After coming back from our last offshore fishing trip I noticed a mild fuel odor under the center console. When I got back home there was a very scant sheen on the water in the rear bilge. Checked all of the other compartments and they appear to be sheen free. The tank(200 gallons) was full when we left, the seas 5-6 feet and I beat the boat and crew up pretty well. There has been no signs of any leak since, but the odor persists.Fuel gauge remains constant. I’ve got a crew that smokes like chimneys and need to get the problem located. I have not looked at the tank yet, have to cut a section of deck under the console and add an inspection cover to do so.That will happen this weekend. Any suggestions besides safety matters?
I had a similar problem in my 23 Key West, strong smell of gas but i could not find any gas or sheen in the bilge. Checked everything sending unit all the fittings and water separators nothing leaking. I sent the boat back to the Key West factory and they pressure tested the tank and found a pinhole leak in the tank. They replaced the tank and all is fine. Good luck
my first place would be to check the gasket at teh fuel sender
What Chris said, I replaced my fuel sender and had the smell when ever I would fill it up. Turns out the gasket was pinched in one place and the fuel was leaking out from there. Cheapest and easiest check first.
Thanks guys, the fuel sender has been a bit quirky lately. Guess I’ll be cutting some access port holes this weekend in the deck under the console.
I keep the boat in the garage and noticed some gas fumes when I had been out of town for several days and the garage door had not been opened. Did a quick check of the bilge, fuel lines, and water separator all looked fine. Did not look at the sending unit, but I would think a leak in the sending unit would be noted more when underway or shortly after use. But this had me wondering the same thing. I have a 10 yr old Scout, and after 5-6 years of ownership, I noticed the fuel tank had slid towards the transom about 2 inches. Thankfully, it had not sheared off the intake line for the live well. Scout pressure tested it, reattached it for free and it has not moved since (I put some lines around the tank with a scripto pen to watch for future migration). I have not noticed the smell again but the garage door goes up and down daily. I am hoping the smell just came from the normal expansion of gasoline vapor that occurs during different temps. It’s been hot lately. I was thinking that a true leak would not likely produce an intermittent smell but maybe so. Next time I pull it out I was going to fill the bilge up with fresh water with the plug in place and drain/check the water when I backed it down at the ramp. Any other suggestions from the experts?
Ben Miller
Well here’s the latest. Cut holes in deck over tank (under center console…going to install hatch access there anyway) no heavy odor. No fuel in amidships bilge.fuel fill/vent okay. Fuel sheen coming from starboard aft drain hole in main stringer draining into rear bilge. Cut small hole in stringer to access that area…no fuel. So I’m thinking that the leak is in the starboard rear corner under deck. Problem is there aren’t supposed to be ay fuel lines there. Will pull up section of deck there and take a look.