Fuel (diesel) drip from starboard auxiliary tank

[lucvg]

Hi, my name is Luc and I have a Carver 444 cockpit, 2002.
Last fall I filled all 4 diesel fuel tanks ( 2 main and 2 auxiliary) before the yacht went on land for winter storage.
Now (April 14, 2020), I start to get the boat ready for the summer but noticed that diesel fuel is dripping out of the vent of the starboard fuel auxiliary tank. Anybody out there that has an idea of what is going on?

[Tireless]

Luc;

If it is coming out of the vent, sounds like it has been over filled. When it gets hotter with the warmth of the sun, the fuel will expand and come out of the vents like that.

You can remove a bit or wait till it's in the water and run the boat. However, when you lift the boat to go in the water, it may start again. JMHO.

Greg

[Viper]

Greg Is right Luc and it'll only get worse the hotter it gets. You may want to be proactive and pump some out through the deck fill fitting as there'll likely be fuel in the fill hose too. If you have a transfer pump on your auxiliaries, try transferring from the one that's overflowing. Or, if you're sure it won't freeze from now 'till launch, run a garden hose into an engine raw water strainer and run that engine long enough off that tank to bring down the level a bit. Hopefully the other tanks aren't s full and start overflowing too.

[bud37]

Welcome to the forum.... I agree, quite common as it warms...was filled cold and probably level....could possibly be the angle it is stored at that is contributing to it as well.

[RGrew176]

One of the things I do at the end of each season after filling my tanks for the last time is take the boat out for one last run. I usually try to get in a 5 mile run that seems over the years to be enough to keep the tanks from overflowing once it starts to warm up in the spring.

I would think this would work for you too even with 4 tanks just run a little fuel from each one.

[Wsullivan71]

Definitely expansion from thermal differences. I am a tugboat captain and transport millions of gallons of gasoline on one ocean going tank barge. Just traveling from New York to Tampa, we observe a huge difference in gross product on board due to the hot weather expanding the gasoline.

[lucvg]

To all of you, thanks so much for your reply. Indeed it makes sense that I filled the tank too much, and indeed the boat is stored in such way that it would push the fuel towards the fill and vent area. Thanks again and please, stay safe. Hopefully by the time boating season starts we can all get together again and have a BBQ and drinks on the ship.