Fuel Tank / Fuel Leak

[emtlibby]

My new to me 43 trawler has newer plastic saddle tanks. Both are 110 gallons. They feed from each tank to a unified manifold that accepts inputs from both tanks. The manifold then has feeds to the filters for the generator, port, and starboard engines. Returns from each engine go directly to the same side tank as the engine is on.

We took our first cruise this weekend. Things went fairly well, but we noticed a decent amount of leaking diesel, mostly under the port engine. I cant find any leaks on the fuel supply side, although did not run it under load while watching. What I did find, is that the starboard tank seems to have gone down the most, and the port tank now seems almost overfilled.

I am wondering if the pickup tube in the port tank is clogged, causing the engines to both pull mostly from the starboard... I wonder if the tank was overpressurized, but that feels odd, since no diesel came out the filler neck, or vent.

Any ideas?

Matt

[dkirsop]

Possibly the port side secondary filter or fuel return line may be blocked causing the filter to become over-pressurized and leak fuel from around the top and bottom ring seals. With no fuel recirculation to the port side tank both engines would draw from the starboard tank. Also check that the vent from the port tank is not blocked which would also cause an imbalance in the fuel circulation.