Fuel smell from floor locker

[SANman]

I'm brand new to the board, brand new to owning a Nautique. I just bought my brother's 2000 SAN with 102 hours on it. He had a major service done just before I picked it up, so it should have been thoroughly looked over.

It's in storage right now, and last time I was over there I noticed the smell of fuel coming from under the cover. I looked everything over, and when I lifted the floor locker the smell was pretty strong. I know the gas tank is down there, but my question is, is this normal? Should I be smelling raw fuel at all? I called a few dealers and they all say to bring it in, but I wanted to run it past a few other owners before trailering it 80 miles to get looked at. Thanks.

[tryan]

the smartest thing would be to haul the boat to the dealer mechanic. it could be any # of things with the high pressure fuel system. be safe and not a fireball. i would disconnect the battery and tow it in.

[NCH2oSki]

Just a thought, it could be the fuel cell expanding and contracting with the change in temps. Your not supposed to store the late model boats with the fuel tanks full. It will push fuel out of the vent.
You should be able to tell if its coming from there.

[dirtweed]

No part of the fuel system is under pressure under the floor. The fuel rail will be under pressure, but from the tank to the FCC is under zero pressure when the engine is off (actually, the only pressure at any time between the tank and the FCC is in the fulel return line when running). Anyway, a mild fuel smell in the locker around the gas tank isn't unusual. When I say mild, I mean the smell is only noticable if you put your head in the locker towards the gas tank. Side effect of using a plastic tank. They are slightly porous.

If you can smell the gas in the boat or when the locker is closed, have it looked at. Doing a good job of looking for a small leak can be expensive.

[tryan]

any fuel smell or leak is scary. i can smell it at the vent after i fill 'er up, but thats about it. the boat just being 'worked on' would lead me to believe something is loose. fumes from the vent would be outside the boat.

i did not know that about the plastic fuel tanks being porous. a buddys '99 grady white has a strong fuel smell at the inspection ports for his whopper fuel tank in the floor. no 'leaking' ,but just the smell.

[SANman]

Thanks everyone for the replies. A few days after I posted I took the boat out of storage, brought it home and completely tore it apart with my dad. The smell dissipated as soon as we had aired out the locker for a few minutes.

Anyway, we tore the entire boat apart, climbed in the locker to check for leaks out of the fill and vent hoses that run to the tank, went over the engine...everything. We couldn't find any leaks...it all looked in tip-top shape. I think what might have been happening is that my cover fits really snug over the fuel vent next to the gas cap. Perhaps the fumes weren't being allowed to vent and were backing up in the boat and locker.

I'm still going to get it looked at, but my feeling after tearing the whole thing apart is that there's nothing wrong. Better to be safe than sorry though.

Thanks again.

[tryan]

you can put a piece of tape over the vent for a few days, cover the boat up and check it again. ( i tape the vent shut during the winter when the boat is at a steady temperature. )

gas fumes settle to the lowest point. i would say it's the plastic fuel tank letting the smell out. you can smell an onion though a bagie. just get it checked out during your 'summerization'.