Gas Leak in Bilge

[flogator]

I have a boat with a gas leak in the bilge. The tank is built-in and I have not had it pressure tested yet, but strongly suspect it is the tank. The tank is fiberglass and the boat was built in 2000. The company (pro-sports) is not in business any more. I am looking for any input as to possible fixes? Do not want to spend big $$$$ because of boats value.

[charlie tuna]

I would suspect a leak in the fuel line from the tank, either way you have to open it up to fix it. It's not that big of a deal, install some plywood around/under the cut, then reinstall the patch -- glass it over...

[Steve Stinson]

Are you finding gas in the bilge only after a fill - up or all of the time?

I had a boat that was slow to fill at the pump. It turned out that the hose between the filler cap on the gunnel and the tank was crimped. It rubbed on the inside of the hull until it wore a hole in the hose, then I started finding gas in the bilge. The boat company fixed it by cutting a hand hole with a cap in the inside of the boat and replacing the hose. Not an easy fix, but a lot easier than cutting the floor and removing the tank, which is where you are headed if you can't find your leak.

I don't recommend running the boat without fixing this issue. The fumes will build up in between the hull and inside liner, and any small spark can set them off.


- Steve Stinson

[silverking]

If you've run ethanol blend gas at all in the boat, it's very likely it has eaten away at the fiberglass tank and caused the problem. But check the fuel line, fill and all connections first.

If the tank is leaking, there's no easy fix other than draining the tank, allowing it to thoroughly vent and then have professionals remove and replace it. Trying to do it yourself could be very dangerous with fumes/spark. Patching it will only be a short-term solution. The glass will continue to deteriorate and could damage the engine as it sloughs off crud. A good poly tank would be a cost-effective replacement.

Mike's Marine Ways has experience with this problem and a few forum members have gone the replacement route using Mike (off Woodville Hwy, behind the Dollar General Store just before Hwy 98). Looking at some coin no matter what.

Sorry for your predicament and hope it turns out to be minor. But this is just another reason why ethanol has no place in the marine fuel system.

[flogator]

There is no way I am going to try a fix or start boat. A little more background - I put 8 gals of fresh gas in boat, started and ran for 29 mins. Shut off, when I came back later could smell gas, checked bilge, saw gas, added detergent, dried bilge and left. Checked next day, okay, checked 2 days later gas in bilge, dried, lowered front of boat, could still smell gas but none in bilge. raised front of boat again, did not have gas in bilge, but after1 week now see gas in bilge. Have tried to run non-ethanol in tank as much as possible. Use PRI-G as addictive. The front inspection plate is partially covered by the console, the console will need to be cutout to access. I plan to take boat to technician to pressure check when rain will stop. I live on the east coast. Thanks for the input

[Gulf Coast]

Mikes Marine Ways...in the phone book

[SHOWBOAT]

Check captkeyser's old post. This sounds familiar to the issue he had with his backcountry

[Flint River Pirate]

Eric had a tough time with his!

[flogator]

As Paul Harvey use to say- Now for the rest of the story - problem was sending unit, Tank was full of gas that would expand and leak in the bilge. Had larger access panel. sending unit, installed works great and still have a full tank of gas. tank turned out to be plastic and in good shape. Tech said that the sending units need to be checked about every 4 - 5 years, The gas gauge had never worked on this boat, now reads correctly. old sending unit was completely rusted out wonder how it worked?

[charlie tuna]

Thanks for the "come back" info, something to keep in mind....