www.iFourWinns.com

Im starting to think the fuel cell is the problem and I will check that line today. I removed my regulator the other day and found a gritty substance in its screen. Now Im wondering if the low and high pressure pump screens are clogged. Also noticed the paint on top of the fuel cell is oily and bubbled near one of the fuel cell body screw's. I've read that the fuel cell is sealed with a couple on large o rings so maybe one of those is getting fuel pushed past it.

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Our Boating Blog: http://ben-dana.blogspot.com/

2005 268 Vista "Sea Pickle II"
1979 AMF Alcort Puffer
Previous:
2003 FW190 Horizon
1973 Startcraft 18ft "Sea Pickle"

The O rings sound like the best theory yet. Gas is very hard on rubber and it would be no surprise if your rings are totally rotten. The signs of seapage also speaks volumes... As you know it takes very little gas to make a big smell.

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2004 - 288 Vista
Twin - 5.0 Volvo Penta GXi DP

Sounds like you're really narrowing it down, good detective work that's helpful to anyone else with a similar concern.

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

Thank you very much for the suggestion! I went to the boat yesterday and first thing I did was check this hose and couldn't believe it when Ifound the hose clamp extremely loose. I could flip the clamp up and down with my finger but couldn't see it because of that fireproof cover that goes over the hose.

When I gave the line a little tug on the fuel pump connection the hose popped right off as you can see in this picture.



So now I'm wondering if this system is working properly and the hose was letting the excess vapors escape into the bilge instead of the manifold, or if the excess vapors are a symptom of another problem. Im thinking about checking with the boatyard to see if they have any junk assemblies laying around I could dissect and try to better understand this system as there is limited info out there. From here I will tighten the hose clamps and retest but I'm still considering a least pulling my high pressure pump to check the screen for more debris. Backdraft: Did you find what was causing that check valve to fail on yours? Was it debris?

_________________
Our Boating Blog: http://ben-dana.blogspot.com/

2005 268 Vista "Sea Pickle II"
1979 AMF Alcort Puffer
Previous:
2003 FW190 Horizon
1973 Startcraft 18ft "Sea Pickle"

Unfortunately the check valve didn't have any debris holding it open. Instead, the only way I can explain it is that the lightweight material (almost like a rigid foam) the check valve was made out of swelled up by a fraction of a millimeter, which caused it to rub against the side of the fuel reservoir. It wouldn't shut all the way and let large amounts of raw fuel past it. To give you an idea how much fuel, I would turn the ignition key to prime the fuel pump and approximately 2 to 3 teaspoons of fuel would dump into the intake. While the engine was running a constant, small stream of fuel would be coming out of there and would eventually flood the engine.

I tried to fix it but ended up causing permanent damage and ultimately replaced the entire fuel cell. The inside of the fuel cell was nasty... black paint that coated the inside of the pump/reservoir had flaked off and clogged the filters. In seasons prior, the fuel pump would make a fairly noticeable high-pitched whine. New pump runs quiet.

On another note... a few years ago VP issued a bulletin P-23-7-3 which discussed the high pressure fuel regulator on the fuel rail above the engine. There is a filter on this regulator (among others inside the fuel cell) that can become clogged by those paint flakes from the fuel pump. Mine was clogged and caused the fuel rail to run nearly 30-40psi above specification. In addition to the higher PSI, the restricted filter prevented the required flow/volume of fuel to get to the injectors when running under load. After removing the screen per the bulletin and replacing it with the recommended "E clip" , fuel pressures were normalized. I imagine this condition also lead to an early demise of my fuel pump since it was having to work double-time all those years until I detected the problem.

EDIT: Just saw in one of your earlier posts you mentioned cleaning the high pressure fuel regulator filter. Anyone who has this fuel pump in their boat needs to read Bulletin P-23-7-3 and check it!

- Brian

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Current Boat:
2006 Chaparral 310 Signature

Previous:
2003 268 Vista
2004 Sea Doo GTX

I figure it's time to update this thread since we have had some time to test the repairs and so far no gas smell has returned. As I mentioned in other posts the paint on the body of my fuel cell seemed oily and starting to peel.I decided to remove the fuel cell for a closer inspection and also remove the High pressure fuel pump the check the screen for any debris.
paint flake by Ben & Dana, on Flickr
I wasn't shocked to find a large piece of paint since this has been well documented as a problem by many others, but what directly concerned me was all the evidence of fuel leakage on the underside of this fuel module.
corrosion by Ben & Dana, on Flickr
And more paint in bad places...or is that bad paint in more places, either way Volvo should be ashamed of this design
filter sealing surface by Ben & Dana, on Flickr
Cleaned out the fuel cell itself:
sludge by Ben & Dana, on Flickr
Folowing the theory of what is upstream eventually makes it way down stream I decided to pull my fuel rail to be flushed and send my injectors out to be rebuild/cleaned. I couldn't beleive all the paint debris that made its way into the injector filter baskets, and into the body of the injector as I later found out from the injector shop.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/rQHP1w]
At first I planned to rebuild the entire assembly but decided to just order a new one and rebuild this one at a later time to be kept as a spare. We've taken the boat out a handful of times this year without a whiff of gas smell, and as you can imagine it seems to run a little better without all that crud in the injectors. Thanks for all the help and advice given!

_________________
Our Boating Blog: http://ben-dana.blogspot.com/

2005 268 Vista "Sea Pickle II"
1979 AMF Alcort Puffer
Previous:
2003 FW190 Horizon
1973 Startcraft 18ft "Sea Pickle"

Thanks for the follow up I'm sure it will be helpful to others...

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

First time user... I have a 2001 298 and have the same fuel type odor after closing the cabin for a day or so even with the air on. Last year a guy with the same boat (but 2002) was looking at our marina and asked me about this exact issue! There has to be a fix out there somewhere, I'm not leaking fuel for sure.

2001 Vista 298.

WOW good thing you found this. I could see it being a possible fire hazard. Is this problem only on your engine or would it pertain to the 8.1L as well? No I've got it on my list to check.

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2008 Vista 278 Volvo Penta 8.1 Gi 375 hp
1999 Horizon 220 5.7 GSi

Does anyone happen to know off hand what the fuel pressure should be? I will be checking mine this weekend if I manage to get the boat in the water.

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2004 - 288 Vista
Twin - 5.0 Volvo Penta GXi DP