You are using an out of date browser. You must log in or register to reply here. The easiest way to isolate an air leak is to place segments of clear plastic flue line segments in the line between tank and the engine fuel pump. New articles & podcasts . When we were struggling with a hard to diagnose fuel problem on our new-to-us boat, I read this carefully. Thanks for the tip. As several pointed out it is a factory setup for the fuel pickup tube to be part of the tank. We toasted finally tracking the problem down. The e-mail continued by stating that the boat was approximately 15 years old, and the owner thought there may have been trash in the tank that was sucked up into the pick-up tube and caused a restricted fuel flow. After the fuel pump, the fuel is under pressure and will seep out any unsealed areas as a fuel leak. Your link has been automatically embedded. Provide your account email address to receive an email to reset your password.We have changed website platforms. Fuel tamk is in isolated compartment from the. It's beyond me why manufactures will not use quality components in their products. West Marine offers a wide variety of aftermarket, OEM-equivalent engine parts. These hatches usually are located over the fuel pick-up tube and the gas gauge sending unit. It was hidden from view and I only found it by accident. All we can figure is that there was one last bit of air, maybe trapped in a high spot, that dislodged. Click here. []. I have a 1995 Islander 26.8 with a 134 gallon fuel tank. There is such a thing called preventive maintenance and no doubt with all equipment on board a vessel you should have the respective manufacturers manuals and they will always have a preventive maintenance schedule include..and of course they should be followed at the recommended intervals. Bleed it at the injector pump and it runs fine until the next time I push it over 2000. But why? Having recently played this game myselfand met with only semi-successI can really appreciate what you went through. It was easier to see when I bent the hose a bit. Replaced fuel line old one was pinched and look collapsed. How do we get the tank clean when it has baffles trapping the last bits of crude?.
He fixed that, and we were confident that we had the problem licked. I was able to get about 2-300 more rpm by doing this. First of all it would take much longer than a few days for remaining liquid to evaporate from his tank, and even after the liquid had evaporated, there may still be dangerous gasoline fumes left in the tank. That is a very nice example of what this forum is about. ), gained a great boat dog, had a bunch of wonderful times and some adventures . My guess, without seeing it, is that you are looking at the fuel tank vent, and not the pick up.
After pumping the bulb, he got the engine to start immediately, but it died again when he attempted to accelerate to a planing speed. JavaScript is disabled. As of now we carry a lot of filters! Were now declaring the problem solved. My husband and I have been cruising over 14 years and 13,000 miles, first on a Tayana 37 monohull and now on a 34' Gemini catamaran. If someone elseon board has better close-up vision or more sensitive fingers for finding imperfections, get them involved. Turned out to be a restriction in the stainless screen at the top of the pick up tube. The answer was much simpler: use a hair dryer to warm the fitting up, then pull with Visegrips (NOTE: ours was diesel, not gas, so far less risk of an explosion with a hair dryer and heat. Required fields are marked *. I purchased a 20 cent washer,installed it, filled the system back up with fuel and never had a problem again. Luckily we were planning to go home that day anyway. He then asked that the boater take the boat back on the water to verify that the problem was corrected. All other maintenance is equally important and if youre using Racor fill them up. Happened when we were on a friends boat. We began with the simple, more common problems and then progressed to checking other things that would cause a fuel problem on a boat: Finally, when we started the engine it ran well. Includes detailed instructions to edit it for your favorite foods, how much your family eats, and how long youll be gone. I wonder if that boat got swamped at some point, or saltwater got down there somehow. Luckily there was a water dock right by where we had anchored! You can change your cookie settings through your browser. Looks like a good solution and nice write up and photos. It really didnt seem to be anything, but as it was the only thing we could find, Dave decided to remove the hose and replace it. One of the main causes of fire aboard vessels is associated with flexible fuel lines.your fuel lines were an accident waiting to happen, you were fortunate they only caused your engine to run like a hairy goatit could have been a lot worse, if you had had an engineroom fire..and I do not mean just the loss of a vessel. We then pumped all the diesel out of one tank, pulled the tank out and cleaned the inside of it, reinstalled it, then ran the fuel back into it through a Baja filter (no significant water or crud). In the end, I drained all the fuel out of the lines and connected a bicycle pump to the system. I verify with a small wire as suggested. At least in the case of the fuel tank fitting, Moeller uses aluminum for all their mold-in stuff, I assume for reasons related to the rotomolding process (thermal expansion, etc). Hello guys, Using the Racor bowl as a sight glass is a great way to figure out if the air leak is before (or in) the Racor or after. thanks for the informative and detailed article. Just wanted to thank you for writing this post last year. It takes a lot of patience to track down the source of this type of problem, and the prroblem will probably turn out to be something really tiny and hard to see. Had this problem last week, tracing fuel lines, looking at filters, connections, pumps, etc then I went to the injectors, noticed 3 out of 4 of studs on the return line didnt have washersthey were so tiny, but as soon as they were replaced, the engine ran great. If you own a Grady White boat or thinking of purchasing a Grady, you have come to the right place. The correction for this boat was to simply cut the bottom of the tube on an angle so that even if it did hit the bottom of the tank, it would still supply fuel. Drench! I just bought a 97 baja hammer and it seem to be having the same issue. Still its a mystery. If possible, remove the fuel line from the pick-up tube, and then lift the pick-up tube out of the tank.
I totally understand the frustration we had it in spades.
I think that would have been and easier way to do it.
I know it was missing since before I had purchased the boat a year or two before but it just never leaked till now. We use cookies to optimize site functionality and improve your overall experience. Hopefully that solution works out in the long run, as it appears it will. You should be able to find a replacement bulkhead fitting. Overwhelmed with all there is to learn as you're starting to cruise? for a while. Yea it cost more but customers would respect them for doing it. If there is a leak the engine will speed up. So now we figured that we had another air leak between the Racor and the fuel pump. We called Westerbeke tech support and they said to use a 30 micron if we were having fuel starvation issues. Our fuel polishing made no difference.
The next thing to check is the hose barb fitting at the top of the pick-up. I chased a fuel delivery problem from Mobile all the way to Nassau. Applies to standard shipping only within the contiguous United States. Learn what you can do to prevent phase separation and limit other ethanol-related fuel problems. What valuable, hard-won information you give us to use if we ever need it. Great article.thanks for sharingair leaks like that can be unbelievably frustrating!
That one that you enjoy fishing with but you both especially enjoy giving each other a hard time. Of course the engine dies in the worst and waviest conditions when the crud gets stirred up. I had the very same issues of fuel starvation and the problem was the Racor assembly. If you are experiencing problems with your boat, motor or trailer, you can e-mail me at theboatdr@yahoo.com. You could actually see large volumes of air bubbles in the fuel thereby isolating the location of the leak. . . and then come right back . Depending on how you were heeled, it can siphon out. Got a cruising question? Every boat, every cruiser, every situation is unique. Take my free mini-course: Filed Under: Boat Work Tagged With: Boat Projects - Repairs & Upgrades, DIY Tips, Overcoming, Underway. Perseverance pays off. Upfront I went against the new sender / gauge combo because the ones I found needed alteration. Small cracks are tough to find, but definitely cause issues that are easy to notice lol. Shop vacs are not designed to suction explosive fumes, and they are not shielded against spark. The problem took over a year to determine the source. 3/8"ID x 12"L chemical-resistant nylon tubing. Looking at our fuel hoses, it seemed impossible that there was a collapsed or kinked hose. We are unable to access the tank much less remove it for cleaning (short of literally destroying the galley and salon) which is the problem. Dave traced the fuel hose and looked at all the components. I also recall reading where someone put a longish metal tube onto a hose attached to a pump, and kept sucking out the bottom of the tanks, periodically adding more (filtered) fuel to stir up the crud on the bottom enough that it would get sucked up. Hi All, I have a rather perplexing issue with my gas tank fuel pick up.
If you hire someone, its going to be expensive. Run the engine fast, look for air bubbles in the areas of line. We took the boat out and motored for over 3 hours in 2 to 3 foot waves. The wrench slipped and partially collapsed the side wall so It will not take the anti-siphon valve. Whenever Im faced with a fuel-supply problem, I like to start at the tank and work my way back to the engine. That will tell you how much you have and lighten it if you need to pull it. And patience IS a skill. No improvement. This fitting is usually equipped with an anti-siphon valve. . We bled the fuel system and started the engine up while still on the mooring, and it died almost immediately. Your previous content has been restored.
There are two fittings, two hose clamps and one hose between the two. I will say that the Cummins folks here in Cincinnati (Cummins West Chester) were awesome, going from diagnosis to repaired in 4 days, and the Tech (Shane) even re-sprayed the area with Cummins White paint so it looks brand new.
All he needs to do now is trace down that problem and make the necessary corrections. The engine would run fine, then lose RPMs .
Ive run all summer this way and will address replacing the Racor at season end. I started looking at the hose very, very closely, lying on the deck with my head inside the engine compartment. I plan to pull the tank and see if I lost a pickup tube but was wondering if someone else knew a lil more. Ive got the answer. Now you can inspect the pick-up for any trash. Click here. The tube had a square cut at the bottom and fuel could not get into the tube fast enough to supply the engine.
The dealer tack on the shipping cost Westerbeke charge the dealer. Being cautious and not wanting to do any damage to his new engine, he got towed back to the dock, and the next day took his rig to the dealer to be checked. You can post now and register later. In my return e-mail, I explained to him that this would be extremely dangerous and should not be attempted. Bass bite, yellow jackets sting and George and I go fishing again, Unfortunately, not all outdoor stories are a pleasure for us to write. He explained that he had performed the usual break-in, and liked what he had seen up to that point.On his next trip, everything went smoothly for the first half hour of operation; then all of a sudden, the engine started to sputter, and it died. Thus we decided to concentrate on an air leak. The pickup and vent fittings are on opposite ends of the tank. Some Westerbeke literature said we should use a 2 micron Racor, others a 30 micron. Heres wishing you a summer packed full of many hours of boating fun.
It did have an anti-siphon valve on the 90 degree elbow.
Now just hope that was the only problem, fingers crossed. What a shame to have to go through all that. Then he would use a shop vac to suction up any trash in the tank.
The manufacturer says the filters need only be half full.. If this is happening, just replace the anti-siphon valve. Glad it's fixed though. Good job on tracking it down. Last but not least, the fuel line from the water-separating filter to the engine, including any plug-in connections at the engine, should also be checked.
[], Everybodys got a best fishing buddy. I would have replaced the fuel lines first. The problems got much worse on the return to Marathon with the engine dying severaltimes. I KNOW you guys must be relieved!! When Dave replaced them, the new ones seemed to have as much play as the old ones. When we had problems with our engine cutting out two years ago, your story convinced us to immediately replace all the fuel lines. In this case, the first thing to do is locate any inspection hatches in the floor of the boat.
Popular articles you may have missed . Pulled the tank replaced the pickup tube lengthened to pull from rear of tank. I did try and argue out that it should not have failed in only 492 hours, but they didnt agree. Very methodical work! He felt the cause was in the fuel tank. The next day, we went out sailing just for fun. Not testing anything. . . We knew that the leak had to be somewhere between the tank and the fuel pump. This is a very common problem on CF. I got lucky and was able to drill out the aluminum fitting and use a tap to clean up the internal threads.
Just as we got into the big ship channel there, we had some RPM dips. I have actually done work on hard to reach items using this approach. We did some more reading on the Tempo fuel tanks that we have and found that (a) a crack in the pickup tube is a semi-common problem and (b) someone had cut off the permanent fitting, fixed the cracked pickup, and then reinstalled it.
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