CONTINUOUSWAVE

Q1: what action should be taken when an odor of gasoline is detected on a 1993 OUTRAGE 17?

Q2: what is involved in lifting the deck of a 1993 OUTRAGE 17?

Q3: what is involved in replacing the fuel hoses on a 1993 OUTRAGE 17?

Q4: what is involved in replacing the fuel tank on a a 1993 OUTRAGE 17?

Based on what I've read on the forum, I believe fuel hoses that are old or have disintegrated should be replaced.

I want to remedy this problem of a gasoline odor before a new deck in installed.

BACKSTORY
In April 2021 I purchased a 1993 Outrage 17. The [seller] said [the 1993 OUTRAGE 17 boat] was good-to-go for the season. I launched the 1993 OUTRAGE 17, and I used it the entire summer [of 2021] in Long Island Sound around Stamford, Connecticut. The fuel tank was filled about six times during 2021. Each fill-up added about 18-gallons.

At the end of the boating season [perhaps now is talking about 2022], I spent a lot of time detailing, wet sanding, compounding, and waxing. The 1993 OUTRAGE 17 was then shrink wrapped.

In November 2022 I drove to Rhode Island to have the 1993 OUTRAGE boat measured and templated to install a new faux-teak floor on the deck. The gel coat on the deck has a lot of spider cracks and does not look clean.

When the installer got under the shrink wrap, he commented there was a strong [gasoline] smell, which I also noticed. He worked for about five hours on the boat creating the templates. He then stated that he was feeling the effects of the [gasoline] fumes.

stephansteiner wrote:Q1: what action should be taken when an odor of gasoline is detected on a 1993 OUTRAGE 17

For a boat with an internal below-deck fuel tank, there generally should not be any odor of gasoline, unless perhaps you were to sniff directly at the fuel tank vent. Other than at the vent, the presence of the odor indicates that there is a leaking of gasoline from somewhere in the fuel system. When the odor of gasoline is detected, there must be some source for the gasoline to be open to the air, creating the vapor that is being smelled. The first step toward a remedy is to locate the source of the leak.

For a 1993 boat, the fuel lines on the boat should all have been rated for use with gasoline blended with ethanol. However, the permeability of rubber fuel hoses is not absolute. If the final fuel-fill of the 2022 season left gasoline in the fuel tank fill hose, the rubber hose typically used for that purpose is not rated for continuous exposure to gasoline. Thus the fill hose may have become permeated with gasoline, producing the odor.

That the boat was covered with a shrink-wrap may have entrapped the gasoline vapor, making it more prominent and easier to detect.

stephansteiner wrote:Q2: what is involved in lifting the deck of a 1993 OUTRAGE 17?

Standby for a reply from PHIL T, who owns a similar boat. He should be able to tell you the details of the deck removal procedure.

First thing I would do is replace the fuel fill hose, the fuel hoses that supplies fuel to he engine, and the fuel tank vent hose. Those hoses are probably original with the 1993 boat construction. they were not designed for ethanol blended fuel.

You can measure the lengths using string and follow the route on the deck. My boat is in my garage so I can reference it.

I can help you on the routing, access, and technique for doing this.

Tarp the boat and assess for the smell.

If there is a smell, I would do a low pressure test ((not more than 2-PSI) on the tank in-situ. If it fails, you should replace the tank. There is a good vendor in Rhode Island that has experience with Whalers and has good recommendations from owners.

I don't have an authoritative cite, but I believe that rubber fuel hose that was rated to be resistant to alcohol came into common use on boats around 1987. The hoses on my 1990 Boston Whaler boat are all rated for use with gasoline-alcohol blended fuel. On a 1993 boat I would expect that the hoses would also be rated for gasoline-alcohol blended fuels.

The fuel filler hose is typically rated for service as an A-2 hose, which means it is NOT rated for continuous exposure to gasoline. If the last fuel fill of the 2022 boating season caused gasoline fuel to remain in the fuel tank filler hose, then there could be sufficient permeation of the rubber hose that a gasoline odor would be detected.

Of any of the hoses in the gasoline system, the fuel filler hose, particularly the portion of the hose that runs horizontally, is the most likely to exhibit a problem with decay, or to have too much permeation, or to even have an actual leak.

More more about fuel hose ratings see this earlier article:

Interpreting Fuel Hose Rating Designators
https://continuouswave.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3782

In particular, this comment may be appropriate:

jimh wrote:The worse situation is to add a lot of fuel for winter storage from a highway filling station with the boat on the trailer. If you then tow the trailer down any sort of big downhill grade, there is a good chance the fuel will move to the forward part of the tank and may rise into the filler hose; it will then sit there for six months of winter storage.

Q5: what engine do you have?

An older two-stroke-power-cycle engine under the boat shrink wrap cover would stink up the place badly.

Q6: where is the tank vent located?

Q7: is the fuel tank vent under the shrink-wrap cover?

That would stink the place up.

--Con