Hello out there! I am a first time boat buyer and I am looking at something fairly modest to start with. My wife and I have our eyes on a 1998 Carver 260SE. We took it out on the water over the weekend but noticed a pretty strong gas smell in the aft cabin. You could smell the fumes both before we had the blowers on and after we turned the engine off. We looked at a 1997 version of the same boat last week and it had the same issue with the fumes in the cabin area. Does anyone out there have a comment about that? Is it normal for that model, because we have been on several other similar sized boats by other manufacturers that don't have that odor? The fumes were not overcoming, but they were noticeable. The current owner said that was normal. Thank you for your input!!
gas fume or exhaust gas? if gas fumes... RUN from that boat!!! dont' even stay on board while someone tries to start the engine... gas fumes are highly explosive and if you smell it, the correct thing to do is get everyone off the boat, open every hatch to vent and find the source. dont' turn anything on. first, there shuold be a fume detector in the engine compartment. but if the smell is in the aft cabin that won't do much good. normally, the cabin bilge is sealed from the engine comparment so that fuel and fumes can't make it in the cabin. On a gas boat, everything in the engine comp. needs to be ignition protected, but stuff in the cabin is not. so if you get fumes in the cabin, a light switch, fridge, radio or anything capable or making a spark could cause the boat to go kaboom. typically on small express, teh fuel tank is under the aft berth. if you smelled gas there, i woudl suspect a leak in the fuel tank. depending on the tank quality and how it was installed, 10 to 12 years is probably the avearge you can expect before corrosion takes its toll. you may get more in some case, or less... needless to say, it is a VERY serious safety issue adn replacing the tank is often expensive. Not jsut the cost of the tank but the time it take to get it out. sometimes, engines have to come out or extensive cabinetry/fiberglass work is needed. now, if you were smelling exhaust gas after a run, it's not as dangerous except that it woudl mean carbon monoxide is coming in, which just as deadly. in any case, i would RUN not walk from these 2 boats
Thank you for your quick reply! I am by no means an expert but I would guess that it was gas fumes. The smell was there from when we first walked into the cabin area, well before we started the engine.
Used to work on a 440 Carver with 2 forward & 2 aft tanks. Until some fuel was burned from the aft tanks the aft stateroom would stink of diesel. I suspect it permiates through the fuel fill hose or connections. That may be the case here. In any case the advise you got here is right; run don't walk away from those boats. Exhaust fumes (carbon monoxide) will give you a peaceful sleep (forever). Gas fumes will blow you up. Neither a great scenario. Also, although this was not your question, I believe you're dealing with a fairly slow, hard to maneuver boat. Single I/O with a lot of windage? Consider moving up to something around 28' with twins. Prices are good right now.
if it smells like what you get when you fill up your car, it is explosive gas fumes or vapors. whenever you smell that on a gas powered boat, it means there is either a fuel leak or teh tank vents inside the boat.
