Rotted Fuel Pickup Tubes in 2007 C-Dory Cruiser

C

chipwagon

New member
I recently diagnosed and fixed a fuel system problem that might be of interest to others with 15+ year old boats. The problem started with 4 beep alarms on the 90 hp Mercury (2007) that left me dead in the water a couple times and eventually I isolated to just the starboard tank. The 4 beep alarm is supposed to indicate water in the fuel according to some people at the dock and research on the interwebs.

My next step was to take the boat out of the water and pump out the tank into jerry cans. I found some helpful advice on cbrats threads about using a cheap $20 fuel pump off Amazon to do this. However, after all the work of emptying the starboard tank and filling with fresh gas, I started the engine and in 2 minutes starting getting 4 beeps again. So the next step was to remove the tank, clean it, and remove the pickup tube. I found about half a cup of watery crud at the bottom (not surprising but also probably not enough to be the issue) and a broken rotted pickup tube. It surprised me how brittle and degraded the tube material was. You could snap the tube into pieces like it was a dry cracker. Link to a photo below.

http://www.c-brats.com/modules.php?set_ ... _photo.php

Anyhow, it concerned me enough to pull and replace the tube in the port tank as well even though I had not had any problems. And it was in the same shape, it actually cracked off inside the tank as I was jostling it out of the boat. Feels good to have clean tanks and fresh tubes installed, and there is no more 4 beep alarm.
 
Interesting--I did not realize that some of these pickups were plastic. I am used to metal pickup tubes. I wonder if ethanol plays a role there. I have had boats much older than that, without known replacement of the pickup tubes. Perhaps that should be a periodic maintenance item.
 
thataway":37z1rzzy said:
Interesting--I did not realize that some of these pickups were plastic. I am used to metal pickup tubes. I wonder if ethanol plays a role there. I have had boats much older than that, without known replacement of the pickup tubes. Perhaps that should be a periodic maintenance item.
Click to expand...

My first thought was ethanol also. :thup
 
How did you clean your fuel tanks? Just use a tube through the pickup tube hole, swish around a solvent, and suck out the tube with a fuel compatible pump or just turn the tank upside down and slosh until it all dribbled out? Where did you get the new pickup tube?

Thanks, Jay
 
One thoughts on "cleaning" the plastic (rotomolded polyethelene) fuel tanks. After removing all of the gasoline, one might consider putting hot water and Dawn soap, along with some marble sized pebbles, and the swishing those around to clean all of any accumulated "crud". Alternately one could use brake cleaner, but then you have an explosive and other contaminate which has to be disposed of. After the soap, then rinse--even using low pressure washer (such as the Ryobi battery powered (300 PSI) unit, if there is any stubborn materials.--Hot water several times, and allow to throughly air dry to be sure no water is left in the tank.
 
I cleaned the tank by sloshing around gas and pouring it out the intake into a glass jar to inspect. A little bit of small grit came out but nothing too dramatic that made me think further cleaning was needed. The pickup tubes--at least the polyethylene variety--are widely available and not expensive. I didn't see stainless steel options at my local marine store but would have gone that way if I did.
 
Any tips on removing the pickup tube fittings from the tank? I have one tank out to clean it (second soon too) and wanted to check the pickup tube but it is very stubborn. Mine is 19 years old.
Thanks in advance, Greg
 
I have a 2010 22 cruiser purchased in 2020. I ran out of fuel on my second trip out. I could plainly see 3" of fuel in both tanks, but could not get fuel from either tank into the engine. Replaced the primer bulb. Still, no fuel. Replaced the external fuel filter head, still no fuel.
Now I was getting frustrated. I ran across a picture a fellow CBRAT had submitted, showing his disintegrated fuel pick up and that was my Aha moment. My boat has Moeller tanks. I went to the Moeller website and found the pick ups and anti-siphon valves I needed. Now, I will admit, and someone may argue with this decision, I replaced the rigid nylon pickups with the flexible
pick ups from Moeller and so far, I am happy. I also found, after the fact, that my local marine supply stocked the pick ups, but it was still helpful to visit and learn from the Moeller web site. I also have read since, that Moeller recommends replacing the pick ups every 5 years.
I was going to attempt tp polish 20 gallons of fuel and clean the tanks, but found a local franchise that did a much better job than I could have. Not cheap, but when he was through, he handed me chips of the old pick ups he had flushed out. I could never have gotten them as clean.
 
http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?p=357777&sid=621edebd8ff4841cad23e685bb30589f

Here is a picture that Lil Rascal posted showing his disintegrated pick ups. Mine was 6" long in one tank and 2" long in the other. Should have been at least 14" long. You can order them in 14 and 22 inch lengths. The rigid ones should be cut at a 45 degree angle on the bottom so that they do not suck flat to the bottom of the tank. So far, I have had no problems with the flexible pick ups.
 
GBR Dory":37m131ml said:
Any tips on removing the pickup tube fittings from the tank? I have one tank out to clean it (second soon too) and wanted to check the pickup tube but it is very stubborn. Mine is 19 years old.
Thanks in advance, Greg
Click to expand...

I didn't have to do anything special to get the tubes off though it was on pretty tight--I Just put a big old adjustable wrench on the square aluminum head and twisted er off. Good luck with it.
 
Thanks for all the good info. This coming summers' project after 20 years of use. Will probably clean tanks, replace pickups, fuel lines and primer bulbs. And router out the cleat screw holes, epoxy and reset the cleats. About time I did all that. Where are the anti-siphon valves (mentioned in the linked thread)?

Jay
 
I got the pick-up line to finally unthread only to have the crusty flexible line fall into the tank. I was able to easily pull the spring out and used my flexible pickup tool to grab the line itself through the fill hole.
The strainer on the bottom is pretty nasty (see the photos).
I'll have to wrangle out the other tank and flush them both really well before I get new pick-up lines to install.

Thanks for everyones good info!

http://www.c-brats.com/modules.php?set_ ... _album.php
 
The ASV is a hose barb with a check valve. You will see them in aluminum and
brass if you go to Moeller's site. Some believe the brass to be better, but I found that the aluminum have a brass insert. The check valves have a tendency to get stuck if the boat is not run frequently. They are inexpensive, at around $10.
 
This is a good topic and reminds me that I should inspect my pickup tubes. I replaced mine 7 years ago when I first got the boat. I was running along and 1 engine quit. I had about 20 gallons still in the tank but no fuel in the line. Fortunately, I made it to a marina for more gas on the other engine. I was lucky as the other tank was about to have the same problem. I pulled the pickup tubes and discovered they both only went down 2/3 of the way into the tanks. I do not know if this was a factory mistake or if a prior owner did this but having only the upper 40 gallons usable in a 60 gallon tank made no sense.
-Jeff-
 
Moxieabs":h9gxealn said:
My tanks are clean but the pickup tubes are original(20 yr old). Will I have to remove the tanks to pull and replace the tubes?
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be able to replace the pickup tube without moving the tank because the splashwell is right over top. It might be possible to jostle the tank slightly into the cockpit without removing the main gas intake hose, just enough to remove the tube. If you try that be as gentle as possible unscrewing and removing the old tube to avoid having a chunk break off into the tank.
 
chipwagon":3bqbbjkh said:
Moxieabs":3bqbbjkh said:
My tanks are clean but the pickup tubes are original(20 yr old). Will I have to remove the tanks to pull and replace the tubes?
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be able to replace the pickup tube without moving the tank because the splashwell is right over top. It might be possible to jostle the tank slightly into the cockpit without removing the main gas intake hose, just enough to remove the tube. If you try that be as gentle as possible unscrewing and removing the old tube to avoid having a chunk break off into the tank.
Click to expand...

The tank won't move much with the filler tubes attached. Also, if the pickup tubes are suspect, the filler tubes might be in poor shape too. Moving or jostling them too much could lead to leaks. I had to replace my filler tubes a couple of years ago (on a '08 boat) because they developed cracks and leaks in the bends.
 
Anyone happen to know if the pickup tubes on the Cape Cruiser models (we have 23 venture) are plastic or metal? My tanks are aluminum which I think differs from most C-Dorys I see that are plastic. I don’t want to start digging around back there and risk breaking something if I don’t need to.
 
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