Beneteau 351 Fuel Fill Line

Dobber

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Dec 13, 2006
8
Beneteau 351 Wilmington Delaware
What is that solvent smell in the cabin

I had to replace my fuel fill hose on my 1994 351. I had to crawl into the back of the boat outside the cabin between the cabin and the hull transom area. I could never do it at my age now. The original hose failed due to fuel sitting in a low spot in the hose and dissolving the hose in that low spot on the fuel line. We found it because the cabin smelled of solvent or a vapor smell making us sick to the stomach. In reality it was a Beneteau installation mistake or error by the factory installers. Proper routing of the hose would have ensured that there were no fuel traps in the hose route to the tank. You could also say that the fuel tank was improperly designed at the filler connection. The filler connection being horizontal at the tank did not ensure that fuel remained in the tank and would not continue to splash up into the fuel filler hose, dissolving the hose membrane. It was a bear to get out the old hose. Even after 17 years, I've never forgotten how I managed to crawl into the transom of my boat and cut off the old fuel fill line, not to mention the language I used in the process. To correct the fuel trap condition, I cut the replacement hose just a little shorter to remove the fuel trap in the line, to ensure all the fuel would drain down into the tank and not sit in the line.

Good Luck
 
Feb 11, 2017
122
former Tartan 30 New London, CT area
I consider replacing failed hardware to be a part of boat ownership - the bigger the boat the more the hardware costs! I had to replace the fuel fill hose on my Tartan 30 - the old hose crumbled in my hand! But this was gas fuel, and I attributed the failure more to alcohol in the fuel than to age. I'm not up on what they're doing to diesel. Poor access - that's a design/build issue - not knowing how much direction the designer gave the builder.. Varies a LOT!