Carver Owners Forum

All of a sudden the gas fumes on my boat have become extremely noticable and unbearable and a serious fire hazard.

It currently has maybe 10 gallons in each tank and I believe the problem is coming from my fuel filler hoses and vent hoses based upon what I have read in thusforum and others.

I've also been told that changing them out is a fairly easy task that can be done myself.

Does anyone know if there are any step by step DIY directions or videos of photographs showing this being done or can anyone give me an idea of where to order these hoses and how to start and any sage advice they have accumulated along the way

Thanks in advance for your help

Every boat is different therefor I seriously doubt you will find a video for yours. Can't be that complicated as the hose starts at the filler port and ends at the tank. That being said access can be a pita then again it depends on the boat. Hopefully it is just the hose as the tank is a rather large and expensive job in comparison. You did not mention what model boat you have.

Welcome to the forum.

PDXCarver1 wrote:Source of the post All of a sudden the gas fumes on my boat have become extremely noticable and unbearable and a serious fire hazard.

It currently has maybe 10 gallons in each tank and I believe the problem is coming from my fuel filler hoses and vent hoses based upon what I have read in thusforum and others.

I've also been told that changing them out is a fairly easy task that can be done myself.

Does anyone know if there are any step by step DIY directions or videos of photographs showing this being done or can anyone give me an idea of where to order these hoses and how to start and any sage advice they have accumulated along the way

Thanks in advance for your help

Before you go too far, double check everything....... a very small amount of fuel can create a fume odor we can smell ( we can smell less than one part per million concentration vapor ). Could be a fuel feed line/fitting etc and check the tanks. FYI... Gasoline fumes are heavier than air .

Be very careful, this may be something you want to get an experienced mechanic to do if not comfortable. Good luck

Do you have an aft tank? It seems these boats from the 90's had issues with aft tanks leaking.

It's a 94 37 aft cabin ....and thank you ... I have a tough time believing that such a small amount of gas can have such a pervasive reach lol. Bilge is dry ...engine compartment is dry ... checked both engines looking for any sign of gas seeping or oozing and nothing. Had the non marine mechanic who works for me check it and he said he couldn't find where it was coming from but suggested the vent hoses. I appreciate both of your input and suggestions. I also saw a prior answer from Viper with some advice on the grade of hose to buy for this. Thank you ....

Tonschauer...I only know of the two tanks and have never seen the auxiliary tank people talk about

Just want to be clear, I did not say it wasn't the hoses, it may very well be...look for dried stiff feeling hose with perhaps some cracks....get the stuff with the red stripe specified for fuel fill and proper fuel hose for the vent.

Its just that there are so many other things to check, easy to get led astray and you can take that under a part per million thing to the bank, regardless not to be ignored. Again good luck and be careful.

Actually there is a question....has your fume detection alarm sounded at any point yet ?

Are your fuel tanks just outboard of each engine? Are your fuel fills in the deck on both sides of the salon?

I have the older version of this boat, the 3607 aft cabin. On mine, the fuel fills on on the deck and go straight down into the tanks. The hoses are about 18" long if I recall correctly.

On mine, there are panels in the salon that get removed and you get pretty good access to both the fuel fill hose and the tank vent hose. Where are your vents located? Mine are on the side hull about 2' below where the fill is. If you change the vent hose, make sure you put the loop in that was there from the factory.... that prevents water from getting in your tank.

ALSO - check the tank vents to make sure they are not plugged up with wax or spider nests. If they're plugged then the fumes have to find another place to exit the tank.

If the smell is that strong, I'd disconnect all electric anything and find the issue.

Certainly the fuel fill and vent hoses are suspect but so is everything in the fuel supply circuit; hoses from tanks to fuel selector valves if applicable, to fuel filters, filter assemblies, and from there up, and the vent hoses. All fittings in the circuit are suspect as well, so are the tanks themselves. I mention this only because you say there is only 10 gallons of fuel in each tank so I assume that fuel has been there for a while and you haven't added fuel recently. If that's the case, there likely hasn't been fuel through the fill hose in a while. Right after a fill is usually when the fill hoses leak. Unless they're in extremely bad shape with open tears, that are allowing you to smell tank contents, those particular hoses may not be your problem. Usually the hoses have cracks just big enough to allow fuel to seep through during filling but you usually don't realize there's a problem until then. While the vintage suggests they're likely due for replacement, I recommend checking all the possibilities. If you don't find anything, you may want to consider having the tanks pressure tested. Don't add more fuel until you find the problem in case it's actually a tank leak. OH and don't forget your generator! And I can't stress enough the need to ventilate and be careful, plus ventilate, oh and did I mention ventilate!

BTW, shutting off all electrical power is a good idea but DO NOT disconnect the batteries unless you're absolutely sure there are no vapours present.

PS; are you sure you're smelling fuel? I've had people mistake the strong odour of badly permeated holding tank/toilet hoses for fuel leaks.

I'm curious too.... do you know there's only 10 gallons in each tank? To me, that would be essentially "out of fuel" and I wouldn't risk leaving a marina that had a fuel dock without putting more in.

Has anybody run their tanks that low on purpose?