Quick, Easy, Cheap Fix for Fuel Filler Neck

phatdaddy

phatdaddy

God
Right now I,d settle for 2 out of 3. I thought that I had a bad tank, but the problem is the filler neck has a hole in it. My thoughts were to use a piece of pipe as a "shunt" between the old neck and the hose. I was going to JB Weld the pipe in place and hose clamp the filler hose to the end. Anybody ever done it and whats the downside?(Besides postponing the enevitable tank replacement)
 
Hey Phat...is yours a CC or cuddy...what year...twin saddles or belly tank...curious minds want to know... :D

If it was me, I'd look into a plastic filler neck...MJ says he's havin' great service from his... 8)

I believe I'd by-pass the shunt idea...gasoline ain't stuff you want in the wrong place in your boat...know what I mean, Vern?... ;D
 
It isn't that hard to change them!!

Gee I don't see what the problem is??

They are cheap, a bit of a pain but come on why Mickey Mouse something like a Fuel filler??

3 screws, 2 clamps and elasticman to get to the underside and you are good to go.
 
My bad ,I was refering to the fill neck on the tank. I think the rubber dry rotted and were the metal reinforcing wire came in contact with the aluminum neck, it ate a hole. I would notice a gas smell when I topped off the tank in the hold forward of the tank. I found a rotten vent hose, changed it and thought I had found the problem. Gas is supposed to go up here by 25 cents in two weeks. I took the boat up to top off the tank and when I got back and I raised the tongue ,I heard water coming out of the drain hole. You guessed it, not water. Investigated further and found the rotten fill neck.
 
well thats a different story!!

I had a friend that had that problem also. He used some JB Weld made for aluminum, and it has been fine for 2 seasons so far.

At least I think it was JB?? could have been Liquid Steel ?? But eaither way you no what I am talking about.

About the only other thing you can do is drain all the gas and fill the tank with water and have some ne weld it for you. Then drain all the water and refill with gas. Lots of work!!

Let us no how you make out!!
 
I got a piece of 1" PVC and cut the bell off.   It is the same size as the nipple , I cut it at 45 degrees and then split it.  This let me compress it to get it in and it expanded to fit when released.I then coated the outside with marine tex. I was going to use JB, but the marine tex is a little stiffer and one of the holes is on the bottom. I,m letting it cure tonight and I'll check it for leaks tomorrow. I'll let you know if it works.  $7.00 Marine Tex vs, $350.00 tank. It's a 84 cuddy with the standard belly tank.
 
Macojoe brings up an EXCELLENT trick. I am a semi-experienced welder and there has always been this taboo around welding gas tanks for obvious reasons. The vapor is obviously the most dangerous part. However, if you displace all of that vapor with water you have no problem.

Well, you do have 3 possible problems: 1) Aluminum conducts heat really well and also water conducts heat really well. Question is with all that water in there will the weld bead get hot enough.....kind of like trying to solder a pipe with water in it. 2) As soon as you say the word "Gas Tank" welder run away. For this reason, You may need to borrow a welder or do it yourself. For aluminum the easiest way will be with a TIG welder. Not everybody has one (MAYBE a tool rental place) andof course the skill to run it. I've heard you can do aluminum with torch welding if you have the right rod. That would req even more skill. 3) You'll ave a TON of excess water to get out and will probably need a 55gal drum of dry gas!

Summary: I think a weld would be far better than any patch. With water in the tank it simply cannot explode. The first option is to find a welder who is willing to do it. Second opt is to borrow or rent a TIG welder an do yourself. Ask wellcraft what the alloy is and get some slabs of aluminum of the same thickness. Drill a tiny hole and practice in you garage first.......You could pull this off !
 
I've double checked this so I don't get somebody hurt. Even if the welder made the water boil, water boils at 100C. It does not exceed 100C until you have 100% steam.....ie, for the time you are in there making a small TIG bead it will certainly stay at 100C.

The minimum flash point, or min ignition temp) for gasoline is 260C

.......Its a little unconventional, and for a few dollars alot of welders will not see the supposed risk as worthwhile, etc, But I think this could be done.
 
The reason why I stated all of the above is that I don't think any other kind of patch will work well........MAYBE JB weld but its kind of brittle. Aside from becoming degraded and softened by gasoline, I think the biggest enemy of a patch is vibration. As you know, it has plenty of that. That JB weld is a little on the brittle side and does not handle vibration well.

With any kind of patch I'd never feel secure. Every time I started that thing I'd run the blower way too long to make sure the hole did'nt come back and there was no vapor. The down-side of that hole reappearing at an unopportune time could be huge. Poss even worse than the "risk" of putting a small weld bead on it.
 
Phat, don't know if you read the Marinetex instructions, but any surface you apply to should be at least 55 degrees. Also, the stuff takes a couple of days worth of 60+ degree weather to fully cure. So, if its outside and its cold, you need to try to get it inside somewhere.

I've used a ton of this stuff on all 3 of my boats. I don't think the gasoline will cause a problem.

By the way, how big was the hole?

Let us know if this works. I once used some marinetex on my cavitation plate. A 2 inch piece of it was about to come off. Ever since I put the marinetex on there it hasn't budged. That was 3 years ago...
 
the water trick works well!! My friend and I have done a few for are selfs.

As for getting to hot, you just do a small spot at a time and it will be just fine!! I am sure the hole he has isn't much bigger then 1/4 inch. So that will weld up fast!

Getting the water out is a pain but its worth it. what you do is drain as much as you can and then you use something like a sham, and stick it in the sender hole and keep doing it till all water is gone.
 
Well, I ended up with a pvc liner in the neck and a layer of marine tex on the outside. I'm in fl so the weather is not a problem. I let it cure and the took some emory cloth buffed it down and replaced the filler hose.(It's amazing how limber a fresh piece of hose is. I was dreading threading the new one ,but it went real fast and easy) I will try to run the boat tomorrow and then top off the tank and see if it leaks. I can watch it through the inspection plate in the deck. In the course of all this, I found my teleflex cable housing is breaking down, so while i'm in a work mode, I think I'll install the NFB system. Have ya"ll heard any pros or cons over the conventional system? Thanks for all the feedback on the tank issue.
 
NFB!!!nfb!!!NFB!!!...until you're ready to bite the hydraulic $$$s... NFB is closest thing to it...installed mine 2 1/2 yrs ago...holds motor straight while towing...outta the hole and straight across water w/NO hands... 8) ;) ;D
 
Talked to a guy down the street with a 21 chaparell(sp?) and he said the same thing. Priced the complete system from a local supplier for $160.00. I took a ride today burned about 8 gallons, stopped and topped off the tank and no leaks , no drips, no oders. I'm calling it fixed. I'll watch it close from now on. If it fails, I'll go the new tank route. Welding on this one would be like taking your hamster to the vet.
 
Welding on this one would be like taking your hamster to the vet.

Hey!!! >:( Leave my Hamster out of it!! He is a people to you know!!
You woud take your child to the doctor right? So why not my hamster??

The nerve of some people!! >:(
 
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