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VW Sharan 2007 2.0 diesel - Fuel / strong smell in VW Sharan without engine ru - Joanne Ward

Hi everyone, hoping someone can help. We have a 2007 VW Sharan 2.0 diesel, bought in April 2019 with 13,000 genuine miles on the clock. It's now on 20k. For the last week we've noticed a strong smell in the car when the car has been parked overnight or even left for 2 hours with doors closed. It smells like a fuel smell but I suppose it could be something else. When the engine is running it doesn't seem as bad but that could be the fan clearing the smell away a bit. The smell is so strong you can feel it in your lungs , and taste it in the back of your throat. Car has been to 2 garages and today is at a main dealer in the hope they can find something. Has anyone come across this before or can shed any light on what it could be as we can't drive it like this, and can't sell it with a fault. We are stumped at the moment. The 2 garages we have used so far are small local ones who have fixed our cars for years. They couldn't find anything leaking but could smell it. Advice very greatly appreciated.

VW Sharan 2007 2.0 diesel - Fuel / strong smell in VW Sharan without engine ru - Andrew-T

Don't know the layout of a Sharan, but most vehicles have the fuel tank below the rear seats, with connections to the fuel pump and the depth sensor. Try lifting those seats if you can.

As you suggest the smell builds up with the car stationary, it doesn't sound like a fuel line fault - those are normally outside the passenger compartment for obvious reasons.

VW Sharan 2007 2.0 diesel - Fuel / strong smell in VW Sharan without engine ru - elekie&a/c doctor
A lot of these have an additional webasto heater units installed under the floor . They use the diesel from the fuel tank . May be worth a look .