“There is no way to repair it. The double-barb fitting cannot be removed without damaging the tank. The tank must be replaced.” So said the warranty manager for Tempo Products, the manufacturer of the fuel tank I installed for Rosita two and a half years ago.

Rosita’s fuel system had developed an air leak in the fuel suction line a few days earlier. This caused a crucial delay in our trip to move Rosita from Tarpon Springs around the horn through Florida Bay and north to Jacksonville. We resorted to using a 6 gallon outboard tank and limped into Miami.

I had explained to the warranty manager that, after checking everything, including replacing the fuel line between the tank and the filter, I had isolated the problem to an air leak in the fuel pickup at the tank (what Tempo calls the fuel withdrawal assembly). He seemed to know what the problem was immediately, but since the tank was beyond the two year warranty, he brusquely told me I would have to replace the tank.

It galled me to have to replace the tank so soon after all the work it took to install it. It would cost $150 and the old, completely serviceable tank would become a piece of trash. The fuel pickup is a relatively simple item. I could basically stick the end of the fuel hose into the bottom of the tank to perform the function. Why couldn’t I cut a hole in the top of the tank, stick in a tube and bond it in place with epoxy. That would work just as well.

So, I ordered a few parts that I thought would work and returned to the boat. First, I hand pumped all the fuel out of the tank. Removing the tank to work on it was a big job in itself. I had installed it in a remote position since it was supposed to be a no-maintenance piece of equipment.

Considering where to cut the new hole, it occurred to me that the boss for the existing fuel pickup might be good to use even if I had to cut it off to get the old fitting out. The boss rose about an inch above the top of the tank so I cut it about half-way up its length. I was able to work the fitting out then and the source of the trouble was immediately obvious.

The fitting has a stepped double-barb end fitted into the tank. A pickup tube was pushed onto the smaller hose barb and the larger barb was pushed into the tank boss. The pickup tube was a translucent material (I’m guessing polyethylene) and had a split where it was stressed by the tight fit over the smaller barb. The split allowed air to be pulled into the fuel line but the leak was small enough that it did not completely stop the flow of fuel.

The solution was simple. I replaced the pickup tube with a standard fuel hose cut to the right length. The fuel hose was thicker but slip into the hole. Where it was stretched over the hose barb, I had to apply some pressure but it fit and allowed the larger tank barb to be reinstalled with two of the barbs in place. The other half of the tank boss was still on the fitting. With only two of the barb rings fitting into the lower undisturbed part of the boss, the fitting was not as secure as it should be. I remedied that by applying a hose clamp over the split in the tank boss and firmly clamping the two halves together. This also fixed the fitting’s position in the lower part of the barb and it felt completely secure to my tugging test.

I slid the tank back into place and attached the fuel hose. A quick test with the squeeze bulb in the fuel line showed that a siphon was quickly established. I happily reconnected the fill hose, vent hose, return line, and level gauge wires.

This seems to be a design problem that could be easily fixed. Using a better material for the pickup tube would prevent to stress that caused it to crack. Another idea is to use a straight fitting instead of a barb that fits into the tank boss. This would allow the fitting to be rotated as needed. A simple clamp would then fix the fitting in place and create the seal for the fitting. Relaxing the clamp would allow the fitting to be removed for repair as necessary.

We ran the engine for an hour the next day with no problems. We felt good that we didn’t have to spend the money and didn’t have to add a perfectly good tank to one of the huge waste mountains outside of Miami. And he said it couldn’t be done!