Fuel Tank under bed in aft cabin of 1984 Uniflite

[phil watters]

Has anyone ever had a fuel tank leak in the tank under the bed in aft cabin. I have a 1984 Uniflite double cabin boat. It started  leaking some fuel. I have traced it to  the tank under the bed in the aft bedroom. Has anyone ever had this problem? Is there a way to get the tank out to repair it or replace it? I really need some advice.

[BoatRDavid]

I had a 1984 Uniflite double cabin and under the bed in the aft bedroom was a water tank (actually, I think it was two tanks connected). Under the sole, under that water tank was the 100 gal. "lower" fuel tank.  I would hate to think about getting to that.  The boat also had two saddle tank of 150 gal each which both went to the lower tank and the engine pulled fuel from the bottom tank.  There were no selecting valves, but one could turn off either saddle tank from the system.

[phil watters]

That's exactly where I am. I guess I am going to have to take the water tanks out to get to that fuel tank. If you have any suggestions on how to  get them out, I would appreciate it. I can't seem to even find any pictures online. Thanks.

[Bob S]

I have a 73 and rarely needed the aft tank. Before it could leak I had it drained and have it abandoned. You might consider that.

[phil watters]

How did you drain it and how did they block it off? I would love to do that.

[phil watters]

Does anyone know how I would go about bypassing my aft fuel tank?

[Kevin McIntosh]

 

Hey phil ... the previous owner of my '79 42' DCS went through this Aft, Center fuel tank leaking problem just before selling to me ... he arbitrarily elected to cut up and remove the Aft, Center tank ... as evidenced by tiny aluminum chips still remaining in the carpeting ...

As I was not involved in this removal process, I don't know the specifics of the tank emptying or preparation prior to cutting, nor removal of everything under the center queen bed in the aft/master stateroom to get at it ... it would be a fairly major undertaking ... I have been under there myself recently ... to the extent of examining the two 80 U.S. gallon aluminum water tanks while filling them ... to check for water leaks, and, to examine the steering gear, Aft bilge pump/switch/wiring, bonding and specific changes made / general cleanliness of the aft bilges following the tank removal... but that's about it.

 ... if your fuel manifolding (mine is located on Aft bulkhead in engine room) is anything like mine, you will end up with:

1) the Aft, Center tank feed and return line shutoff valves will be closed (lever rotated 90° to the lines) and capped

2) the feed and return lines themselves, beyond the shutoff valves (on the tank side), will either be completely removed or capped ... in my case, the feed line remains and has been capped at the aft end where it connected to the tank, however, the return line has been completely removed ... see photo:

The Aft, Center tank fill hose and deck plate were removed from my vessel (I still have those) and the hole in the boat covered with a round piece of star-board-like material that has seen the use of both sealant and screws.

Aside from the physical removal process, something else to consider is the fore and aft balance of the vessel with the weight of a full Aft, Center tank missing ... I previously spoke with a 36' DCS owner who removed large bait wells (added by Uniflite) in his swim grid area ... afterwards, he found the vessel pitched noticably bow down at rest and he wound up having to restore the bait wells in order to re-establish the proper fore and aft balance ...

Aside from packing around a bilge full of water, ballast of some kind or restoring the Aft, Center fuel tank, there is not much I can do about the tendency of my boat to rest slightly bow down right now ... for me, that issue is secondary to the sensitivity of the vessel now to listing ... if the saddle tanks are not kept at the same levels of fuel (I took delivery of the vessel with a relatively full Stbd. tank and a partially full Port tank ... with the feed for both engines set to Port only ... for some unknown reason ... and both engines returning fuel to both tanks equally ... this led to an even fuller Stbd. tank and the listing issue I described ... I may eventually find that I inherited contaminated fuel in the Stbd. tank (I hope not!) ... time will tell, as I am currently experimenting with fuel transfering from Stbd. to Port. (Stbd. tank feed on, Port tank feed off, both cross overs open, Stbd. engine return to tank closed, Port engine return to tank on)

If you elect to merely bypass the Aft, Center tank, I would strongly recommend you seek outside expertise in emptying and completely flushing the tank before disconnecting and capping everything off ... otherwise, I expect you will have perpertual seepage into the aft bilges of migrating bilge water (in and out of the tank) contaminated by diesel fuel oil  ... an unlawful (and smelly) proposition.

Best of luck with this ... let us know what you eventually decide to do!

Kevin Mc

[phil watters]

Kevin, thank you very much for the info. I never thought about the boat listing. I am going to have to give this some more thought. I will let you know what I decide. Thanks again!    Phil