Fuel leak... some electrical issues

[rszarka]

Hi

took the boat for a run today afterwards when we got back to dock there was some diesel fuel on the engine room floor..We spent quite awhile looking around at all the lines etc to find where this fuel could be coming from. Even ran the engines to see if maybe we could find the leak, spot it while the engines were running ..no luck... Any ideas on how best to find this fuel leak?

The starboard battery bank has been bad for awhile...started the boat until replacing it by using the crossover system essentially starting both engines from the port bank. Just replaced the bad battery bank with 2 new batteries...on the volt meter downstairs in the salon the reading for that bank was 19 volts...when i tested the actual bank with a multimeter there was 24 plus volts ..so the volt meter downstairs is registering the wrong voltage. When i went to start the starboard engine nothing ....is there a chance the bad battery bank blew a fuse or tripped a breaker killed the start solenoid maybe? Not sure how that circuit works the power probably goes from the battery bank to a start solenoid ..maybe that is bad or has a blown fuse from the bad battery bank? any ideas anyone what to check?

I have had an intermitant problem where occasionaly and its usually after it rains heavily..i have a leaky roof over the dash which is being fixed now ...where when i go to shut down the starboard engine the switch does not work i have to go downstairs and manually shut down the engine...when ever this happens the fule primer pump also does not work on that engine so it seems like no power is getting to that circuit ...im wondering if these issues are related to this start issue...the engine will still startup with the emergency crossover system just not shut down or start from its own bank so that solenoid for the fuel shutoff obviously is getting no power..i have checked the switch its fine ...does anyone here have any ideas on all of this? ANyone here know 1999 sea ray 540 Da boats and may know of a fuse ...breaker or the best way to diagnose these problems?
Two days ago we ran the engines and all the guages worked fine ..today none of the guages for the starboard side came on when the ignition is on like it usually does ..so it seems like there is some electrical issue with this entire starboard side.
Not sure if this is related but tonight the new navigation light bulbs we put in were the wrong voltage 12 instead of 24v and the starboard bulb burned out..tripped the breaker...it was after that i noticed the brand new issue with the guages not energizing. DOnt think its on the same circuit though..just mentioning it in case there could be some correlation.
Best way to test a solenoid with a multimeter?


Thanks in advance for any advice

 

[JimG]

Not sure about your fuel leak... one would think it would be easy to find with fuel all in the bilge.

Since the starboard engine starts with the crossover, your starter solenoid is fine. The new batteries are just not making the trip to the starter. Could there be some wiring issue? Battery wires not configured correctly?

As I posted in your other thread, pull that dash panel! The water damage could be the whole problem with your starboard gauges and shut down issue.

Its unusual for a bulb to burn out and cause a fuse to blow... the bulb is like a fuse in that when it blows, the DC current is disconnected.

You can perform some checks on a solenoid with a multi-meter... on a mechanical solenoid (like for a starter) you can check that is does get voltage on its positive terminal when its supposed to. On a relay type solenoid (like for a crossover) you can also check the positive terminal and that whatever high current it intended to switch, does actually turn on.

I hope this helps... welcome back!

 

[bahamabreisus]

We have 8V92s and have had to replace some switches, I think they were the fuel pressure switches. They are towards the stern on each engine.

 

[rszarka]

JimG: Thank you so much for you advice mate..and your welcome back i really appreciate it! I have missed all of you! A friend put the starboard batteries in i have a feeling he may not of put the wires on right ...luckily i disconnected the batteries before leaving ..I will spend the entire day tomorrow at the boat and give everything you suggested a go ...i would have thought the same with the fuel leak but we just cant bloody find it even with the engines running! There was quite a bit of fuel on the engine room floor so its not a tiny leak ..not even sure how to go about finding this thing...a fuse did not blow when the 12 v bulbs burned out but a breaker popped out for the nav light circuit ..after taking the burned bulbs out i turned it back on and the running light on the radar arch came back on ..i do have to replace the starboard nav light assembly though it got burnt..thank you again for taking the time to give me your advice and great to talk to you again mate your the best!

bahambresis: Thank you very much aswell for this info! One more quick question for you how bad did this sensor leak for you..was it a pretty big leak or just a trickle...that exact sensor on my port engine did have some fuel on it so it is leaking a tiny bit for sure but while i must replace that i do not think it is the leak that caused the fuel on the floor as it seemed to be the starboard engine that had fuel on it in a good few spots ..i guess what im asking is when the engine has pressure could that leak of squirted the fuel across the engine room onto the other engine would that have been possible? Thanks a ton for replying my friend!

 

[bahamabreisus]

Only leaked when engine running, enough to puddle and spray. We have 2 sensors, side by side on each engine. Wish I knew what they were called. They just thread in in, looked like any pressure switch, had 2 wires connected to it

 

[rszarka]

Thanks bahamas!! I found the sensor you are talking about ..its has a very small leak on my port engine but not nearly enough to make the puddle i have been getting.....I solved the electrical issue..im not even going to say what it was here as its just so stupid....well ok either someone tripped a switch by mistake or i shut it off and forgot to turn it back on ..the starboard ignition switch was turned off on the breaker panel in the engine room....turned it back on and it all worked again right away lol....i feel so stupid when the issue is U/E ..."user error".. turns out when the engines are running not one drop of fuel leaks ..not a drop but when i shut them down within a few mins the engine room floor accumulates a nice puddle along with the side of the Starboard engine having fuel run down it ...what this spells to me is the fuel return line ..not much fuel is being returned while the engines are running but when you shut them down a bunch of fuel travels down that line back to the tanks ..its the only thing that makes sense...what do you guys think am i on the right track? So now just to find the fuel return line lol ..

 

[bahamabreisus]

I would think if you run your hands along the line, you would find a wet area.

 

[alnav]

Rob, welcome back! I had a mysterious fuel leak on my boat last fall that turned out to be coming from one of the hoses associated with fuel filling and tank venting. A little fuel would build up in the hose while running then leak out through a bend in the hose that had a small failure. The tech who found it said the hose had been bent more for installation than the hose manufacturer recommends. So, something more you might check. Also, do you have a fuel manifold where you can select which tanks feed and receive return? That might be useful in isolating.

 

[rszarka]

Alnav great to talk to you again and thanks for the advice and welcome back
Looks like we have figured out the leak .there is a leak on the main fuel intake line ...when the boat is running suction pulls the fuel through the hose so there is no leaking but once i shut down the engine all the remaining fuel in that hose leakes out onto the the side of the engine and eventually down to the floor ..going to the boat tomorrow to try and solve it..Hopefully it goes well ! I will also take a look at the hose you mentioned just in case..crazy how mysterious a fuel leak can be ..so weird to have your engines running fine no leaks then you shut it down and fuel goes everywhere..sure had me confused for a bit! I do have a fuel manifold where you can select tanks returns etc will give it a look as well Thanks again Alnav!