[C320-list] Fuel Tank Issue

[Graeme Clark]

Bob

Don’t set too much store by that duct tape. The fuel tanks have 3 rubber bumper strips duct taped to the bottom of the tank to provide a cushion where it rests on the hull.

For what it’s worth I removed my tank (1996) a couple of years ago. It wasn’t leaking (yet) but I wanted to see how bad it was.  I cut two inspection ports in the top, one either side of the baffle and had one heck of a job cleaning out the gunk that had accumulated at the bottom.  Thick tarry black deposits.  I seriously question whether any “in situ” cleaning process would be able to do a thorough job of this.

On the plus side, the tarry much had been doing a good job of sealing the tank bottom! Once I had it clean I could see pitting everywhere. A gentle jab with a small Phillips driver in a deep pit just perforated the tank. It was probably only a month or two away from springing a leak!

Unfortunately, as sourcing Catalina spares (whether original or pattern) in the UK always means costly international shipping charges, a new tank would have been close on $6-700.

Only the tank bottom had significant pitting so I had a local fabricator weld in a new (thicker) base for less than $50 cash. He also welded in a backing ring around the rim of the inspection ports, and I bought fuel proof neoprene gasket material to fit under the port covers which were bolted in place so I can get access again in future.

Finally, on a previous 320, we had a similar engine problem which we thought was dirty fuel. Turned out to be a loose connection, internally, in the lift pump which would periodically fail when the boat was in rougher conditions and getting bounced about.

Hope this helps

Graeme
1996, #366, UK

Sent from my iPad

> On 22 Apr 2020, at 01:10, Bob Borelli <cassattc22 at hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Last year at this time I viewed 4 Catalina 320's for sale.  1 -1994 & 3-1995.
> The first C320 I had surveyed, hauled & sea trialed.
> The interior of the boat had faint diesel fuel odor.
> I crawled around to visually inspect the tank.
> There was a piece of duct tape attached to the lower inboard, forward corner of the aluminum tank.
> The tank corner was leaking/
> 
> Same aluminum tank on all 4 C320' including the boat I purchased.
> So old aluminum tank.
> Clean tank, polish fuel?  Remove tank, pump out fuel & cut access openings?
> New tank costly.   Overall I've read 20 years is the max life for an aluminum tank.
> 
> So when it is time I will replace with a new aluminum tank with access opening on either side of the baffle plate for cleaning.
> 
> Bob Borelli
> 1995 C320 no. 209  'Elusive'
> Sailing Associates Inc.  Georgetown, MD
> 
> ________________________________
> From: C320-list <c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com> on behalf of sail-ability at sympatico.ca <sail-ability at sympatico.ca>
> Sent: Tuesday, April 21, 2020 6:37 PM
> To: C320-List at catalina320.com <C320-List at catalina320.com>
> Subject: Re: [C320-list] Fuel Tank Issue
> 
> Just to add my two cents; boats of my vintage 1999, were suffering fuel tank failures. I took the tank out and had it cleaned and inspected, preventive maintenance. The tank tested OK so cost me $100 for piece of mind. I also took advantage of the tank removal to replace all fuel lines plus the tank fill line. Survey guy said it needed doing anyways. COVID got me sitting on the bank and just looking at the boat on the Hard!! Someday Soon....
> JohnM
> 1999#574
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
>> On Apr 21, 2020, at 6:15 PM, Mark Cole <boatnboot at me.com> wrote:
>> 
>> David;
>> 
>> Yes, I think replacing the tank is the way to go, especially with a boat of your age.  The tank I got from Catalina Direct came with an access port installed and no baffle so you can clean the entire tank from that single access port.  Another key addition to keeping your fuel tank happy is to add an H2Out moisture absorber to the fuel vent line.  They aren’t very expensive and absorb the moisture that enters through the fuel vent as you use fuel.  Easy to install, too.  Here is the website if you want to take a look:  https://h2out.com/fuel-guard-avd-2/ <https://h2out.com/fuel-guard-avd-2/>
>> 
>> Mark Cole
>> Fiddler’s Green #8
>> 
>> 
>>>> On Apr 21, 2020, at 1:07 PM, David Veeneman <davidv at veeneman.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Thanks for all the great advice and info. It’s a no-brainer; I’ll replace the tank.
>>> 
>>> The critical factor for me is that the original tank has a baffle that would necessitate adding two access ports to the tank. However, the tank installation would only give me ready access to one of them.
>>> 
>>> Dave Hupe steered me to a thread from last year that discussed the issue. Mark Cole put a new tank in Fiddler’s Green and discussed the process of installing the new tank. The thread was very helpful.
>>> 
>>> --
>>> David Veeneman
>>> Dana Point, CA
>>> SV Adelante, C320 #131
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>