leak fuel?

[sail4dale]

Horrors .... the bilge water has a red cast to it .... oily!  sopped it off the surface and found it was coming from under the engine.
an accumulation was settled in the sump under the engine and it was oily & red with a light viscosity.   My nose not being what it used to be, I solicited
opinion of a younger mate and he says it is diesel. Whew! I thought it might be trany oil.   Inspection of the engine while running
shows the seepage coming forward into the engine sump.  BUT I cannot see where it is coming from. ....... visually can not see a leak.
filters tight, injection gear all dry, leaks while engine running.

Does this tale of woe sound familiar to any of the expert owners out there?

[Stu Jackson]

Dale, there are no "common" or reproductive fuel leak "places to look" on our boats that I have seen any pattern on in the past 15 years I've been around here.  Randy reported a leak that started and then stopped just a few weeks ago.

Only "obvious" place is if you've changed filters recently.

I wrote this recently in response to another question in this vein:

Sorry to hear about your issue. Hope you can find the issue. The internet is not an appropriate place to diagnose sounds, smells, tastes, or electrical issues with pictures but no wiring diagrams.

The best advice is to be methodical. Take each of your "possibilities" one at a time. Really, only ONE at a time.

Someone gave me good advice a long time ago: when you have issues for changing filters (for example), try only one fix at a time, 'cuz if something works or doesn't, you simply won't know which one it was (or wasn't).

Good luck.

[Ron Hill]

Dale : There is no magic way to find a fuel leak!!
 
Start with the fuel line entering the engine compartment at the electric fuel pump on the starboard back of the engine an then trace it to the filter and on to the injection pump to the injectors and to the fuel return line.

Don't count out the Racor filter connections!

I always tell people to take some paper towel and wrap it around all the fuel connections with some tape. The fuel stain will show up when you run the engine.

I always have a fuel diaper cut to size and on the floor under the engine.  Any leak oil/fuel/coolant will show up. 
A small piece of fuel diaper might catch a transmission leak if you run a dripless packing.

I have always professed that if you change fuel filters only do one at a time and run the engine between doing each!!

A few thoughts

[n624ma]

Dale,
If the leak isn't obvious try putting strips of clean paper towel around and/or under everything that has fuel in it and run the engine. The red dye is your friend, I've used this method several times on OPB to find mystery leaks.

The C34 is nice because most of the lines are relatively easy to reach.

[KINGAIR350]

In an earlier post ,cant remember which member, had a fuel leak that went away, and reappeared , I would go to Advanced Auto and get some dye check and the light kit it saved me more hours than what I had . BTW this dye/kit is in the A/C section . Hope this helps you out and good luck in your search.
Regards,
Kevin

[Ralph Masters]

Dale,
Check under the aft berth on the port side and see if the fuel may be from a tank leak.  When we bought Ciao Bella that was the first project I had to contend with, replacing the fuel tank.  The fuel was leaking from the bottom of the tank, dripping off the plywood shelf it sits on and running down by the shaft seal and forward into the bilges from there. 
Hope that is not what you have, good luck,

Ralph

[Ron Hill]

Dale : Ralph has a point.  
If nothing shows at any of the numerous fuel connections in the engine compartment and under the head sink, pull the port side aft cabin panel and look at the fuel tank itself, fill hose, vent, fuel pick up and fuel gage connections!!

A thought