Waste Tank Leak

P

Pointe of View

New Member
Feb 15, 2012
28
Northern Virginia
Boat Info
2001 410 Sundancer
Engines
CAT 3126
I have a 2001 410DA. I have a slow leak coming from the bottom of the waste tank. Because of the waste tank location, i cannot seem to find the leak location. Has anyone ever removed their waste tank from a 410DA? Or, does anyone have any suggestions on how to locate the leak without removing the tank?
 
I'm not sure if your boat uses the same size holding tank as mine (28 gallon), but the year of your tank is from the era when there were problems with the tank mold setup. 9 times out of 10 what has probably happened is that the little, molded "feet" are leaking at the area where the male part of the mold held onto the tank during the formation process. If there is a little room (an inch will do) to one side of the tank or the other... remove the screws from that side only and the tank can be slide out from underneath the thimbles on the other side. But to fix the tank, which obviously needs to happen, there's really no need to check it out. Just plan on getting the tank removed as it needs to come out of the boat, anyways.

There's a few threads and probably youtube's about repairing tanks like this - plugs and such. Polyethylene is super slick and really can't be successfully repaired (glued) without first flame-treating it. Even then, I think it's a gamble on something that you don't want to ever have to do again. I've had some success flaming poly, but when it came to my own tank and when it started leaking... the cost of a new tank was well worth the piece of mind that I wouldn't have brown ooze sludging around all over my clean bilge.
 
Carter replaced his on his 410DA for the same reason, maybe he'll chime in here to give some insight.
 
On the '03 410 it's a 42 gallon tank. The port engine exhaust/aftercooler/turbo have to be removed to make enough room to change the tank. You may try lifting each corner of the tank, feeling where the mold release screws are, and seeing if marine JB Weld will hold for a short term, temporary fix. A new tank with all pumps and hardware is ~$3800.
 
I had the same issue in my 2002 340, and used the JB weld to repair. So far so good after a year.


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Dennis,

You are correct - tanks only are available. In my case, I wanted all new parts as well. I replaced my aft head's 11 year old VG 2 with a new VG 4 vacuum tank as well.

The 40 gallon tank is 2 or 3" wider than the 42 as I recall. I don't think there is room to get it in without pulling the entire engine (in a diesel 410).
 
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You know, I ended up replacing more than just the tank, too. I figured "while I'm in there". Plus, this was one of those things that I DEFINITELY wanted to limit the number of times I had to mess with it!
 
I agree with you Dennis, I had the same problem on a 2001 260DA 28gallon. I opted to have the tank replaced a for peace of mind. Insurance covered the labor,which I didn't want to get involve in and the new tank with a digital level gauge, filter and all the fittings was $799. Had the whole area cleaned with bleach and looks as good as new, well it is, but I didn't touch anything!! Pondered over it all season and then had it done, took 2 days to have it shipped.
 
I feel your pain. I've got the same problem on my 2000 380DA. Dometic no longer makes the exact 42 gal tank, but has a replacement. $835+tax & ship. We will also have to take riser & manifold off to access. Hope to make repairs in Oct.
 
I have a 2001 260DA and had it pulled without removing the manifold, it made it by 2 inches. It's a 28 gallon tank, maybe you can do it without removing any other parts.
 
I replaced a 42 gallon tank on my 380DA. It was seeping from somewhere beneath. Had to remove the floor brace and the port rised from the port engine to get it out. At that time (2008) I could get a tank only for about $640.

Don
 
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