Relocating fuel filler?

[sycostang67]

I have a 16' 1990 Sunbird, we took it out for the first time yesterday which meant we fueled it for the first time as well. The filler neck is in a rather annoying spot. It's on a vertical surface at the back of the boat so when you try to add fuel, some of it comes spilling back out. I had purchased a long skinny funnel to get the 2 stroke mixture in thankfully. The trailer sits fairly level with just a slight rake. I really don't want to unhitch and drop the trailer every time I fuel up so I was wondering if there was any reason I couldn't relocate the filler opening on top to make the process easier. I took a pic to show where it is and where I would like to put it. I would be adding a splash guard to prevent fuel from getting on the carpeted area even though I am always careful not to spill or drip fuel when filling anything.

 

[ahicks]

That same install is common on a lot of boats, including pontoon boats, and is right up near the top of ignorant engineering and thoughtless rigging lists ever devised by man.

ANYTHING you do to that install will be an improvement!

 

[NYBo]

The filler MUST be oriented so that any spills go overboard and not into the boat.

 

[sycostang67]

Ok, I can build the splash shield to divert any spilled fuel over the back towards the transom where it all currently spills anyhow.

 

[ahicks]

What''s the chances of having enough height to allow it to be moved to the flat area below where it's mounted now?

 

[Chris1956]

You can buy funnels with rubber hoses attached to them. The hose will direct all fuel into the tank.

Alternatively, the "shake-shake" siphon hoses will also get all the fuel to go into the tank.

 

[Lowlysubaruguy]

Look for a boat fuel splash gaurd type fuel fill cap assembly. It will replace your old one if you have a rubber hose for a fill pipe. Try and find one with large enough coverage to get any spilled fuel over the side of the boat. First you should check to see if your tank has a vent hose that runs along side the fill hose if its kinked or plugged ( insects like to build nests in 1/2 or smaller pipes) fix that it may stop fuel from gurgling up as you fill. And lastly listen to your tank vent as you fill one of my boats I can tell when its about to be fulll I hear the fuel gurgling in the pipe its distinctive I never need this boat topped off as its ran locally on a small stretch of water ( its 40 miles of river thats less than a mile wide) I havent used a full tank of gas in one day ever. So you could learn to shut it off before it gets to the last couple of gallons if you dont rely on them to get you to the tank. My boat also performs its best below 3/4 tank any way.

 

[sycostang67]

What''s the chances of having enough height to allow it to be moved to the flat area below where it's mounted now?

That surface is below the top of the fuel tank, it would require a goofy "S" shaped line and would probably have similar results. If I move the filler to the top middle, then it's a straight shot into the tank.

The boat always comes out of the water at the end of the day and we don't wander too far from the launch area. We only used a 1/4 tank the other day. I'll look and see if I can find a long flexible funnel that can handle a fuel nozzle or another filler assembly. The vent line is kink free, will have to check for bugs though. I don't believe it's a venting issue thgouh, it's more gravity. When I was filling up, I grabbed the hose on the inside and pushed it down which helped stop the flow of fuel out of the filler.

 

[JASinIL2006]

Are you fueling from a can or from a pump? If you're filling from a can, you can't do much better than a Jiggler or something similar. It is a very simple device that consists of a small brass fitting on the end of a 4' or 5' long tube. (see http://www.superjiggler.com/). It doesn't look like iBoats carries them, but you can find them (or knockoffs) at Wally World and many online retailers.

These devices allow you to fill from a can very easily with no spillage. We use one all the time when we're at our lake in Canada where all gas is trucked in via 5 gal. cans. The brass fitting on the end allows you to start a siphon simply by quickly lowering and raising the tube end with the brass fitting into the gas can 3-5 times. Once the siphon starts, you do nothing except wait (about 3-4 minutes) for the can to empty. They would make it very easy to fill a boat with an odd fuel filler location like yours. For less than $10, they are a bargain.

If you're filling at a pump, of course, it's a different story...

 

[sycostang67]

I am using a pump to fill, the current location would require another device to fill from a can. I did however see another boat like mine on youtube and they had relocated the filler to the left side on top of the gunwhale so I wouldn't have to build any fancy splash guard, just get a longer fill hose between the tank and filler. I need a new hose anyhow, mine looks original. I'll have to take a look into that option as well.

 

[JASinIL2006]

Relocating the filler cap to the gunwale (assuming it's on the outside where gas couldn't spill into the boat) sounds like a good plan.

 

[sycostang67]

I just took the filler spout off so I can get some new fill hose tomorrow, want to make sure I get the right size the first time. Hopefully I can get a long enough section without having to join two pieces together.

 

[sycostang67]

Well I finally got it done today, new filler hose and relocated the filler cap to the gunwhale so any spilled fuel will run off the boat. While I was picking up a hole saw I happened to see some sliding closet door handle cups that were the same size as the old filler hole so I used one of those with some rtv to fill the old hole.

 

[Grub54891]

Good job!