Fuel tank removal through the cabin, 2000 Fiesta Vee

Seazop

As you can see by my attached photographs I have successfully removed my 100gal gas tank through the cabin. I did not have to remove the engine saving me lots of money. All I did was cut the firewall and rear bunk floor then I pulled the tank up and out through the cabin. I will now have a new tank built and reinstall the tank. I will leave the replacement of the wood and carpet to the professionals.

pault1216

Great pic of where the tank was. Good to know. Good luck.

skennelly

Holy cow.  What model boat is that?

randy56

Seazop, good job, not a fun project in the hot summer. Notice the floor is kinda black, what do you supose rotted the tank? was it hard to find the replacement?

Seazop

Saltwater between the tank and hull pitted the tank in four areas, each area was approximately 5inches round. The rubber collapsed under the 600lbs+ weight of the fuel causing the tank to sit on the hull causing water to be trapped. FYI, there is an overflow between the front bilge and the rear bilge where water can flow from the front cabin to the engine compartment.

Seazop

Oh, and it isn't necessary to remove the starboard wall where the a/c is located. This would have saved me about 1.5hrs of work.

Seazop

Shennelly, it's a 2000 270 Fiesta Vee which I believe is the same hull as the 1999 through 2005 270FV.

randy56

Seazop, thanks for updates, woo hoo no saltwater in my neiborhood  had me worried ,so how are you going to stop it from happening again?

Seazop

Rubber strips going at a 45deg angle towards the stern.

Handymans342

Bad design

skennelly

@randy56 I'm with you.  Closest salt to me is on my steak I grill on the dock

Seazop

Here's my leak (opened up with a screwdriver)  

jme097

God that looks like a nightmare. So glad I am in freshwater!

raybo3

jme097 said:

God that looks like a nightmare. So glad I am in freshwater!

I do not think that has anything to do with salt water. To me that looks like it is corrosion maybe caused from dissimilar metals (like sitting on a screw head) or just sitting in constant water. 

Handymans342

Ray, what do we have to look forward too???????????

Dream_Inn

Thanks for posting some pictures!  Definitely not something anyone wants to go thru, but the pics will definitely help someone out in the future.

aero3113

Just curious, how's the condition of the inside of the tank?

jme097

That to me looks like the tank just sat in water. But regardless its not pretty lol

rasbury

@Seazop having trouble picturing in my mind exactly where you pulled the tank out- through the cabin doorway? I know you wanted to do this yourself, but, with what it looks like you now have to fix, seems it would have been easier to pull the motor and take it out that way and less "repairs" to the floor and interior?

aero3113

rasbury said:

@Seazop having trouble picturing in my mind exactly where you pulled the tank out- through the cabin doorway? I know you wanted to do this yourself, but, with what it looks like you now have to fix, seems it would have been easier to pull the motor and take it out that way and less "repairs" to the floor and interior?

At least this way he can access and clean the surface under the tank.

Trashman

Holy mackerel!  I would just throw up.
I love the forum but I gotta stop clicking on the bad titles, lol. I'm becoming scared and paranoid the same events are gonna happen to me!.  Good luck seazop!! Hopefully you'll be in the water soon. 

Seazop

Rasbury, The tank was taken out towards the bow then out through the cabin door towards the stern. The floor and firewall needed to be cut away even if the engine was pulled out, so it saved me from pulling the engine and costing a lot more money.

Handymans342

I think it may happen to every boat at some point. 

pault1216

Trashman said:

Holy mackerel!  I would just throw up.
I love the forum but I gotta stop clicking on the bad titles, lol. I'm becoming scared and paranoid the same events are gonna happen to me!.  Good luck seazop!! Hopefully you'll be in the water soon. 

Ditto. I loved my Rinkers but have suspended my search 'cause the bad stuff is scaring me! Maybe this fall I can find another boat.

Seazop

The tank is bad but, remember it's 16 years old.

raybo3

The tank going bad can happen on any boat. That is not a Rinker problem but a boating problem. 

[Deleted User]

This kind of corrosion and tank failure happened to my 06 FV250 last year. I documented the nightmarish repair process in a posting on this site. I'm impressed how you got the tank out through the cabin, there doesn't appear to be enough room in my cabin to get the tank past the fridge/microwave cabinet. You must have threaded the proverbial needle.

The yard where I had the work done had a crane and the engine removal was pretty easy. Also, my oil pan had some corrosion and needed replacement too. The other needed work on the motor was much easier out of the boat due to the extremely cramped engine bay. However if your motor doesn't need work and a crane isn't available, then what you have done is apparently a good option on a FV270.

I would caution anyone looking to buy a salt/brackish water exposed express cruiser of any brand with a single aluminum belly fuel tank to be aware of the expense and trouble this kind of problem causes. My bilge is kept as bone dry as possible now.

Andy

Handymans342

Andy, so it was sitting in the bilge. So on the 342s they are on each side high up. 

bry1429

Seems to be a bad design in general, any manufacturer of a boat should Elevate the tank high enough above where the tank could not be exposed to standing water in the bilge. Hopefully boat builders know of this horrible design flaw and engineers tank installs to avoid this.

Seazop

I plan on cutting some 2" strips out of some old Marine Mat to lift the tank up about a half inch leaving a 2" gap in the middle for drainage. Hopefully this will hold the 600+lbs of fuel and keep the drain open. The tank is being built now at a cost of $1,000.

[Deleted User]

@Seazop Your precautions are prudent. I would suggest if you haven't already that you increase the aluminum sheet metal gauge from the OEM tank assuming a custom tank shop is building it. Although for me 2015 was a year that will live in boat ownership infamy, my enjoyment of my Rinker in the 14 months since getting a new tank and outdrive has been outstanding.

Other than the problems with having a boat built around a gas tank that can fail prematurely, putting the fuel tank at the bottom of the bilge makes sense in regards to having the weight of the fuel act as ballast low down in the hull which gives the boat some more desirable handling characteristics I would assume.

Andy