[Roger Butterfield]

Hi Everyone:

My mechanic just told me I have a leak in my tank.

Anyone know how to repair something like this? He told me he would have to put about 60 hours of cutting and removing the bulk-head etc. Not an inexpensive undergoing.

Assuming that is the only way to get the tank out, the alternative would be to possibly install a sub-tank somewhere; not sure where.

This is a 99' 28 foot Z280 cabin cruiser. About ready to blow it up :-)

Any input would be appreciated very much.

Thanks,

Roger

[ShabahZ280]

Ouch. That's not good news, but it definitely needs to be fixed. I can't imagine there wouldn't be some sort of access panels to get to the tank. I know we have different boats, but my tank can be accessed by removing center section of the floor in the cockpit. No doubt it'd take some work removing everything else to get it out, but it could be done fairly easily, and I can't imagine they'd seal your fuel tank in, where you'd have to cut it out.

Do you know where the tank is located? I can imagine with the aft cabin, the space might be a little tight, and there'd only be a limited number of places to mount a tank that large. Do you have any photos of your engine bay you could upload? Maybe we could all put our heads together and help you figure it out. Just please don't go cutting the boat up unnecessarily, or worse, blow it up!

[Roger Butterfield]

Found the tank and leak. The tank is located directly in front of the bulk-head/engine bay extending itself forward directly under the cabin berth. It was removed by first removing the water holding tank, then cutting a portion out of the bulk-head in order to be able to lift the tank up and out. Also had to cut a portion (small) inside the cabin.

Pressure test ran outside the vessel to find a six inch leak about midway up the rear of the tank. Brought the tank to a fabrication shop for what I hoped would be a spot weld repair to find that the tank had too many pits everywhere else to warrant a repair.

Now I'm trying to find a replacement tank or will have to have one custom made (ouch, I feel the $$$ tree losing it's $$$ leaves).

Anyone know where I can get another tank by chance?

Roger
Z280 Cruiser - 1999

[ShabahZ280]

The bad news is, those tanks were custom made in-house at Mariah specifically to fit each model. If I were you, I might want to try another fabrication shop, just for a second opinion. If it truly is bad enough that it can't be repaired, there are companies that specialize in custom designed aluminum tanks, but I'm sure it might cost a pretty penny. But think about it, isn't your Mariah worth the investment?

Keep us updated, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

[Roger Butterfield]

Cost to re-make another tank is $800 so not too bad there. Then another $2500 for the work. And yes, it is worth the investment; just hate having such an expensive repair crop up so soon. Now if I can just get this baby back in the water soon :-)

[2 OWNER MARIAH]

I also own a 280Z, had to replace my waste holding tank this spring because of a hole in it. I noticed the fuel tank tucked under the floor of the rear berth at that time and thought then, I hope that never has a leak, how would you ever get it out.
Did you have to pull the motor? Looked like to me you needed to take the motor out to have enough room to slide the tank back to get it out. If you could post some pictures I sure would like to see the process.
I had to have a tank fabricated for the waste holding tank, it was around $330.
It seems the thickness of these tanks are pretty thin for what there expected to withstand.

Well hope everything turns out fine.............

[dwmax]

I am an inspector for GE and we just had to inspect dual aluminum tanks for a major boat manufacturer that I will not say who but had two aluminum tanks start leaking fuel only after one year of being in use. My suggestion to you before you put the new tank in is use a rubberized coating around entire tank or a good marine paint to coat the tank. What happens is if there is any pits or porosity in the welds of the tank salt water or any water will sit in there and eventually eat out the pit or porosity and then you will have a small hole that will then eventually turn into a bigger hole or even a crack just a little fyi. We xrayed both tanks completely and did penetrant test over both tanks and found alot of problems with the tanks. The company that told you that there are to many pits in the tank to fix is correct assuming that there is alot pits in the tank because you will end up with the same problem. the major problem with these tanks is that code standards only call that these tanks be leak tested from the manufacturer and thats it not pressure testsed or penetrant tested or xrayed and they dont have to be coated.

[Roger Butterfield]

Attached are some pics that reflect where the fuel tank was found and what they are doing for replacement. As you can see, they had to cut through the floorboard in the cabin to get access and cut a portion of the bulk-head out in order to be able to lift (3 men to do it) the tank out through the engine compartment.

Total cost is now around $3500

[Cliff_Haskins]

In Pics 2,3 and 4 I noticed the water standing. Was the boat tilted forward? The stringer bulkhead that sits in front of the engine, but behind the gas tank, should have a 1 1/4" or 1 1/2" hole drilled in it toward the bottom. These holes allow water to pass fore and aft, into the bilge areas to be pumped overboard. Sometimes these holes would be covered by laminate overspray when the stringer was originally installed, thereby not letting water drain. Same for the bulkhead behind the shower sump. Just a thought. Also, be sure that the "wall" between the engine compartment and aft cabin gets resealed with fiberglass or sealant to avoid air contamination / fume entry. I don't envy the gentleman doing this repair.

[2 OWNER MARIAH]

Thanks for posting the pictures. Is the fuel tank shaped like the v hull or is it flat on the bottom? Also is there a hole towards the back of the stringer to let water out? I can see that would be a problem, if water was standing in there.

I will have to check mine to see if there is a drainage hole.

Keep us posted on the repair.