Gas in the bilge

I used an old dull cross cut wood saw (hand saw) It was able to be stabbed into the foam and I could cut large wedges out until I got close to the tank and / or the bilge. Then it was scrapers and putty knives all the way.

Kevin,

I am away tomorrow - but I will be back by Friday afternoon. Give a shout if you need help.

Carl
 
One more thing - seal up the hose connections because there will be foam pieces everywhere and you don't want that stuff getting in the fuel hoses.

here are some of my before and after pics:
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Carl
 
Carl said:
I used an old dull cross cut wood saw (hand saw) It was able to be stabbed into the foam and I could cut large wedges out until I got close to the tank and / or the bilge.  Then it was scrapers and putty knives all the way.  

Kevin,

I am away tomorrow - but I will be back by Friday afternoon.  Give a shout if you need help.

Carl
Click to expand...

Thanks.....I'm away also....back Saturday. I'll likely be out there for a couple hours in the afternoon.
 
Hey Kev sorry to hear about the problem with the gas, just saw this post today.
I had an odor of gas a couple of times with the boat after I filled it up at a gas station and drove it on a trailer for an hour to get home. I did not like that and got out and inspected everything and talked to a few guys here who had experienced the same and I figured it was to much expansion in the tank.
I never had liquid gas in the bildge though and it was always dry there and when I had opened everything up to look thru the inspection ports.
If you are finding gas in the bildge though that is a serious leak and the tank has to be pulled immediatly.

** IMPORTANT***
First open all vents etc and ventilate and do it away from your house and people in general. Reach in with wire cutters by the battery and clip off the connection for the bildge pump clip the wires off. Then flush the bildge with running water from a hose while venting. When you are sure there is no fumes and liquid gas to ignite remove the batteries with help one at a time and get them away from the boat.
The reason you clip the wires is to prevent the pump from cycling and possibly causing a spark when you flush it out.

Beware of static electricity from you tools etc. If you are leaking like you said then that foam will be soaking it up and stinking to high h@ll, it will retain enough to cause an explosion if ignited from a spark

Please do not do any work on that boat or leave it sitting with the batteries in there, with fuel in the foam and bildge it is literally a bomb.

I know you are a smart fellow and probably know these things but I felt I had to say it. And I am sorry you are having the problem with her, she is getting older and I guess it had to happen soon or a later especially with these new fuel additives.
I also apologize for not seeing this sooner but have not seen this repair thread for a long time.
Give a call if there is anything I could do to help, if you want I could take a ride up on one of my days off and help you pull that tank I know it is a bear of a job.
Willy
 
Willy...don't sweat it. It was first noticed on the final trip of the season so obviously it is a recent issue. From what I can see on the top and peeking in the tank overall it is in really good shape. I am guessing there is a single spot on the bottom or one of the seams. So far the foam is all bone dry so it seems it is at the very bottom.

I had no time today to do anything with it but should get at her tomorrow.
 
Our fire dept never lost a foundation ::)

I along with every other cop I know has put out more fires in a month than the FD's did in a year. We get there first and usually by a big margin. Generally speaking if the cop on the scene did not get there in time well at least you can reuse the foundation.
I have also seen what BOOM looks and sounds like more times than I like to remember
 
And Kev my offer still stands, if you need a hand one day pulling that tank your only a few hours away, besides I don't have any stashes in Conneticut ;D
 
I filled up a few years ago and when I got home I notice the smell of gas. I went to the boats plug and had a small trickle of gas comming out. I checked all hoses and anything else and came to the conclusion my tank was leaking. I took a seradded (spelling) knife and cut between the tank and foam and then could pop the tank out. Now after sucking out 60 gallons of gas and removing the tank I could not find a single leak so back to the boat I went. Come to find out that my vent was cracked and when I added the oil it overflowed the tank and instead of coming out of the vent it leaked down into the boat. At first glance it looked just fine but when I reached up to check the fill hose I hit the vent line and saw it moving. My point is to check things out real good before tearing out the tank. Atleast I did get to clean out the tank and give it a freash coat of paint adding maybe a few years to its life.
 
something else to check your hoses the older hose get eaten by the ethanol they put in the gas it a good idea to replace all but the fuel fill at least
 
I checked all the hoses and no apparent leaks. Also, with about 20 gallons in the tank and the supply valve turned off at the tank I found about 1/2-1 gallon of gas in the bilge the next day. Seems to me if there was a problem with any hose from the tank back it would stop the leak if the valve is closed. Also, if the tank is only 1/3 full then the fill and vent would not be the problem. They were also easy for me to inspect and appear OK. I haven't had time to do any work on it lately......I hate that it gets dark before 5 pm. Maybe this weekend....
 
It is not the hoses Kev, Fillet had replaced them prior to my purchase, I did not check all of them but they looked pretty new. Not sure about the vent hose though, a leak or crack as said previously could be what I smelled when I filled it and drove home.
I beleive you are right about the leak when containing only a third of a tank, that would be a breakdown in the metal somewhere I would think.
 
It goes without saying, BE CAREFUL!!! The fumes are worse than the gas itself. One spark and you might not need any help removing the tank! :o :o :o
 
my tank did the same in my 21 but found the holes took tank out drained and filled with water too the top till it was totally busting at the seams thenfound the minor leak at a bad weld fixed and good to go. they do make a product that is guarrantted to work on boat tanks to fix leaks for ever.
 
Whale,
Do yourself a favor, pull the tank and do a thorough inspection. The tank on my 1980 V was foamed in and had what I thouht was minor pitting from water being held agianst the tank by the foam was actually major pitting. I started noticing a slight gas smell in the late summer that seemed to get worse over time. I pulled the tank again :( and power wire brushed the entire tank. I found 3 leaks in the tank without even pressure testing (I left 5 gallons of gas in the tank) and all I did was clean the corrosion from the pits. I rolled the tank so that the gas would be against any suspect areas. There are several products available to patch the tank as a stop gap measure if you can't swing a new one right now. I used Marine Tex epoxy and after grinding out every area that was suspect I patched them with the product. It won't pretty but the tank is below deck anyway and it does not leak :). I have started a new tank fund and will replace it in the spring I hope. As a safty note, use a brass wite wheel if you power wire brush your tank, sparks are not a good thing around a fuel tank ;D.
 
Well, after several hours of cutting foam the tank still will not move at all. I am trying to see if I can get a wire under it....I like that idea but I can't get the wire underneath. I broke out the pressure washer but I just managed to make a big mess. I think my 2300 psi washer is not enough power to really blast out the foam. The space around the tank is so tight it is very difficult to get anywhere. I'm thinking I need to customize some kind of tool that will allow me to cut a bit of foam from the underneath and thereby get the wire under it. Anyway, a couple pics from the other weekend....

PICT4588.jpg


The fuel gauge float is a tad rusted on.....

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Siphoning out the gas from the tank..

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Think I posted it before, but I thought Parissht said that there is something you can spray on the foam that will disolve it. Other then that, get out a 10 pound digging bar and start tearing it out. Keep us posted. ;)
 
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