Fuel Tank Leak (Replacement)
- Thread starter emilbec
- Start date
My fuel tank developed a leak two seasons ago. Tank access sucked on our 1993 H33.5. I had to cut open the aft cabin bulk-head to remove the tank. Believe it or not the manufacturer of my tank "Ezell" still had a drawing and made a new tank in about 3 weeks. Great people to deal with. Our tank still had there label on top along with a tank part number. This would also be a great time to replace both fuel lines. By the way I mounted a temporary tank in my boat while the new one was being made. I didn't want to miss any of those windy days. Good luck.
Last edited:
My leak was more of a weep. I laid out paper towels around the tank to determine where the leak was coming from. Turned out to be behind one of the 4 "L" shaped mounting brackets welded to the bottom edge of the tank. The initial plan was to try to JB Weld the leak however it's location prevented that. That forced us to look for a new tank. Ezell charged me just over $300 for the new tank. BTW they are made out of thicker aluminum now. Should last much longer than the 20 years we got out of the original.
It is actually under the port quarterberth. We recently pumped 40 gallons out of the bilge, but in my case it was a broken fuel line on the engine. I don't think a hundred gallons of Fabreze is going to get the smell out of the boat.
The location of the fuel tank may depend on when your boat was built. If it's an earlier model (mine is hull #11), it may be directly behind the engine, not under the starboard berth. It was quite a task removing it - had to cut it into small pieces with a SawzAll, and that was when there was no engine in the way!
How much diesel in the bilge? There are places for leaks that are hose related and not tank related. Overfilling will mean you will have fuel in the vent line as well as the fill hose. Then there is the fuel line itself. If you have an engine newer than the original 2QM or 3QM you will have a return line from the engine. All sources of leaks.
If you need to get a good look at tank replacement then remove the plywood under the q-berth cushion. Also the bulkhead at the end of the q-berth. A big aluminum tank is tabbed against the hull. All your hoses and wiring run over top of it. I actually do think I have a small leak. But when I keep the tank below 3/4 full I never see a sign of fuel in the bilge water.
If you need to get a good look at tank replacement then remove the plywood under the q-berth cushion. Also the bulkhead at the end of the q-berth. A big aluminum tank is tabbed against the hull. All your hoses and wiring run over top of it. I actually do think I have a small leak. But when I keep the tank below 3/4 full I never see a sign of fuel in the bilge water.