fuel leak

[john williams]

After my first great day sailing my recently aquired 28.5 1985 I was dismayed to find that the entire bilge was filled with deisel fuel. This was the first time we sailed and had the boat heeling more than 25 deg. with a full fuel tank. Any ideas what he cause?

 

[Eric Lorgus]

Are you sure it's diesel?

John,I have a 1987 28.5. The stringers on mine form compartments so that any loose fluids trapped in between them would only get to the bilge if the level rose enough to overtop the stringers. You'd have to have a horrendous diesel leak for it to drain down to the bilge.The head on the 28.5 is right on the waterline. You should always leave the head intake through-hull closed when not in use. If you were heeling on port tack and your intake was open, your head may have overflowed.If your "entire bilge" is filled with diesel, obviously you have a fuel leak. It should have nothing to do with heeling. You must find this and fix it. Diesel isn't as volatile as gasoline, but it's still a flammable liquid.First examine the tank, its intake

 

[Sam Lust]

A Leak, maybe?

You haven't told us what you've ruled out by personal inspection. I would start out by checking all the hoses connected to the fuel tank. My guess, for lack of any better information is that a hose has worked loose.

 

[Steve O.]

fuel tank

The fuel tank on the 28.5 is integral, molded in to the hull at the bottom of the the stbd lazarette. So if it is diesel fuel, it has to be a leak in a hose fitting or filter, or the secondary filter, or some fitting on the engine. Check the bleeder screw on top of the secondary filter and replace the gasket if necessary. The fuel line is under pressure here and could easily pump lots of fuel out. Remeber that its illegal to discharge fuel from your bilge, so you'll have so suction the fuel out with a manual pump into a container. You will have to pull up all your floor boards to get at trapped fuel. Nasty job, sorry about your bad luck.

 

[Eric Lorgus]

To Steve O: my 28.5 has a standalone tank

So they must have made some design changes between the years. My 28.5 is a 1987, and its fuel tank is an 11 or 12 gal (not sure which) molded plastic tank, which is mounted as a standalone tank in the stbd lazarette. It is not molded into the hull.

 

[Jim McCue]

Pie plate tank or stand-alone?

Ensure that you have a stand-alone tank (and bubble box) and not one of those molded in "pie plate" tank/compartments where Hunter simply glassed over the top of the fuel and bubble box. I have an early 28.5 and this construction scenario was a design birth-defect.After two seasons of fuel contamination problems we finally identified the cause. Hunter finally upgraded me to the self contained fuel box and bubble box. If you had the molded in type, it may , after all these years, have developed a stress crack on the cover seam and that could be your leak. Check it out.J McCue