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Seems Regina Oceani may have the famous 424 fuel tank leak. The boat is
on the hard and the yard tells me there is a few inches of fuel in the
bilge (previously bone dry) and signs on the transom that the bilge pump
has been passing fuel.Anyone care to share where they found the leaks in their tanks? Any
fittings prone to leakage or should I just accept that it is time for a
new tank? Anyone have any experience getting the tank repaired instead
of replacing it?Thanks,
Pete
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Hi Pete-
There is a lot of history in the site and the bulletins on the fuel tank problem. Since you have to move the engine to get the tank out, many opt for a new tank. We repaired ours with several layers of fiberglass and West epoxy. This is ABYC legal if you have an aluminum tank, but not for a steel tank. There should be no fittings on the tank bottom.
The theory is that staples under the tanks eat holes in them. Our tank clearly failed from the inside, where water and/or debris settled. All but the bottom was intact. I suppost that if you could find someone willing to weld on a used fuel tank, it would be repairable. I couldn’t find anyone, even after I power washed it.
Quent
Clairebuoyant -
I thought I had the dreaded leak, so I drained the fuel from the tank and didn’t use the boat for about 6 months this summer. When I finally decided to yank the engine and have a look at the tank I gave it a good going over and discovered that the fuel pump on the bottom port side of the engine was very, very loose. Not even finger-tight. Yay! No tank leak!
On 10/29/08 7:13 AM, Pete Dubler wrote :
Seems Regina Oceani may have the famous 424 fuel tank leak. The boat is
on the hard and the yard tells me there is a few inches of fuel in the
bilge (previously bone dry) and signs on the transom that the bilge pump
has been passing fuel.Anyone care to share where they found the leaks in their tanks? Any
fittings prone to leakage or should I just accept that it is time for a
new tank? Anyone have any experience getting the tank repaired instead
of replacing it?Thanks,
Pete
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Pete,
A description of the location of my leak along with my experience in
replacing the tank can be found on the Pearson 424 web-site as follows:
In the drrop down menue under Articles and Discussions select Engine & Drive
Train, then Engine and finally Fuel Tank Replacement-Mail List.
Good luck,
Phil Fontaine
Aurora
Original Message
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well- Hi Pete- I can tell you when I purchased my 1980-424 in 2005 the survey was clean-but- the PO acommpanied me down the river,overnight to Whittaker Creek,NC ,and I think when I was at dinner[he couldn’t make a dinner I was buying] mopped up the leaky stuff to insure a good survey the next day.He also slept back “there”to give me the “opportunity” to sleep in the “V” berth.I slowly discovered after purchase-very ,very slow,subtle drippings[beads and droplets] of fuel on the flooring underneath the tanks.They were itty bitty leaks-however-the wood framing was becoming saturated with fuel.It continued to get worse and I’m convinced there were small pin holes/leaks everywhere on the sides and bottom.
This is a serious issue with all our 424’s and must be addressed because of the realistic life of the aluminum fuel tanks[20 years?].
I worked with Deaton’s Yachts -Oriental,NC to mitigate the issue.Not wanting to pull my 73 hp Westerbeke 1994 engine we elected to “saw zaw” the tanks and remove the pcs out the Port locker[2 days].Ordered and installed 2 smaller tanks and installed thru the locker-purchased from orig.OEM,Florida-interestingly -the wood frame after it dried -was perfectly intact,dry,and like new.I thought I would have to replace it also.
The downside- 2 smaller tank capacity- 53 gals?- this isn’t adequate and I ‘ll have to come up with more tanks and space.All of the 424’s have to address the issue due to age.I am not happy with my fuel capacity of 53 gals.— On Wed, 10/29/08, Philippe Fontaine <> wrote:
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Hey Joe,
The fuel tank in my 1978 #17 is steel (or iron) – a magnet sticks to it. Do you suppose your aluminum fuel tank represents a developmental change in the line, and if so, does anyone know around what hull number or year?
I wonder, too, which of the two materials averages the longer life expectancy. I’ve known steel tanks to last many decades, if maintained, and black iron to last a century.
Tor
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Silver Heels, P-424 #17
http://www.SilverHeels.us
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Original Message
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Joe,
I suspect mine has been leaking all along as there has always been a
diesel smell in the boat. I imagine I will end up pulling out some of
the saturated wood to help mitigate the smell… I don’t mind pulling
the engine. My yard has a great gantry set-up and I want to change out
the engine mounts and clean up in there anyway…Pete
joe shimkonis wrote:
Quote:well- Hi Pete- I can tell you when I purchased my 1980-424 in 2005 the survey was clean-but- the PO acommpanied me down the river,overnight to Whittaker Creek,NC ,and I think when I was at dinner[he couldn’t make a dinner I was buying] mopped up the leaky stuff to insure a good survey the next day.He also slept back “there”to give me the “opportunity” to sleep in the “V” berth.I slowly discovered after purchase-very ,very slow,subtle drippings[beads and droplets] of fuel on the flooring underneath the tanks.They were itty bitty leaks-however-the wood framing was becoming saturated with fuel.It continued to get worse and I’m convinced there were small pin holes/leaks everywhere on the sides and bottom.
This is a serious issue with all our 424’s and must be addressed because of the realistic life of the aluminum fuel tanks[20 years?].
I worked with Deaton’s Yachts -Oriental,NC to mitigate the issue.Not wanting to pull my 73 hp Westerbeke 1994 engine we elected to “saw zaw” the tanks and remove the pcs out the Port locker[2 days].Ordered and installed 2 smaller tanks and installed thru the locker-purchased from orig.OEM,Florida-interestingly -the wood frame after it dried -was perfectly intact,dry,and like new.I thought I would have to replace it also.
The downside- 2 smaller tank capacity- 53 gals?- this isn’t adequate and I ‘ll have to come up with more tanks and space.All of the 424’s have to address the issue due to age.I am not happy with my fuel capacity of 53 gals.— On Wed, 10/29/08, Philippe Fontaine <> wrote:
Quote:<.. snip>Post generated from Pearson424 Forum using Mail2Forum
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