Gasoline smell 2018 R-27 outboard

[Avidfisherman]

Well I did it, Overfilled my tug a few months ago, a few days later I had a gasoline Oder just in the cockpit after it was closed up for a few days, bad enough to set off my propane alarm ? Smell would dissipate rather rapidly with door and windows open and not noticeable when using, No smell of gas in the lazarette or in two other side storage compartments, checked both main fuel line and vent line, no leaks, no leaks on top of tank, trying to locate the charcoal carbon canister,if it has one ? Anyone else ever experienced this ? It’s now in my shop for the winter and decided to have a look today and when i opened the cabin door propane alarm was on and smelled like gas. No where else but the cabin?? Thanks Rob

 

[Rednuke1]

Well I did it, Overfilled my tug a few months ago, a few days later I had a gasoline Oder just in the cockpit after it was closed up for a few days, bad enough to set off my propane alarm ? Smell would dissipate rather rapidly with door and windows open and not noticeable when using, No smell of gas in the lazarette or in two other side storage compartments, checked both main fuel line and vent line, no leaks, no leaks on top of tank, trying to locate the charcoal carbon canister,if it has one ? Anyone else ever experienced this ? It’s now in my shop for the winter and decided to have a look today and when i opened the cabin door propane alarm was on and smelled like gas. No where else but the cabin?? Thanks Rob

Rob,
We just completed a 3,000 mile trip in our 2024 Solara S250C Coupe, over the last 7 weeks. On day one of the trip, we had the same symptoms you describe, minus the propane alarm going off, (we don’t have any propane systems).
I searched everywhere looking for the source of the gasoline odor, couldn’t find a single drip, loose clamp, cracked hose, loose filter… nothing. Finally, on about day three or four, after topping off the tank to the brim after accidentally filling all the way up to the filler cap, I found the leak. I opened the hatch on the large center lazarette, and saw a small amount of gasoline pooled on top of the visible fuel tank around the blue sending unit. It is secured with 6 or 8 SS bolts, and all were loose. I gently tightened all in a criss-cross pattern, and did the same to the other bolts on top of the tank. After a day or so, I did it again. Problem solved. No more issues the rest of the trip. I wouldn’t have found the leak had I not accidentally overfilled the tank. Check those bolts, I’ll bet you find that they need retorqued.
Red

 

[Avidfisherman]

Thanks fellas for the input, ! The top of the tank is easily accessible, I’ve ran a few paper towels and visually inspected as to no avail can’t find any leaks on hoses clamps anything , however I never checked the bolts on the sending unit ?or any of the bolts That will be my next step, tank now is about half full, my tank is not vented like the diagram in the manual, no charcoal carbon filter ? At least one that I can find, no vent port on the port side, my over flow hose goes directly to the tank and thats where it terminates, Iam going to check the bolts later today, I’ll post back. Thanks Rob

 

[Avidfisherman]

Well after further examination of the bolts and hose clamps on the top of my tank all of them were not loose but also not tight, somewhere in between, tightened all down half to three quarters turn closed all hatches , doors,windows etc, now I need to wait a couple days and reinspect , hopefully that will do the trick , I’ll post the outcome, Thanks again for your thoughts, Rob

 

[Sunart]

R23 - had the same issue with gas smell and discovered that my tank leaked through the sending unit gasket when the tank was full. Sealed it and no more smell - or leakage.

 

[Avidfisherman]

Thanks for the info Sunart, Ater tightening all the bolts on the fill tube gasket and the sending unit gasket I let it sit for a couple days completely closed up, well just checked on her and gas smell in the cabin was pretty bad, bad enough to set of the vapor alarm ? Opened all windows and hatches to let her air out, alarm goes off in a minute or so of doing this, my tank has no visible signs of it leaking on the top, did you use permatex for fuel systems for a sealer? My tank is only half full if that, this all started when I over filled her a few months back I guess my next step is to reseal the two gaskets on the top of the tank and see if that works, not sure what else to do? Any thoughts from the forum is appreciated, Thanks Rob

 

[Sunart]

Yes, I used Permatex. Honestly, I daubed it around the flange because at the time my tank was full and due to the tilt on the tank, loosening the screws around the flange just released fuel. It took a couple of days to set up and now it’s now of those “when I have nothing else on the list” jobs to do a nice clean fix because it’s working as is!