2001 Gas Fuel Fill Line Rotted

[JRGrub]

Just wanted to share this with the forum:

I had serious issue with my 2001 3500 Open when I filled the tanks to the top. I have had the boat for 3 summers, and only topped them off last weekend. I then drove about 20 mins from gas dock to my slip and once docked, I noticed a powerful smell in the cabin and engine room.

Spent Sunday am looking for the source. The smell was strongest on the starboard side of the engine room, aft corner by the bulkhead between the ER and the tanks. I did a series of wipes with a rag of the fuel fill line (2 inch line) from top down to the tank entrance, and got strong gas smell in the lower section. This clearly had to be replaced.

Ordered part from West Marine (HOSE-FUEL TYPE A1 2IN) and installed it yesterday. Upon removal and inspection, the section of the old fuel fill hose that was by the fuel tank had many cracks and the hose was in general misshapen with bulges for the entire length. I was quite surprised at the condition, which I would not have believed in a 12 year old boat. I will replace the port fuel full hose in the near future.

I am also looking into why the fumes entered the cabin. I may have had the entrance open when driving from the gas dock to the berth, and some of the side windows, so that may have pulled fumes into it. I don't remember... In any case I investigated a bit and found that the 2" pipe that runs from the engine room through the ER/cabin bulkhead (just above the mid-bilge) was not sealed tightly, so I am working on sealing that tight.

Hope this helps.

[anthem]

thanks for sharing that with us. That is good to know. I wonder if Ethanol played a part in the premature deterioration of the hose?

[Chris Burkard]

Gas or diesel boat? If it is a gas boat, then I would bet ethanol has played a part. My brother purchased an older center console and the fuel lines were bloated on the outside and swelled shut on the inside. We had to replace all of the fuel lines. The older formulations for the fuel lines do not hold up against ethanol. I would replace all flexible sections of fuel line.

If the boat is diesel, then I would still consider replacing all of the fuel lines. 12 years is beyond the service life for any flexible fuel line or oil or coolant line for that matter. Even if the fuel line is not leaking, there comes a time when you have fume permeation. We see this mostly in waste hoses at between the 8 and 10 year mark, but fuel lines should be no different. There are neoprene lifetime hoses available for coolant, not sure about fuel however. My opinion is at 12 years, just about all hoses need to replaced, especially fuel, oil and coolant lines.

Just my $.02.