DaleM
Member
This season my wife and noticed a slight gas small in the aft cabin. After searching around here I found a reference to a white 5" or so plate that covers access to what is the fuel sender. With that in place and sniffing around it was defintely where it appeared to source from. My wife has the nose of a lab! 
I pulled the plate and could see the top of the fuel sender. The smell was stronger and I turned on the blowers which did pull the smell out.
It's an '03 so I figured after a long winter with a full tank there's a potential the rubber gasket was fuel soaked. I also noticed that the 5-6 screws had o-rings that appeared to be used as a seal were dry rotted (again, maybe a source of smell). It doesn't look like the gasket was positioned correctly with the indicator pointing in the right direction which slightly offset the gasket.
I replaced the gasket but the screws that came with the kit were too short to reach where the threads began in the tank. I will be replacing the o-rings with the gaskets from the self-sealing screws that came with the sender gasket kit.
A few questions:
1 - Does the white cover have a gasket itself? Mine looked like someone tried to use a silcon sealant to create a gasket under the cover.
2 - There was not a source of smell around area on the tank where the sender opening resides. I used a towel to rub the area, no smell. Where else should I/can I check?
(I have a genset and it's ackward getting to the tank area).
3 - The fuel hoses in the bilge look in good shape and wiping them then smelling shows no sign of fuel odor. Where else can I check?
4 - I was told to check the filler line hose clamps and the vent hose clamps. How do you get to them? Is there an access panel?
I checked the fuel lines in the bilge and they do not show any signs of leaking around fuel/water separaters.
Another thread mentioned potentially this is being caused by the extreme changes in temps we experience in this area this time of year causing expansion. Highs in the upper 70s, lows in the upper 30s/lower 40s
Anyone else experience this? My mech said that we most likely should not be experiencing any issues with fuel soaked lines due to the age of the boat (an '03 280 Dancer).
The tank is a poly tank.
Thanks again for the input! I'll try to post what I find back up here for future reference.
I pulled the plate and could see the top of the fuel sender. The smell was stronger and I turned on the blowers which did pull the smell out.
It's an '03 so I figured after a long winter with a full tank there's a potential the rubber gasket was fuel soaked. I also noticed that the 5-6 screws had o-rings that appeared to be used as a seal were dry rotted (again, maybe a source of smell). It doesn't look like the gasket was positioned correctly with the indicator pointing in the right direction which slightly offset the gasket.
I replaced the gasket but the screws that came with the kit were too short to reach where the threads began in the tank. I will be replacing the o-rings with the gaskets from the self-sealing screws that came with the sender gasket kit.
A few questions:
1 - Does the white cover have a gasket itself? Mine looked like someone tried to use a silcon sealant to create a gasket under the cover.
2 - There was not a source of smell around area on the tank where the sender opening resides. I used a towel to rub the area, no smell. Where else should I/can I check?
(I have a genset and it's ackward getting to the tank area).
3 - The fuel hoses in the bilge look in good shape and wiping them then smelling shows no sign of fuel odor. Where else can I check?
4 - I was told to check the filler line hose clamps and the vent hose clamps. How do you get to them? Is there an access panel?
I checked the fuel lines in the bilge and they do not show any signs of leaking around fuel/water separaters.
Another thread mentioned potentially this is being caused by the extreme changes in temps we experience in this area this time of year causing expansion. Highs in the upper 70s, lows in the upper 30s/lower 40s
Anyone else experience this? My mech said that we most likely should not be experiencing any issues with fuel soaked lines due to the age of the boat (an '03 280 Dancer).
The tank is a poly tank.
Thanks again for the input! I'll try to post what I find back up here for future reference.
