Remove Fuel Vent Hose in Foam

[bigboat606]

The fuel vent hose on my 1988 228 Mako has turned to 'mush' and deteriorated to the point it must be replaced. I lifted the deck panel covering the fuel tank and found the boat's flotation foam covers the vent line. The vent line 'snakes' from top the fuel tank, down along the side of the fuel tank and up along the boat's port side to the vent fitting. The vent line is basically encapulated in the hard foam the entire length. I can only view the two ends of the hose. Anyone have any ideas how to remove the vent line and install a new one with the foam everywhere?

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Remove Fuel Vent Hose in Foam

Rip and tear baby..... screw drivers, hammer, saw, prybar... Get JIGGY

 

[5150abf]

Re: Remove Fuel Vent Hose in Foam

Try to go around the foam if possible, you may have to dig a channel in the foam to run it but you shouldn't have to have it run the same route.

The livewell fill on mine was like that and I just rerouted it.

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: Remove Fuel Vent Hose in Foam

Might also check with the guys over at ClassicMako.com. If you haven't been there yet, it is a must go place for you owning that classic mako. You will find many owners there with the exact same boat and a ton of knowledge and history. Nice boat by the way. You also probably want to check to see if it is the original fuel tank while you have the coffin lid off. If it is, it is probably at its end of its life. The Makos where foam filled around the tank which causes corrosion/leaks eventually. Good luck.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Remove Fuel Vent Hose in Foam

You'll have to either cut the foam out or just abandon that line and install a new one. I'd go for the latter.

 

[bigboat606]

Re: Remove Fuel Vent Hose in Foam

Thanks everyone for the comments. Unfortunately any direction I go is foam so I'll have to bite the bullet and chip away. No path for a new run without foam. Thanks for the ClassicMako.com referal. This is probably where I need to go. I was wondering about the fuel tank while the hatch was opened. Good reminder. I'll probably have to chip away a good amount of foam since the path will be a 'snake' route and I'll be working blind most of the route. Should I replace the removed foam? What should I replace it with?

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Remove Fuel Vent Hose in Foam

unless you are filling multiple trash bags with pieces of foam I wouldn't worry about replacing it.... I would imagine that you are just removing a little..... It occurred to me that if you can get to both ends, you might be able to glue a barbed fitting into new and old and use the old to pull the new through ..... that is IF you can pull the old out of the foam.

 

[NHGuy]

Re: Remove Fuel Vent Hose in Foam

Maybe you can pass a fish line through the old damaged vent tubing. After that pull out the old vent hose. Then grease up the outside of a new hose & pull it through the old hose's path.
No guarantee, but depending on conditions it could work.

 

[bigboat606]

Re: Remove Fuel Vent Hose in Foam

The vent line has been a difficult problem. The gunnel area where the vent line attaches to the vent fitting also has several horizontal tubes embedded in the form that serve as rod holders. (The rods are inserted from a locker compartment near the stern of the boat.) I have very little room to work. approximately the width of my hand and it is all foamed. On top of that the vent hose turns 90 degrees and runs under the deck toward the fuel tank. All this run is foam. I have access to both ends of the hose and have pulled on both ends but the foam is holding too tight. I suspect the only way to remove and replace the vent line is to remove the fuel tank where I can get a straight shot and chip away foam from under the deck. So I have comprimized. I cut off the worst part of the vent line on the fuel tank side and spliced in a new section. This is difficult for me since I am the type of person who preferes to do a job correctly. But the task at hand is more than my time permits at this point. I suspect I'll need to replace the fuel tank at some point anyway so I'll replace the full vent at that time.

 

[SS chubby]

Re: Remove Fuel Vent Hose in Foam

The vent line has been a difficult problem. The gunnel area where the vent line attaches to the vent fitting also has several horizontal tubes embedded in the form that serve as rod holders. (The rods are inserted from a locker compartment near the stern of the boat.) I have very little room to work. approximately the width of my hand and it is all foamed. On top of that the vent hose turns 90 degrees and runs under the deck toward the fuel tank. All this run is foam. I have access to both ends of the hose and have pulled on both ends but the foam is holding too tight. I suspect the only way to remove and replace the vent line is to remove the fuel tank where I can get a straight shot and chip away foam from under the deck. So I have comprimized. I cut off the worst part of the vent line on the fuel tank side and spliced in a new section. This is difficult for me since I am the type of person who preferes to do a job correctly. But the task at hand is more than my time permits at this point. I suspect I'll need to replace the fuel tank at some point anyway so I'll replace the full vent at that time.

I have just finished getting my fuel filler hose and vent tube out of foam. It does not come out without cutting away all the foam around the hoses. I could only see each end as well. I used a coat hanger to bend in the general direction to which the hose was going from, just to get an idea of how sharp the turn inside was. then guessed it was straight to the to the fill cap which it was. I then measured how wide I needed to cut in order to remove the deck and cut the foam. I don't know how far you have to go but the foam on my boat was all the way through with the fuel fill hose and vent tube duct taped together. It was about 6 feet on my boat, with about 8.5' of hose. Once you get the pattern cut out on the deck it's pretty easy to cut all the foam out. I used a saw blade to cut the whole length and then pryed up on the foam with a claw hammer and flat head screw driver. I am now in the process of figuring out if I need to fill it back with foam once I get the new hoses back in. I hope this helps.

 

[woodsyfeller]

Re: Remove Fuel Vent Hose in Foam

If the original vent tube is large enough you may be able to just run a thinner wall hose through the original vent tube or or use a smaller vent hose.Why boat manufacturers didnt use conduit to run hoses,wires ect I'll never know. Well I do know its because by the time it goes bad, the warranty will be long expired.