy suffers. After receiving this fault multiple times, repair shop suggests we try a new fuel filter to see if that clears it, but it will likely need a new fuel pump. New fuel filter helps for 3 weeks, but fault starts occurring again. I took the car to another shop for a second opinion and they agreed that I needed to replace the fuel pump and fuel pump sensor, which I had done in nov 2010 after the fuel gauge stops reporting accurate fuel levels. This clears both issues until february 2011, when low fuel pressure fault starts firing again intermittently every 2-3 weeks as it had before and fuel gauge is not reporting accurate fuel levels again. Now vw states the fuel pump is not the problem (a $1k repair!) and is recommending a new high pressure fuel pump and cam shaft - a $2,300 repair! To add insult to injury my car now smells like fuel after driving it. Vw refuses to provide any sort of warranty for any of this work, including the first two repairs that didn't fix the problem. I cannot afford to make these repairs at this time and I am considering asking vw credit to take back the car.
Related recalls
Fuel system, gasoline: delivery: fuel pump
- What is wrong
- Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2009-2016 Volkswagen CC, 2006-2010 Passat and Passat Wagon vehicles. Interruption of electrical power to the fuel pump control module may cause the fuel pump to fail.
- Risk
- If the fuel pump fails, the engine will stall, increasing the risk of a crash.
- Remedy
- Volkswagen will notify owners, and dealers will replace the fuel pump control module, free of charge. The recall began June 26, 2018. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1‑800‑893‑5298. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 20AE.
Recall number 17V509000 · Recall details
Questions about the 2008 Volkswagen Passat fuel smell
Is gas smell in the cabin a common problem on the 2008 Volkswagen Passat?
5 of 168 owner complaints about the 2008 Volkswagen Passat (3%) mention gas smell in the cabin. The model year with the most reports is 2002.
Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 2008 Volkswagen Passat?
There is 1 recall and 0 service bulletins for the same area of the car. Check them below with your VIN.
Other symptoms on the 2008 Volkswagen Passat
Fuel pump 41Stalling 21Check engine light 19Won't start 12Loss of power 7Fire or smoke 5Power steering loss 5
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