No,not that kind of gas leak. My wife will tell you that I definitely have one of those. I mean on my boat.
My '96 SeaPro 180CC which I bought in 2001 hs always had a gas smell underneath the console. The little voice inside my head tells me that there must be a leak somewhere, but we are 11 years and counting with no problems.
Do some boats just smell a little gassy or am I ignoring a potential problem? Do I need to run a pressure test on the tank (42 gallons)? Is there any other way to check for a fuel leak?
I have a fuel filler hose in my shop that has two holes drilled through the top of it. I bought my boat used and noticed a strong gas odor under the console the first time I filled it up. The previous owner had put some fiberglass blocks under the drivers seat to raise it up. When he drilled the pilot holes in the floor, he drilled right through the fill hose about 18" from the hose barb.
Needles to say it was no fun to find and really no fun to fix, but I’m glad I did.
I don’t know if you really have a problem or not, but don’t take any chances because a fire onboard your boat is a very dangerous thing.
Keep looking until you are sure there is nothing wrong and then get someone else to look at it.
Smelled gas in mine once, tightened all of the hoses, the filters etc and it went away.
Mark
Mako 262 Twin Yammaha F200s
Yeah, but do you consider a dog to be a filthy animal? I wouldn’t go so far as to call a dog filthy but they’re definitely dirty. But, a dog’s got personality. Personality goes a long way.
“Life’s tough…It’s even tougher if you’re stupid” John Wayne
If your tank is plastic, it is normal for it to permeate fuel through the plastic molecules, leaving a slight odor of gas. This is why fuel tank compartment venting is required for plastic tanks. With a metal tank, if you smell fuel you’ve got a leak. Need to find that, don’t ignore it.
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
Marine Surveying & Repair
Compressed air leak tests are dangerous. If something gives way structurally, the compressed air will quickly expand to a much high volume, ie explode-ish. Very low pressure should be used if required. Industrial piping always uses water if not dterimental (like it would be to a gas tank) because water isn’t compressible volume wise. It moves a very small amount to “decompress”.
Had the same smell for about a year. Would come and go. Then found gas in the bilge. Very badly deteriorated vent line and pin holes in the aluminum vent nipple that was a welded part of the tank.
In retrospect, I should have taken that smell more seriously and tracked down the source b4 I eneded up putting a dangerous amount of gas in the bilge.
Be conservative in your decision making related to fuel and safety.
Years ago I had gas accumulate in my bilge. Found the Water Seperator had a pin hole on the back side.
Gas leaking into the hull of a boat can be very dangerous, gas fumes can be even more dangerous.
The SeaPro has a plastic tank and - as I mentioned earlier - it has always had a gas smell. I will have a chance tomorrow ro check all fittings and maybe track it down.
I had similar issue, turned out to be a leak in the gasket around the fuel sending unit. It was a plastic fuel cell and I think the expanding/contracting eventually loosened up the gasket. The more I filled up the worse the smell. Quick easy fix,
I have a 99 Sea Pro dual console, also a plastic tank. Was having a similar issue if I filled all the way up - smell of gas and traces in the bilge. Later developments included gas guage showing me low on fuel but wasn’t really that low. Had them check it at Barrier Island and turned out that the tank had deformed and was swollen across the top (but vent is fine). That was causing the odd fuel readings and loosened some of the gasket fittings on the top (now rounded instead of flat). They replaced the sending unit with one fit to the new shape of the tank and were able to tighten everything back up. All is good now. At that point last year, Barrier Is said they had seen that in a few Sea Pro’s of that age, oddly enough, one about 1 month before I took mine to them.
