Gasoline Vent - Peeled Decal and Odors

[Jump Right In]

Well gentlemen (and ladies) - This group has been very helpful before, so let's start off the 2015 boating season with a question. I picked up my boat from the indoor storage yard yesterday to find a small issue. (Not a real huge deal, so I am not too concerned)

I noticed on the rear port side of the boat there was some yellow streaking running down the side of the boat. When I got it home and removed the cover, the one decal that was right below my gasoline vent had peeled right off. Didn't take me long to figure out that the vent must have been releasing a vapor for quite a while during storage. I know my tank was full, but then again that is how it is to be stored properly from what I understand. The other part of this is that I do recall there being more of a gas "smell/vapor" in my garage last year.

Does the chrome gasoline vent (beside the filler cap) have a mechanical switch inside it of any sort that could be stuck or have gone bad? Or is this vent literally just a wide open tube into the fuel tank???

Thanks in advance...

Brian

 

[BigN8]

How full did you you fill the tank before storage? This happened to me in the past. I had overfilled the tank, basically topping it off, and then didn't use the boat for a few weeks, the gas in the tank expands due to heat and it vents out the chrome vent. My decal didn't completely peel off, but affected it a little bit. Now I don't top off the tank.

 

[OperationROL]

When I got my previous Yamaha, I started storing it full the first 2 seasons because I was concerned about water vapor forming in the tank over the winter. Then many people started to complain about fuel escaping through the vent and staining the boat. That happens because of fuel expansion due to heat (likely to happen in a hot storage area right before or right after winter) as well as moisture being added to an already full tank. Even though a filled tank reduces the air exchange and thus cuts down the condensation that occurs in the tank, there is still some moisture that will occur. Therefore, I started storing the boat at whatever fuel level I left it at. In the spring, I always add 2 cans of seafoam and fill it right as I take it out of storage so that it will mix on the way home and the seafoam can do its job to remove whatever water was added to the tank during the winter. This seems to work for me.

 

[Icatfish247]

Sounds like you just described the likely reason I have a "TWIN" instead of "TWIN ENGINE" sticker with a yellow streak port-side.

Follow up: anybody have experience removing yellow gas streaks? I haven't tried yet but I'd bet a little elbow grease can take care of that.

 

[Volffas]

Same thing happened to me this year, even though I know better. The mechanic that I used for my previous boat said 3/4 tank should be fine. He also recommend adding the fuel stabilizer before storing the boat.

 

[Jump Right In]

I just sprayed a bit of hot sauce on it, and it cleaned it right up.

So does anyone know if that is a mechanical vent?

 

[Glassman]

Yep, too full.
I learned to stop filling before the hose to the tank fills. I try anyway. I listen as it's getting close, then shut it off.
Since I store with the mooring cover on I stuff a ton of folded up paper towels up under the cover over/under/around the vent - the cover keeps them in place.

A few times I've come to get the boat and the paper towels reek of gas, but the rest of the hull was fine.

I'm getting better at this, I like to put it away with as near as full as I can get it so I don't have to deal with filling it before going out...that involves driving a distance over the State line into Arizona where they sell California gas for about 80 cents to a dollar cheaper than they do in California!