Fuel Line Warning !!

[davidl]

Hi everyone. We took our new 08 LSV out Sunday, It has 5 hours on it now. About 45 minutes into playing we all started to get headachs, Also my daughter was Surfing and had to quit a few minutes into it. When we stopped to pick here up we all were hit with a huge vapor of fuel, I am not sure why but I hit the blower switch and shut the motor down. I opened the motor lid and was overwhelmed by fumes. This was serious folks!.
We let it clear out and lucky us we were close to the docks.
What we found was the Brass fitting coming off the tee next to the fuel pump was split in two, This was fanning fuel over the motor. I was told by our service guy that a few of the brass fittings have had cracks (over tighten?) The new fittings are stainless!. Please check these fittings. All you have to do is turn the key on and inspect your fuel lines, Look for bubbled paint from gas leaks. No dought we got lucky on this one, The good lord even watches us Boaters. I have inclosed a picture of the fitting, you can see the split from the pipe side down. Take care all......David

[jester]

David,

Thank you for the post. I just bought a 08 Outback V so i will be checking that this weekend. I am happy you and your family are safe.

[tazz3069]

Thanks for the info. I will be checking the line before we hit the water this weekend.

[kaneboats]

The good Lord watches over boaters and our owners watch over each other. David, you may have saved some lives or prevented serious injuries by taking the time to describe this issue. Thanks very much from everyone.

[hiqualityH2O]

Yikes - I'm really glad this had a happy ending!! I get a fuel smell after I've had the mooring cover on it for a little while - I'm thinking this is just to due to venting but I think I'll be checking that little fitting.

Thanks David!

[jkendall79]

Thanks for the post david. That's good info to have and something I never would have thought to check myself, but I definetely will now!

[99 boomer]

I had the u shaped fuel line fitting crack and I'm 2 hours away from a dealer so this saved me towing it home and made finding it very easy. this is kind of a dangerous problem that im suprised they have not notified owners of this problem - this was on an 07 outback v with 23hrs.

thanks again

[mmandley]

Ill be checking mine out later this weekend also before my next outting

Thanks


Heres a question maybe im thinking of nothing help me out.

When my boat is in the garage all week and not doing anything i come into the garage from the house and smell fuel or jsut shop engine smells. I never smelled this with the car or truck in the garage.

When i open the engine compartment of the boat i smell it also. Its not raw fuel, just a slight smell of it and general engine smell i think. I figure its nothing as its nothing dominating my senses and i don't get headaches from it. Im just wondering if anyone else has this smell in there garages from there boats?

One more thing, i read in repair section about starters going bad in Moombas due to hot engines being turned off at the docks and condensation building in the engine area while driving it home.

I recently started storing my boat with all the rear compartments open to vent them and let them dry a bit after a weekend. Tubes and wake boards are always wet when we come off the water and i store them in the ballast area on the trip home. What im wondering is how long after i trailer my boat while im cleaning it should i leave the engine bay open? Last night after an all day trip on the Fall Creek i left the engine bay open for about 30 minutes while i cleaned the boat and stowed all gear and people hit the restroom.

[Sled491]

Wow thanks for the update. It is strange that no recall has gone out on such a dangerous problem.

Glad to hear that you guys are safe:)

[moombadaze]

mmandley, I normally open the engine hatch, rear storage lids, and open the passenger seat back to where the battery is off and take the front seats out of the bow and open the infloor ski locker where the front balast bag is when i get home from using the boat, let everthing air out- then the next time we are leaving to go i put everthing back

that smell i remember when i got my boat new but now i dont smell it-think its normall

[mmandley]

Thanks Moombadaze.

Yes i was thinking its probably the new coating they put on engine parts for storage and such so they stay clean and dont show any wear like rust from sitting on the dealer lots. New cars smell something awfull after you drive them and its the factory coating they spray on the engine and trans.

Good to know i didn't even think about the ski locker or the battery area. I normally pull the Bow seats out because it never fails Claudia shuts the boat down in the middle of rollers and takes water over the nose LOL.

Mostly right now we keep extra vests, boat cover, and tons of water bottles up there.

[Sled491]

MM, the difference as I see it is that car engines are not completely enclosed the way your boat engine is, so fumes would tend to get trapped and there is just no way to run your engine without encountering some fumes.

Drying boats out is just a no brainer. I'm at a paranoid level with it. The second you slack off on letting things dry out and air out you end up with an eco system growing in your carpet.

[mmandley]

Good point Sled guess i never thought of that. I mean i figured the carpet is designed to get wet, its in a boat and all. I dont like the interior getting wet but nothing you can do about it when people are climbing in out of the water all wet.

As fare as the lockers and engine it makes since. This last week when i went out and got home i opened it all up and left it outside in the sun all day. Then the clouds came in so i put the cover over the boat and it rained all night. I ended up just putting the boat in the garage with the cover on it but it got a full day of sunlight in the interior.

The only time ive really got wet was when my cover wasn't available a couple weeks ago and it poured for 6 hours and the boat was filled with water. Man that was aggravating to say the least. I spent a few hours cleaning everything and for over a week all the cushion and compartments were left open in the garage to dry out.

[jester]

I am happy this topic has come back alive. The other day when i pulled off the cover i was hit with huge amout of gas fumes. It cleared out but did not know where they came from. I will check today for this issue

[kaneboats]

i put the cover over the boat and it rained all night. I ended up just putting the boat in the garage with the cover on it but it got a full day of sunlight in the interior.

If you open both ends of the cover and put a fan anywhere in between it will draw air in one end and out the other and really help dry it out.

I usually just park in the garage open everything up and put the fan on the floor in the back where it's wettest. It gets up to about 95 in my garage so everything dries out in a day. But you can use the cover to help too.

[canadaair]

my fitting split on fuel line that screwss onto fuel pump this past friday new fuel line coming this week. for anybody smelling fumes just look at those fittings when it is running mine had very slight drip.

[harmsway]

I bought my '08 LS at the end of last year and was only able to take it out a few times before we winterized. The few times we were out my wife complained about the over whelming gas fumes in the boat when running. I also noticed, any time I cycled the switch during the winter, while I was doing a few projects there was a strong fuel smell. I did not think this was normal so I have been checking for fuel leaks. I even removed the hard tank ballast in front of the fuel tank so I could inspect the fuel tank and its lines, but did not find any issues. I also checked around the fuel rails and inspected the fuel lines around the engine.

I un-winterized the boat this week and started it today with the fake lake and let it warm up and was checking for water leaks and didn't see any water leaking so I pulled up the rear floor plate behind the engine (DD) to inspect the shaft seal and the water hoses going to it and the smell of gas fumes were extremely strong. And at my amazement I found the source of the gas fumes. The fuel pipe at the fuel pressure regulator (as pictured at the start of this thread) was leaking at the female side of the fitting. The female nut was cracked. THIS IS A VERY SERIOUS ISSUE and I can not believe that SC has not recalled or at least sent notices to owners of these boats that had this style fitting so the line could be inspected.

I purchased my boat from the original owner and it only had 28 hrs on it. It is a very simple fix that only takes about 5 minutes to repair once you have the new part. It amazes me that there has not been any fires or explosions from this issue

I WOULD RECOMMEND EVERYONE CHECK THIS PIPE ON YOUR BOAT WHILE THE ENGINE IS RUNNING AND MAKE SURE YOURS IS NOT LEAKING.

[jmb]

I always dry the bilge out after every outing too. I don't leave the water sitting in there.

[newty]

Glad you found it! This is the kind of thing that makes me always think about my upgrades and whether they ignition protected or not. Had you installed a non-marine water pump for your ballast for example, or anything for that matter thats not electrically designed for a boat, this story could had turned out far worse.

I try to justify it by saying, "its a newer boat, I shouldn't have to worry about that kind of stuff" but this is a prime example.

Thanks for sharing David glad everyone is safe.

[harmsway]

I was able to buy a new fuel pipe @ my local Moomba dealer 60 miles away. They had the steel tube in stock so you know this is an issue they see often enough to stock the part. The worst part of this is that this part should never wear out (3/8 stainless steel pipe with a male brass fitting on one end and female brass fitting on the other end). The problem is the female brass fitting cracks and allows fuel to sweep out around the threads. This one thing I will add to my check list on a regular basis.

[Sea N' Things]

Thank you for the post David, I will be adding it to my check list....God Bless

[Canuckle Head]

Does anyone have a part number for this?

I suspect I may have this problem as I always seem to get a whiff of gas now and then. I am headed down to Portland next weekend so I could basically order this part in and have it ready for pick up should I need it.

Gonna climb inside my boat on the weekend and check it out. Scary!

[DOCDRS]

This would seem to be an indmar issue, other boat mani's should be experiencing the same issue I would expect

[harmsway]

Does anyone have a part number for this?

I suspect I may have this problem as I always seem to get a whiff of gas now and then. I am headed down to Portland next weekend so I could basically order this part in and have it ready for pick up should I need it.

Gonna climb inside my boat on the weekend and check it out. Scary!

I think the part number was 31147, but I will double check this evening & repost. It will be around 8:30 EST. The cost was just under $30.00 from the dealer.

[harmsway]

This would seem to be an indmar issue, other boat mani's should be experiencing the same issue I would expect

Yes I would suspect that this is an actual Indmar issue. I am sure the engine comes as a complete assembly fuel injection pump, regulator, distribution block. It amazes me that there has not been any injuries from this issue. It speaks for all of safety that is built into the electronics & electrical of marine devices. This makes me a believer of using proper marine equipment.

[Canuckle Head]

I think the part number was 31147, but I will double check this evening & repost. It will be around 8:30 EST. The cost was just under $30.00 from the dealer.

Much appreciated!

[harmsway]

Does anyone have a part number for this?

The actual part number on the receipt is (S786147). The pipe has a tag on it with the same number other then the (S) on it. I hope this helps.

When you look at the pipe make sure you look at the fuel block and if the black marine paint is bubbling or pealing you can almost bet the pipe is or has been leaking at some time. Mine was leaking so much it had removed the paint from almost the hole fuel block.

[mmandley]

Does anyone have a part number for this?

I suspect I may have this problem as I always seem to get a whiff of gas now and then. I am headed down to Portland next weekend so I could basically order this part in and have it ready for pick up should I need it.

Gonna climb inside my boat on the weekend and check it out. Scary!

Down to Portland? Nice they say its supposed to be nice down here next weekend but i expect it to be raining and 50 and that up from rainy and 45 LOL. I assume your going to the AWS shop in Oregon City?

Great shop there Matt Radich and Gerry O are the best man.

If you got time holler man or stop by and meet the guys at Exile if your into that. In any case enjoy your trip down here.

[Canuckle Head]

Down to Portland? Nice they say its supposed to be nice down here next weekend but i expect it to be raining and 50 and that up from rainy and 45 LOL. I assume your going to the AWS shop in Oregon City?

Great shop there Matt Radich and Gerry O are the best man.

If you got time holler man or stop by and meet the guys at Exile if your into that. In any case enjoy your trip down here.

Yeah, I might get a chance to do some Cat Snowboarding! I hear that Lake Oswego is still empty or is in the process of being filled so no wakeboarding for me unless we do the Willamette...

AWS is the bomb!

I will for certain be stopping by at Exile. I have some goodies to pick up:

4 - SXT65Q Tower Speakers
Harpoon Amp
SM400.4 Amp
SM600.1 Amp
600W XI12 Sub


Stoked!

[996scott]

Ok, so i am reviving an old thread because I just found this exact problem with my 07 LSV fuel line! I was in the engine doing some work to help the vapor lock problem i get every now and then. I removed the bracket that holds the fuel pump in and decided to remove the pump. I went to loosen the brass fitting that connects the U shaped fuel line and it came off really really easy. I thought it was weird it was so easy but finished up what i was doing and reconnected everything. As i was tightening up the brass nut it just wouldn't tighten all the way. As i looked at it closer i noticed the crack. Of course i googled the part # and the first thing that comes up is this old thread. So I thought it would be a good reminder to everyone to take a quick look and make sure if you have the same setup to inspect the brass nuts really well. I was getting a little odor of gas every once in a while but not a lot. I'm feeling pretty lucky i found this and did not have any serious problems.