226 fuel troubles

pvachon

I have a 2007 Captiva 226 over last winter we developed a fuel leak of some sort. We could smell the fuel as soon as we pulled it out of storage. I left the tank very low over the winter ( less than a gallon). We had a very hard winter in Michigan but the boat was stored indoors. I have checked all of the of the hoses and the exposed engine area with no signs of leaking fuel. I rinsed the bilge with simple green and water. I captured the water and there was about a 1/2 cup of liquid gas in the bilge on the top of the water. We use only non-ethenal fuels in the boat. The only place I have not checked is the tank where it is hidden under the deck. Looking for a little advice of what to do next.

212rowboat

It came out smelling if fuel? Or, it started leaking after you topped it?

It being so dang cold, and the truth about fittings not being perfect unions, I'd go directly to the basket on the tank.. the five screws that hold the sender and float likely needs tightening after the cold storage.

pvachon

I went back to the boat this morning and just from overnight there was more fuel accumulated in the bilge. I think the tank has sprung a leak. I see no way that it can come out of it's mounted position without major work. At minimum, removing the motor and cutting at least one stringer. If anyone has performed this operation I would really like to hear about it before I head off to a mechanic.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

212rowboat

Man, a bilge doesn't make a good gas tank, does it? I'm sorry to hear of your troubles.. .

You can have the tank pressure tested installed, and can hope for the ability to repair it.. it's a long shot, but maybe... Right? You'll likely need to pull the engine, and remove some fixtures, but I doubt you'll have to cut anything... Though, it may be frustrating enough that you'd want to..

Pulling the engine really isn't that big a deal.. three or so hours and that baby is on land... Pulling fixtures is a pita, I'd reckon, but doable...

Again, sorry to hear of your issues.

raybo3

Sorry to hear about the leak. Hopefully its just a hose. I just replaced a Bravo111 outdrive and 2 water pumps and a couple of other things and it was $12615.00 Man that hurt.. Good luck and keep us posted..

pvachon

Just got word from the mechanic. He got the tank out and there are 3-4 pin holes in the bottom. I have contacted Rinker and the tank manufacture. My guys really hustled the engine out it only took them about a hour and half. The tank was a little harder as Rinker had glassed that in. It still moved around a enough to show some wear on the bottom. Even with the engine out they still had to do some cutting on the back of the deck area to get to all of hold down glass out.

BTW, the recommendation from Rinker was to separate the hull and the deck. No need to remove the engine that way but I had a hard time finding a shop that felt that that was a good idea. Most seemed to think that I risked a bunch of stress fractures at best and not being able to get the 2 halves back together at worst.

Michael T

WOW. I never would have guessed that! I can not imagine a scenerio where I would  agree to "split" the boat into halves. Rinker does such a good job of the deck/hull joint that it would be, in my opinion and experience, awful trying to separate them. Even on my first Rinker, an entry level 190 the deck to hull was glued, screwed and glassed. It was so strong that the little 190 has had a 390 HP torque monster with a bravo l hanging off its transom for 15 years. That motor would have twisted the hull and transom of most other brands of boats in that price class.That's how strong even Rinker's entry level hulls are!.....Maybe Rinker doesn't realize how tough their hulls are?! LOL Did you take pictures? Unfortunately, you may need to show them to another forum member in the future. Are your techs going to put some type of non water absorbing material under the new tank to cushion it? Pics please. MT

pvachon

Well, just got the boat back and my wallet is a lot lighter. I got the tank fixed by a local tank repair company. Fortunately, I live in an area where there are lots of small shops that can not only weld it up but can pressure test it in a water tank with no problem. The fix was simple weld a patch over the affected area and pressure test it. Cost $175 and 1 day. Putting the boat back together was another story. In order to get the tank out, without separating the hull, was a real challenge. The mechanics took out the motor and outdrive. Then cut the rib out that was right in front of the engine that turned out to be nothing but foam. The tank was still not accessible until they cut most of the cooler area out. This meant a whole lot of re-glassing to put the boat back together. The shop put down a rubber mat underneath the tank and then re-glassed the tank back in. They then used some expanding foam to tighten everything up. It looks very solid now. I see this problem a pure manufacturing defect. Ether Rinker did not properly calculate the dynamics of 43Gals of fuel sloshing around in the tank on the sea. Or the person who installed the tank in the factory in did not follow the correct procedure to secure the tank down. In either case this is all Rinker fault and should have been covered under the hull warrenty. I ran this boat right out of winter storage, where the tank emptied out the open hull plug, before I realized there was a leak. My whole family was on this boat and it was just dumb luck that liquid fuel in the bilge did not ignite. For Rinker to only offer to pay for a new tank, just adds to the insult. This is my last season on a Rinker and I will not be buying another one. I the automotive world the government would force a recall at even the hint of fuel leak. http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2013/11/26/ford-escape-recall/3749201/ . At least in a car you can get out and walk away. I really don’t know where the government is on this but I am going to follow up and try to find out.

pvachon

Not sure how to post pics here. If you would like to see them message me via email.

212rowboat

I doubt it's a systemic problem to all of rinker or all of that model... But you commented about the manufacturing and likely one individual who is in charge of that install... My guess is the person, but, that person represents rinker, too, let's not forget, making it a rinker problem.. 

Four pin holes in the tank isn't an effect of sloshing about, though sloshing about is the reason why four pin holes leaked so much fuel... Metal fatigues, it's just a fact.. metals that have been processed over and over reach a point where they should be discarded or recycled.. my best guess is the metal used in that tank was stressed before or as it was being made into a tank.. rinker buys tanks, they don't make them.. There isn't a way to know if the tank is stressed before install.. it would look fine, pressure test fine, ultrasound fine.. This makes it an issue leveled at the tank maker.. but, rinker contracted that tank maker and used them, which makes rinker the front door for addressing it... 

Man, I'm sure sorry you had to deal with this... It sucks hugely.. do you recall who made the tank?  When you go to purchase/replace the rinker, make sure and look at the other models and makes, and avoid that tank maker... Seriously.. 

TikiHut2

Tank failures are not specific to Rinker and every production boat mfg experiences a pretty consistent failure rate in each of hundreds of systems. Glad yours was caught without incident and is now repaired.

  Our '04 270 also experienced a tank failure on the previous owners shift and the removal was very similar to yours. Engine/OD removal then one stringer and new tank. I was told that there had been some sort of questionable issue in layup but details were vague if not unreliable. It now has a new 88gal tank and the disillusioned prior owner moved back to his roots in sailboats......as if that's cheaper or problem free (it's definitely not).

Glad it didn't happen on my shift but it's a production boat. Like an RV it's built quickly out of a conglomeration of relatively inexpensive/cheap parts to be sold at the lowest possible price and then shakes/rumbles/pounds along in life when it isn't crusting away sitting idle or neglected for months at a time.

I understand that this isn't a bad light switch or bad door lock design but no boat will ever be problem free. Like Ray said, a single drive failure (God forbid two!) will run $4k-$6,000 alone . Lots of posts fume about whether it was a design issue in every system failure but the bottom line is that these are expensive, complicated toys and every single system has the potential to break, sometimes catastrophically.

Sorry for your issue. Now try to go get some water time. It'll normally do the soul good. If it's not...try sailing. It was good for us for many, many years. Good luck, Mike

Black_Diamond

RY: most certainly can have diesel tanks leak too. Corrosion, bad welds, cracks, etc. no one is immune. 

Black_Diamond

Knock on wood when you say stuff like that!  lol