Diesel smell, dangerous?

Most things are. Burnt diesel from the exhaust is mildly. The smell is not the same however. I wouldn't drink diesel either but most proper mechanics have the occasional mouthful. It is certainly not pleasant in sustained physical contact with the skin but many mechanics live with the stuff on their hands.

Huw

It's very easy to develop contact eczema from long term contact, particularly if you've just scrubbed all the oils out of your hands with strong handcleaner,

Huw (hedydd[nospam]@tiscali.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

No, he made it clear that he hadn't *seen* any dripping.

He's also made it clear that a garage HAS.

Yep, he hadn't seen any dripping.

A leak does not mean it was dripping and as far as I can see, according to him, no mention of a drip was made, only a 'slight leak', which could range from a tiny seep or stain to an occasional drip at worse, unless further qualified. Since you know exactly the scale of the leak, can one assume that you either work at the garage and saw the leak or you have some special insight into this affair?

Huw

In my experience that is a result of the cleaner rather than the dirt.

Huw

Huw (hedydd[nospam]@tiscali.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Exactly what ITYF I'm saying, and you're arguing against. You seem to be stating that it's only a very tiny weep and only a whiff escaping.

I have no insight beyond what's posted here. Which is why I'm suggesting that it be investigated properly.

The message from "Huw" contains these words:

Mmmm, bread and dripping.

Well Lucas used to blame it on the diesel & they spent quite a lot of money trying to keep it off peoples skin.

Was she wearing a wet T-shirt?

"Duncan Wood" wrote >>

The eczema was probably mainly due to defatting of the skin by the detergent. Not that I am recommending having baths in diesel. It is nasty and stinky on ones person and no doubt some people will be more sensitive to it than others. I've had my share of it, mostly during my younger days, when I used to fill all my equipment by 5 gallon drums. Not pleasant with a shoulder high fill point and a fierce Westerly.

Huw

There was sometimes a faint smell of diesel from my A3 TDi, but I couldn't find any visible leak, nor could the MOT tester. As it was also doing 47-50mpg, it can't have been much.

Indeed it doesn't need much. Just a slight seepage onto hot metal will be easily detectable by all but the most insensitive nose. It might result in just a small stain around the leak, possibly not even damp enough to attract dust.

Huw

There's a large difference between that & working on a test or leak bench though. Problems correlated far more closely with exposure to diesel than exposure to swarfega. (Exposure to arc welding had an even higher correlation than exposure to diesel though)

Of course that much diesel leaking onto the block would invariably drip badly onto the floor when stationary. It would maybe even piss and pool and make a hell of a mess and stink. It would also discolour the paintwork and perish rubbers and...........yuk, it makes me shudder to think of the mess a proper leak makes. Even a drop that drips every couple or five minutes makes a substantial mess that cannot be missed, either by looking at the engine or the rainbow pool it leaves on the floor when parked on a wet surface.

Huw

What possible diesel carrying lines, filters etc. is the fan near to?