Fuel tank leak

[gonecommission]

1997 Larson Cabrio. Late in the season we started noticing gas in the bilge pump. No visible leaks. I think the SS fuel tank may have a leak. My two options to pull the tank appear to 1. remove the entire motor or 2. remove the floor in the aft bunk above the tank. Anyone encounter this?

 

[beau262]

Re: Fuel tank leak

Been there, done that.
My boat, 1999 Monterey 262cr is an express cruiser. Has an 81 gallon aluminum tank. We knew it was leaking because of the oily bilge water, but it passed a pressure test which was confusing.
3 separate mechanics told me I needed to have the motor pulled and/or cut through the fiberglass deck to get the tank out.

As a last measure, I phoned Monterey Boats and was once again reminded why they are such a great brand and why their boats have such a strong following. Turns out, they designed the boat to allow removal of the tank!!!
Monterey emailed me clear instructions with pictures of how to remove and replace the tank.
I ordered a replacement tank from RDS manufacturing, and was back on the water in 2 weeks.
My buddy and I pulled the tank in a few hours, then I paid a guy to scrub the bilge under the tank, installing it was maybe 3 hours.

The craziest thing was seeing the holes in the bottom of the tank. Soooo dangerous! But it is a great feeling now, boating with a new tank, new fuel lines and a new fuel pump.

Good luck!

 

[AZSenza]

Re: Fuel tank leak

On my 97 226 LXi, if you pull the carpet up and the rear bench seat you see the Fuel tank has its own panel screwed to the Stringers. No big deal to get to it, just time consuming.

 

[CaptainKickback]

Re: Fuel tank leak

Had a Cruisers 2870. At about 8 years old, the tank sprang a leak. I kept it on the water and when I got on the boat I smelled the gas. The forward bilge had been pumping it out all morning (many, many gallons). Other boaters in our canal had been wandering where all the gas was coming from. The good thing was it all evaporated quickly.

Anyway, the boat was designed so the tank could be removed without damage to the boat. Got the tank replaced quickly and Cruisers even paid for the repair. Kudos Cruisers.

Hope you can find a way to do minimal damage taking it out. BTW, there are bladders that can be put inside the tank. Not cheap but may be much less than a full replacement.

Good luck...

 

[gonecommission]

Re: Fuel tank leak

Thanks guys. I brought the boat home and once I checked the aft bunk I was able to expose the tank from inside the cabin. There were a number of removable plywood panels. Minimal cosmetic damage to the upholstry. I was ready to remove it from the boat only to discover it would not pass through the door way. A quick measurement shows that it won't pass through the engine access panel either....even with the engine removed. Larson head office is sending out a diagram that will suggest what part of the floor or hull to cut. Yikes!
Would cutting the large existing tank in pieces and installing a smaller tank not work?

 

[gonecommission]

Re: Fuel tank leak

Thanks for all the advice.

I was able to remove the tank into the cabin area and see where the leak was. I found a welding shop that specialized in aluminum welding. After a few good flushes they patched the hole and installed an 8" x 16 plate over the area while the tank was inside the cabin. It is being presure tested today and we are now waiting for a warm day to coat the bottom of the tank with a truck box liner material. I think we are almost ready to put it back together.

Larson had suggested cutting a portion of the sitting area platform to get the over size tank out.

So hopefully this repair will outlive the boat.