I am getting the smell of raw diesel fuel in the cabin of the boat. I checked all the fittings and find no leaks. I smelled the side of the plastic fuel tank and it smells like the odor is coming right through the plastic of the tank. I saw someone else had this problem a few years ago. Does anyone have any advice or had a similar problem?
Dan Hagen
I have a 2001 Catalina 34 and have the smell of raw diesel in the cabin. After checking all the fittings for leaks, it smells like the diesel has permeated the tank walls. I saw a similar problem posted in 2005. Anyone else have this problem or any advice?
Dan Hagen
Dan,
I have the same issue and looking at getting a metal tank, which is what Catalina puts in the later models. Talk to Gerry Douglas about it.
I would strongly urge you to carefully consider using a metal tank for waste. First, it's most likely NOT the tank that's permeated; cvheck or replace your hoses and hose clamps and tank fittings. Metal tanks with edge welds have been notorious for failure at those very welds. You don't want a metal tank or any tank for that matter, to leak into your boat. If you do call Gerry, ask him what material the new waste tanks are being made of, and please let us know. Like in the movie "The Graduate" - go "plastic"...
PS added later - guess I shoulda read the post before I answered it! :cry4` Sorry...
Stu,
I believe Dan means his fuel tank. I agree, never use metal for waste.
I talked to Catalina today. They said they stopped using plastic fuel tanks in about 2002. They said it could very well be that the diesel has permeated the plastic. He said he wasn't aware of anything to seal the plastic and said the best thing would probably be to install a new aluminum tank.
Thanks for the help and suggestions.
Dan Hagen
This tank odor problem is bad news. I bought my 2001 in April and only used her half of what I normaly do, no fault of the boat. I did notice the odor, but thought it was coming from the engine, meby thru the socalled air cleaner. I just sprayed some deoderizer, didn't help much, if at all. Changing a fuel tank sounds like a real pain, not even considering the money. Has any one tried venting the tank area, sealing the aft cabin from the tank, or any thing else? Or is the colective wisdom to just change it?
Jim
Sounds like there are more of us with this diesel tank odor. I talked to Gerry Douglas at the show about my problem and they are prepared to sell me a metal tank at cost. However, when the purchasing dept got back to me, cost was around $475, plus the cost to ship it! I believe the problem starts with using a plastic tank in the first place. It's obvious that Catalina does not use plastic anymore, for what reason, I'm not sure. But if they put a plastic tank that can't hold the contents properly, then should they do something for the owners that are now seeing a problem? A problem that is due to poor material selection? I know our boats are out of warranty, but this problem didn't really show up until after a few years of use, and just keeps getting worse. If a bunch of us have this issue, does anyone think Frank would work out something better than just selling the new metal tank at cost? Any thoughts?
Jim - There's really no way to seal the area off, based on the way the boat is built. If you remove the big wall (running fore and aft) you'll see. There was a recent thread with pictures of tank removal that you can find with a search on "fuel tank". OK, OK, here it is: http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,4085.15.html
Roc - The C36 folks have had some success in organizing themselves as a group to discuss issues with the factory. There are 1800 C34s, less than 700 members in the C34 IA and over 1,000 on this board. If there is a series of hull #s that you can identify, I'd be glad to help you if you want to tackle getting the word out and organizing some group approach to the factory.
Roc, Stu,
Count me in on the fuel tank issue. Mine is also Plastic (2001 #1555) and I can notice a smell. It is worse after I fill the tank, but always there. When I found out I had plastic I thought great, I would not have to worry about pinhole leaks. There is no free lunch!
Jack
Stu,
Looks like boats made in the '00, '01, '02 years with plastic tanks have an issue. Like I said before, having to shell out about $500 (not even retail price but cost according Catalina) is a lot of money for a mistake of material use for the tank.
I feel if everyone replys back with their hull numbers, we can generate a list. My hull number is 1477. Model year 2000
We have a plastic fuel tank on our 2003, hull 1672. No odor (yet?) though.
Tony
Rather than end up with an extremely long thread I would nominate Roc as the coordinator. If you want to get on the "smelly Plastic fuel tank" list use the link Roc's post to send him an email with year, hull number and yes/no it smells.
Roc can keep the thread updated periodically with the results.
Roc, does this work for you?
Better idea. Post your issue on this message board with your hull number and if your tank has diesel odor. This way it's documented on this site. Please don't send me an email. I think it's best to document these things for the future. That's the advantage of this site. Thanks :D
Roc,
I am responding to the diesel odor post. My Catalina 34 is a 2001 hull # 1570 that I purchased 8 months ago. The aft cabin has a light but noticeable odor. Tried a few things, venting with fans, fabric deodorizer nothing really worked. Was going to continue to trouble shoot, but sounds like the tank is the culprit.
Thanks for doing this. The Catalina 34 owners group is proving invaluable. I live and sail on Lake Erie and it's Hunter & Beneteau country, there isn't even a Catalina dealer on the lake anymore Good information is much appreicated.
2001 hul #1570
Regards,
Jim Hardesty
If your fuel tank has diesel odor permeating through the walls, please post your year and hull number on this thread. With a number if hull numbers affected, this would help with contacting Catalina to see if a mutual agreement can be established. Thanks!
My boat is a 2002 Catalina MII, hull 1596. Tank is plastic. I have not noticed a diesel odor in the aft cabin; however, I do detect a diesel odor through the two forward small hatches in the lazarette that are over the tank outlet, fuel indicator and fuel return. The odor is not so strong through a larger hatch in the lazarette that is approximately centered over the tank. See http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,4085.15.html. I thought the odor might be coming from the fittings and fuel lines attached to the tank at it's forward end. Now I am not so sure. Perhaps fuel has indeed permeated the tank walls. I intend to snug up some of the fittings next week to see if that helps. Bill
Everyone,
So far, only a few have an odor problem. I was hoping there would be more so Catalina would see a broad based issue, this way maybe a discount cost can be extended to everyone. Please post on this thread if you are willing to change your tank ($$ ?)due to diesel permation smell through the walls. I can then gather the hull numbers and talk to Catalina.
Roc,
I responded as having a problem with the fuel tank odor. I spent a few hours on the boat to day and did some trouble shooting. The boat has been covered and shutup for three weeks. I removed the partition to the tank and put my nose right to the tank, didn't get an odor. I now think that the odor is comming from the running engine, possible from the airfilter or what they pass off as an airfilter. Or possibly the odor is stronger when warm, it's been mid 30's to mid 20's for a couple of weeks. So, now I am not so sure that the odor is from the tank.
Take me off the list that has a tank problem. I may have it, but want to trouble shoot it more. I am going to buy another air filter and look over everything else. If it is temp related I won't know till summer.
Sorry for the false response. I thought if many others had a problem I did to.
Regards,
Jim Hardesty
2001 hull # 1570
Jim,
I am pretty much convinced that my issue is a permeated tank wall. I've search for leaks (bone dry), and the smell is definitely not diesel exhaust fumes. It is clearly fresh diesel. When I pull the panel to access the tank in the aft cabin, put your nose near the tank and it is very strong. The smell gets strong at times in the aft cabin (smell of raw diesel). Also, when new, I remember being able to see the level of fuel in the tank. Now the tank is an opaque copperish color. Can't see through it.
Have you folks tried getting in touch with Peggie Hall? She's the renown expert on boat odors, including heads and, most importantly, plastic tanks. You can find here at www.catalinaowners.com, find the Forums tab at the top and click on expert forums, then The Head Mistress. She may be able to help on understanding whether the tanks have issues. You may have to join that forum to post, but it's a worthwhile board in addition to this and the C36 'site MB.
Roc,
I have the panel off to run some wires. I put a spot light on the tank and I can see thru the wall, at least on the top down to the fuel level. When I cup my hand to the tank and put my nose to it I do get a faint odor, hard for me to identify but must be diesel. This is with the winter cover on and the outside temp. at 24 deg. Think that I'll leave the cover off till we get some warmer weather and see if the odor is stronger.
Mine is a 2001, hull number 1592.
Dan Hagen
Dan was thoughtful to contact Peggie, see: http://forums.catalina.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=108780
I alerted Peggie to this topic when Dan brought it up over on co.com, and she pm'ed me back with this:
Interesting thread, Stu. It appears the problem may be limited to specific production years. I'm fairly confident that the tanks are the right kind of PE--crossed-linked--but wall thickness matters too...and I wonder if Catalina's supplier during those years made the walls too thin. It would certainly be worthwhile to know the wall thicknesses of problem tanks vs the years that don't seem to be a problem. If there is a big difference in the thickness--or even the tank materials--used during those years, there could be grounds for a class action if Catalina isn't willing to replace the tanks.
Thanks Stu. I hadn't seen this and left Peggy a note on the other forum. Are you aware of any easy way to measure the thickness of the tank wall?
Dan
It would be better if there were a bunch of people coming back with strong fuel odors, with all respondents having similar hull #'s. Then there could be something happening as Peggy said. But two or three people doesn't look like a class action suit.
Quote from: dhagen on June 04, 2009, 08:19:05 PM
...any easy way to measure the thickness of the tank wall?
Easy? Nope. Any...hmm. Seriously, no, but some of our engineering buddies here might. I'm sure something with refraction, reflection and smoke and mirrors...
To get a rough idea you could use one of these to measure the thickness of the top thru the fuel level sensor opening. Suggest on with a deep reach to get past any build up for sensor attachment.
http://www.brandsplace.com/0384-fow72-234-402.html