84 V20 fuel tank question?

[DelawareDave]

So I recently acquired a 1984 welcraft v20 fisherman. Boat is in good condition no soft spots except for some of the fish box lids that I plan to replace with starboard anyway. But after reading on this forum a bit I was wondering about the fuel tank. It seems like there is a lot of leaking tanks on the older v20's. Is mine probably on barrowed time? When you open the bilge hatch there is a faint smell of fuel but nothing in your face nock you out fumes. Also there is no visible fuel polling in the bilge. Any insight on this would be great! Thanks

[SkunkBoat]

The gasket at the sending unit may be cause of faint smell.
Look at the screw holes for the sending unit and the grounding tab. look at the elbow and the hose barb...If the aluminum is corroded there, its probably corroded in hidden places too.

Not familiar with the layout of the center console tank. Is it foamed in?
Problem is, you can't see corroded tank when covered in foam.
30 years is a long time for an aluminum tank in a salt environ...

[bradford]

With the hatch off/open step lightly on to the tank and see if it will "oil can". This will sometimes cause any water or fuel trapped between the foam and tank to shoot upwards and might give you an idea about your tank condition if its fuel shooting out. Not trying to scare you, but mine had holes the size of your fist and the foam was holding it in the tank.

[phatdaddy]

could also pump some fuel in a glass jar or check your filters. dissolved foam looks like white sand. this is an indication the foam is coming into contact with foam somewhere. mine had a slight fuel smell, turned out to be a corroded fuel fill hose. the steel wire was contacting the al tank and ate through the fill neck.

[DelawareDave]

Thanks for all the replies and info! Going to try and check everything this weekend.