justbecauseIcan
New Member
Hi all
I left the Spark parked in the sun (under an OEM cover, it's an outside parking spot) with a full tank and had the trailer tilted so the Spark sat nose up to drain the bilge after a good rinse inside.
The next day I discovered that fuel had overflown through the filler cap and ran down the side doing some damage to the sea doo decal. I took some fuel off the top and lowered the trailer, now the fuel level is fine, so I guess the tilt ran the fuel up the filler tube and it escaped through the vented filler cap after a gas bubble expanded in the Australian heat.
I know the filler cap is designed to vent fumes if a certain pressure threshold is reached, however, with the fuel being pressed against it, could the pressure in the system have created another fuel leak down in the bilge because the fuel may not have escaped at a rate fast enough to keep the pressure at a tolerable level?
The reason I ask is because when I open the side panel and smell inside, it does smell in there - I cannot 100% say that it smells like fuel, but all I spray in there otherwise is XPS lubricant and water with salt away, none of which smells like the bilge. However, if I smell fuel and then the bilge, it is also not 100% the same. I don't know whether I am now paranoid thinking I smell fuel in the bilge because of the aforementioned leak, or whether there is reason for concern. I have not stuck my nose in the bilge with the same concern beforehand (only had the thing for a few days) and do not know what to make of it.
Since the bilge smell was still there a day after sitting with all the original fuel mess (external to the hull) cleaned up and the bilge flushed once more just in case, I have now taken the side panel and oil cover off and have the Spark parked (still under its cover, I don't want to leave it uncovered because it lives outside at a storage facility) for another few days until I return and can check it out again. Before packing it up I even trailered it around the block with open panels to vent it, but nothing changed.
Is that distinctly chemical smell inside the bilge fuel or common to all and I just have not noticed/cared before?
I've felt around inside with my hand and have not been able to touch anything that had a strong fuel smell, just water residue or oily XPS lube residue. That said, this only covers the filler hose and round thing on top of the fuel tank, I don't know whether there are other weak parts out of reach.
Another forum thread I found described the same overflow happening in the heat and at a tilt, but that tank was only 3/4 full whilst mine was freshly topped off with cold fuel just before it was stored in the heat, so I don't know whether the pressure in my situation was higher and has caused additional damage. Can anyone reassure that the fuel cap vent lets enough fuel through (not just fumes!) to prevent the internal pressure from doing any other damage on this particular model?
Happy for any assistance! The dealer here has a many week long back log and you know what that means if I want to get it pressure tested
Cheers
I left the Spark parked in the sun (under an OEM cover, it's an outside parking spot) with a full tank and had the trailer tilted so the Spark sat nose up to drain the bilge after a good rinse inside.
The next day I discovered that fuel had overflown through the filler cap and ran down the side doing some damage to the sea doo decal. I took some fuel off the top and lowered the trailer, now the fuel level is fine, so I guess the tilt ran the fuel up the filler tube and it escaped through the vented filler cap after a gas bubble expanded in the Australian heat.
I know the filler cap is designed to vent fumes if a certain pressure threshold is reached, however, with the fuel being pressed against it, could the pressure in the system have created another fuel leak down in the bilge because the fuel may not have escaped at a rate fast enough to keep the pressure at a tolerable level?
The reason I ask is because when I open the side panel and smell inside, it does smell in there - I cannot 100% say that it smells like fuel, but all I spray in there otherwise is XPS lubricant and water with salt away, none of which smells like the bilge. However, if I smell fuel and then the bilge, it is also not 100% the same. I don't know whether I am now paranoid thinking I smell fuel in the bilge because of the aforementioned leak, or whether there is reason for concern. I have not stuck my nose in the bilge with the same concern beforehand (only had the thing for a few days) and do not know what to make of it.
Since the bilge smell was still there a day after sitting with all the original fuel mess (external to the hull) cleaned up and the bilge flushed once more just in case, I have now taken the side panel and oil cover off and have the Spark parked (still under its cover, I don't want to leave it uncovered because it lives outside at a storage facility) for another few days until I return and can check it out again. Before packing it up I even trailered it around the block with open panels to vent it, but nothing changed.
Is that distinctly chemical smell inside the bilge fuel or common to all and I just have not noticed/cared before?
I've felt around inside with my hand and have not been able to touch anything that had a strong fuel smell, just water residue or oily XPS lube residue. That said, this only covers the filler hose and round thing on top of the fuel tank, I don't know whether there are other weak parts out of reach.
Another forum thread I found described the same overflow happening in the heat and at a tilt, but that tank was only 3/4 full whilst mine was freshly topped off with cold fuel just before it was stored in the heat, so I don't know whether the pressure in my situation was higher and has caused additional damage. Can anyone reassure that the fuel cap vent lets enough fuel through (not just fumes!) to prevent the internal pressure from doing any other damage on this particular model?
Happy for any assistance! The dealer here has a many week long back log and you know what that means if I want to get it pressure tested
Cheers
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