Fueling My 198SE
 

When fueling my boat, the fuel overflows before anything comes out of the overflow. In addition, there is no change in sound at the overflow to warn one that the tank is almost full. Is this normal for a Mariah?

My other boats have either made load blooping sounds at the overflow or discharged a bit of fuel from the overflow to warn you that the tank is almost full. This boat just gurgles from start to finish.

Shabah 198SE

Re: Fueling My 198SE
 

try blowing some compressed air back down the vent. could have a bugs nest or something blocking it. make sure to remove the gas cap first to allow the air to escape

Re: Fueling My 198SE
 

Oregondunes,

Thank you for your response.

I will try something along those lines. What confuses me is that I can hear it gurgling from the vent and I can see vapours coming from the vent while the fuel is being added. The vent in four or five inches lower than the filler. I'll have to see if the vent hose is mounted/clamped higher than it should be as well.

Shabah 198SE

Re: Fueling My 198SE
 

that again might suggest that you have some sort of blockage, but not complete. Some air is escaping, but not quick enough before it overflows.

Re: Fueling My 198SE
 

Oregondunes,

You may be right. I hope to pull the boat out for winter on Wednesday and I will take a better look at things.

Thanks Again

Shabak 198SE

Re: Fueling My 198SE
 

Don't be surprised if you find a "positive" loop of hose above the vent fitting, possibly collapsed/kinked.

Re: Fueling My 198SE
 

Cliff_Haskins,

Thanks for your response.

That may be the problem. I'm going to try to look things over tomorrow.

Shabah 198SE

Re: Fueling My 198SE
 

scary as this may sound, I filled my (128 gal) tank up tonite. it wasnt empty, but man did that ever leave my wallet light after.

Mine sputtered fuel out the vent just at the same time it splashed out the filler slightly.

Re: Fueling My 198SE
 

Oregondunes,

Ouch! I'm glad that my tank is about a third of that size. Even at that, I cringe at the cost.

It's about minus three Celcius today and I hope to get the Mariah out, winterize it and check out a few things. The frost on the roofs and in my ditch say that it is time. It is a bad sign when the neighbours are scraping their windows.

It would appear that Mariah's have a few refueling issues.

Shabah 198SE

Re: Fueling My 198SE
 

Well, the boat is out for the year, but I can see the probable cause of the fueling problem. The vent hose does not have a full loop, but it is looped up and fastenened to the underside of the deck at a point higher than the vent and almost equal to the height of the fill fitting. I will modify it in the spring.

Shabah 198SE

Re: Fueling My 198SE
 

I have been cursing the same problem since the boat was new. Seems the only way to know for sure you are full is by seeing the fuel coming out the vent. This fuel line vent whistle has been on my 'to do' list for years. Perhaps this winter i will finally get around to installing one. From what i've heard they are very effective and once you install one of these you will never overflow again. The whistle is quite load while the tank is filling and will stop once the fuel reaches the whistle in the overflow/vent line before it spills out the vent. I've seen them before at boating outlet sites such as West Marine and the like but i believe this is the site of the actual manufacturer/distributer:
Green Marine Fuel Whistle
Anyone here have one of these installed?

Re: Fueling My 198SE
 

mosky,

Thank you for your response and for the link.

I did not know that anyone was making these for boats. I'll look into one.

Although still annoying, I would be happy to have the fuel come out of my fuel vent. Mine overflows the fill fixture without any other warning.

Shabah 198SE