Fuel Tank Replacement

[Fireman]

After installing new Dri-Dek flooring last month and getting things ready for the year, I thought we'd have an enjoyable year on the boat. Not so fast. After filling the fuel tank with some liquid gold and running the boat on the river, I discovered fuel in the bilge. I knew all of the hoses from the tank to the motor were only a year old after having a new Yamaha installed last winter. So I went looking for the suspected leak, hoping for a fill or vent hose that may need replacing. No luck, all the hoses appeared to be ok. So to the shop it goes. Well, the shop cuts the floor and pulls the tank, finding not only a hole in the tank, but also the moisture and sand that appears to have caused the tank to deteriorate. At first they thought the boat may have sustained some damage that had been painted over with bottom paint. After further investigation, the shop manager says the bottom does not appear to have been damaged and painted over, but that the wood that was glassed in the bottom had somehow separated, possibly from a hard grounding. You can see it in one of the pictures. I will find out more tomorrow as I couldn't talk much with him today because of work and also from being speechless after finding out what this is going to cost me. I really enjoy my Parker, but in the 2 years I've owned her, she really has put a hurting on my wallet. I'm hoping ownership gets better because the looks I've been getting from the wife since the motor replacement seem to be getting worse. If things keep going this way, she may force me to live on this thing. LMAO

As with everything else, I'm trying to collect as many pictures of the process that I can.

 

[Sully]

Ouch !!! :roll:

I have been thinking about that too now that my boat is coming up on 10 years
I know ...Or Hope I dont have to worry about it for a while
Keep us updated and I would like to know the price of the repair if you dont mind
When your done ....
It looks like you didn't have to cut thought the plywood?? Is the deck have a big hatch over it?
On the 2120s you do not have a hatch got to cut though with a skill saw :roll:
Hope I dont have to sooner than I should
they say they used to last 15-20 years at least before ethanol

 

[Megabyte]

From the last photo, it at least looks like your shop knows what it is doing.
Good clean cuts and good prep work.
How it happened, you may never know. I'm wondering where the sand came from.

I pat my OX66 on the cowling every time I visit the boat.
As much as I'd like new power, the cost would be a killer.

Good luck with the repair.

 

[miky2884]

That really sucks!!!
Scary, I think about this a lot as well, something like this would put me out of commission for a long while. The funds just aren't there anymore to dump tons and tons of money into a boat.

 

[gw204]

Were there no neoprene strips on the bottom of the tank to prevent it from rubbing against the fiberglass???

I don't think the separation of that little part of the pad glasses in the bottom is indicative of anything major. It's delamination. It happens sometimes.

Juding by the wetness of the hull shown in your pics, your problem was water getting into the tank compartment. That's one of the downfalls of having a removable hatch. You have to keep up with the perimeter seal, deckplate seals, etc. If left unchecked, you'll end up with this...

I counted 29 holes in this tank. :shock:

 

[Sully]

:shock: Brian :shock:
Im going to have night mares now :roll:
YIKES!

 

[Parker23]

I want to vomit looking at those pictures! That SUCKS.............

 

[Fireman]

Brian,

You're exactly right. I had a chance today to stop by the shop and talk with the manager. They were able to clarify for me that it was indeed delamination. I miss understood him during a very brief phone conversation a few days ago. There does not appear to be any damage from any sort of incident. I don't know about the neoprene strips, but I did get a close up look of the tank. It had a good size hole in it and many more on the way. It was just a matter of time before it was going to look like the tank you posted. The water and sand made its way in just as you've described, at least that's what it appears. I snapped a few more pictures today of the progress but I completely forgot to photograph the old tank. I'll go back later and get some more of it. It was just a matter of time and that tank was going to look like swiss cheese. You can see the holes developing if you look closely in the previous picture of the tank standing up outside of the boat.

In the 2 years of ownership, I'm learning a lot about these boats and the costs associated with them. The upside of working a 24 hour shift in the fire department is that it affords me the time to work a part-time job. The downside of working the part-time job is that all that income seems to be going right into the boat. I do remember my dad saying something about a hole in the water to pour your money. Father knows best! :shock:

 

[Sully]

Well I guess its not too bad the boat did get 18 years out of the tank
Not to make light of the expense
Just saying :|

 

[Parker23]

Well I guess its not too bad the boat did get 18 years out of the tank
Not to make light of the expense
Just saying :|

X2

 

[DaleH]

Ouch ditto ouch, ouch, ouch, & ouch!

Now what others can do to PREVENT this from happening is to be both vigilent and diligent in keeping a clean and dry bilge. See my various posts on methods to ventilate your bilge, by searching on 'vent bilge' under my name.

Also consider cleaning out the bilge by putting bow high on trailer or other storage method, removing garboard drain and flushing the bilge out, at least annually.

 

[MacFern]

I don’t mean to hijack your thread but my tank also leaks, and the boat has been out of commission now for a very long time. Every time I think I am close to repairing it something more urgent comes up and the boat gets put on hold. I would like to at least be able to run it once in a while on short bay trips, and so I am going to buy two portable 6 gallon tanks. Would I just run the fuel line from the portable tank straight to the filter – just like the line that comes from the built-in tank? I guess the portable tank would not need to have a primer bulb?

 

[DaleH]

Portable tank to filter to std fuel line w/ primer bulb ...

I had my Parker rigged from main fuel to 3-way manifold ($35) that could also draw off a 3 or 6-gallon pony tank. Worked GREAT for decarbing (old 2-stroke) or for emergency fuel but NOTE some do not draw fuel enough to feed a V6 motor. So if your OB does NOT have a built in fuel vacuum alarm like OMC and Bombardier motors do, then I would be very easy on the RPMs and would limit them to 4500 if not less.

You could fuel starve the OB otherwise and fry a piston due to running the last cylinder on the fuel rail leaned out ...

 

[Fireman]

Now what others can do to PREVENT this from happening is to be both vigilent and diligent in keeping a clean and dry bilge. See my various posts on methods to ventilate your bilge, by searching on 'vent bilge' under my name.

Also consider cleaning out the bilge by putting bow high on trailer or other storage method, removing garboard drain and flushing the bilge out, at least annually.

Amen! I don't think this could be stated enough. If you haven't been doing this as you should, start immediately.