Bout Time 1 Posted April 16, 2017 Report Share Posted April 16, 2017 Went out to crank the boat today after a couple months of it sitting covered. Fired up ok and ran fine. Shut it down and smelled fuel. Opened the battery door in back and had a strong smell of fuel. Took out drain plug and drained 8-9 gallons of fuel from bilge. Hoping its a cracked fuel line from ethanol fuel and not a bad tank. Anyone have a similar issue? Guess I gotta take the console and floor panel up and find the leak. ***. Cobia are just showing up here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bout Time 1 Posted April 17, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2017 If anyone knows where I could order a replacement fuel tank from I would appreciate the info. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linesider 159 Posted April 17, 2017 Report Share Posted April 17, 2017 Get in touch with someone who pressure tests tanks before you tear anything apart. Probably a leaking primer bulb, sender, or line unless the fuel has been slowly leaking for a while Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bout Time 1 Posted April 18, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2017 I'm hoping that but being 20 years old I have a feeling it's the tank but yes I will have it tested first. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bout Time 1 Posted April 18, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2017 cannot seem to find anyone local in Jax who pressure tests tanks...at least not with an internet search...I'll make some calls... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hurricane Posted April 19, 2017 Report Share Posted April 19, 2017 On 4/17/2017 at 11:07 AM, linesider 159 said: Get in touch with someone who pressure tests tanks before you tear anything apart. Probably a leaking primer bulb, sender, or line unless the fuel has been slowly leaking for a while While your looking for someone to check the tank, look at the fuel line, primmer and filter. If you have a filter, I have seen them rust and leak fuel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigsnook35 Posted April 19, 2017 Report Share Posted April 19, 2017 Take the time to check all connections you can get to before having it pressure tested. Could be something that simple. Especially if you have the tank full most of the times and the trailer jacked up in the front. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bout Time 1 Posted April 23, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2017 Well, I pulled the console and floor section today to access the tank. Thankfully Hewes does not foam their tanks in. Tank looks good. Have not seen any fuel since I drained the bilge. Ran the boat today with the tank and lines exposed and did not see any fuel leaking anywhere. Weird. Tank was built by TNT marine in Ft Pierce. 1/8", 56 gallon tank. Built in fall of 96. Guess next step is pressure test. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatfoot Posted April 23, 2017 Report Share Posted April 23, 2017 The tank leaked on my 97 RF. It was a slow leak at the aft, port weld at the bottom. I decided to remove the old tank and installed a smaller Mueller poly tank. This allowed me to do the job without cutting the deck but I now have 19g instead of 30g. Obviously, be very careful with gas and gas fumes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigsnook35 Posted April 23, 2017 Report Share Posted April 23, 2017 I have a 95 and the tank is still good. Checked it when I had the boat apart. On mine I know you cannot remove the tank with out cutting the floor or the tank. That's the only reason I didn't have mine coated before closing the floor back up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polliwog Posted April 27, 2017 Report Share Posted April 27, 2017 Do we know if the tank is aluminium or stainless? I have a 97 LT that I worry about.but nothing yet. I do operate in salt NE ,but drive boat up fresh water river to my marina where it stays in the water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCFD rtrd. Posted April 27, 2017 Report Share Posted April 27, 2017 Have you inspected the vent hose? If it falls off the thru-hull vent and falls lower than the level of the fuel in the tank, it will cause a syphoning effect and drain some fuel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigsnook35 Posted April 27, 2017 Report Share Posted April 27, 2017 My tank on my 96 was aluminum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conocean Posted April 27, 2017 Report Share Posted April 27, 2017 A normal aluminum tank's useful life is usually 25 years unless its constructed of the heavier stock aluminum which TNT didn't use in the 90's. The only way to know what's going on inside the tank is to drop a camera in there. In most cases you will replace the tank once you see the video. I've seen dozens of older tanks that passed a pressure test then sprung a leak a year or two later, some sooner than that. 20+ year old tank, lines, fittings need to be replaced IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fsusteve Posted April 28, 2017 Report Share Posted April 28, 2017 Almost any marina should be able to do it, hopefully it's nothing series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bout Time 1 Posted April 29, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2017 On 4/27/2017 at 9:52 AM, SCFD rtrd. said: Have you inspected the vent hose? If it falls off the thru-hull vent and falls lower than the level of the fuel in the tank, it will cause a syphoning effect and drain some fuel. I will be checking that today along with the fill fitting. ThNks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bout Time 1 Posted April 29, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2017 On 4/27/2017 at 6:00 PM, conocean said: A normal aluminum tank's useful life is usually 25 years unless its constructed of the heavier stock aluminum which TNT didn't use in the 90's. The only way to know what's going on inside the tank is to drop a camera in there. In most cases you will replace the tank once you see the video. I've seen dozens of older tanks that passed a pressure test then sprung a leak a year or two later, some sooner than that. 20+ year old tank, lines, fittings need to be replaced IMO. It was made out of 1/8" aluminum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triplec Posted April 30, 2017 Report Share Posted April 30, 2017 On 4/27/2017 at 9:39 AM, polliwog said: Do we know if the tank is aluminium or stainless? I have a 97 LT that I worry about.but nothing yet. I do operate in salt NE ,but drive boat up fresh water river to my marina where it stays in the water. My 96 Ma is aluminum and from TNT as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polliwog Posted May 2, 2017 Report Share Posted May 2, 2017 Is it the salt water that causes the failure or is it the vibration? Any body have this happen on a fresh water boat? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M.A. Posted May 2, 2017 Report Share Posted May 2, 2017 I had to replace the gas tank in an old Seacraft that I had. The tank had several small pin holes in the lowest portion of the tank from water in the bottom of the tank. The water most likely came from condensation or water in the fuel from a gas station. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bout Time 1 Posted May 27, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 27, 2017 Well. Took it out again last night for a test run after replacing all the fuel lines from the tank to the carbs. As soon as i got 1/4 mile from ramp I smelled fuel. Turned around and brought it home and parked it with plug out. Quite a bit of fuel came out of the bilge again overnight. Gotta be a bad tank. Time to replace. :($$$$ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bout Time 1 Posted May 27, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 27, 2017 Weird that it wouldnt leak sitting on trailer or trailering it around the neighborhood after adding some fuel. Soon as I splashed it it leaks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bout Time 1 Posted June 3, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2017 Pulled the old tank today. Got it out without cutting anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fsusteve Posted June 4, 2017 Report Share Posted June 4, 2017 I don't know why more boat manufacturers don't put in an access hatch for fuel tanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MPFit Posted June 4, 2017 Report Share Posted June 4, 2017 Did you fill it and confirm it's the culprit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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