Oh dear air vent, why doth thou leak?????

[Christian Williams]

Well, the fuel sender port won't leak if the screws are tight and the gasket good and some gasket sealer applied. It's just that our boats are old, and nobody bothers about this small point, or fills to the top.

 

[halliealdrich]

I’m back! Hopefully you laugh at me, instead of shake your head....twice!

So I unfastened the air vent hose, ran wire through it, amd nothing came out. no larvae, no fuel or tank bottom gunk. I have a handy dentist mirror on a stick and used it to see into then tank from the air vent hole. It’s full of fuel! That’s why it leaked. . That’s why it was so mysterious, because physics made the excess flow the only way out, thru the air vent (and the loose connector at the bottom of the hose). What’s that theory, Ackman’s Razor or some such term, meaning the simplest explanation is usually the correct one. Hilariously, my dad overlooked having an empty tank (I am referring to an earlier post). I never thought of overlooking a full one! O m g.

I refastened with my ratchet drill, so I’m pretty sure everything is tight now. Dork manuever completed!

And now, the inboard doesn’t start. As long as it got a squirt of starter fluid, it ALWAYS starts. It has a new alternator, and now the belt is hooked up too. That’s not it is it? There is a simple explanation, which I will start with first— that I can’t remember the starting procedures ‍.

Just in case I’m doing it wrong, might someone instruct me like I’ve never owned this boat before? Pics below, one of instrument panel, and one with both knobs up...my boat doesn’t have a key....weird.


While returning from a sail last summer, I started the motor to get back to my bouy and it died while we took care of the sails in idle. I thought, oh, it didn’t have fuel (ahhh, the beginning of the earlier problem, yes). We sailed into the buoy. So if it ain’t me this time, who doth it be??