2021 Lund Crossover Smells of Gas Fumes

Hello Lund Forum:

I purchased a new 2021 Lund 1875 Crossover XS this spring. Used it for about the first month in the cooler spring temp’s without issue. As soon as the hotter temp’s arrived leading up to Memorial Day, the overwhelming smell of gasoline fumes filled every compartment below decks from the bow compartments to the fuel compartment, getting more intense in the afternoon and evenings after taking a beating from the hot sun while parked on my drive, and obviously being most intense right at the fuel compartment. No sign of liquid fuel ever detected – only fumes (at times so intense it makes me nauseous and gives me a headache if I’m around it too long).

I haven’t had the boat on the water since first smelling the odors. It’s been in 2x to my local Lund Service Center. The first time it sat for about a month before the service center returned it to me saying they “couldn’t smell anything – the boat is safe to operate.” The second time it was returned after about 5 days with the same basic response.

Trying to keep a long story short and to the point, I’ll get to my questions: Anyone else experience such a problem, where the smell of gas fumes was (apparently) so situational it only materialized when the boat was parked in a very specific place/way? If so, was there ever a proper diagnosis and resolution?

Just curious how rare my specific problem is.

Things I would consider……….

1) overfilled the tank
2) plugged vent line
3) bad gas lines causing a leak

How to fix that, I don’t know. It’s just where I would start looking.

I’ve heard of a candle test. I personally wouldn’t do it with my own boat if it’s strong enough to make you sick, should be enough to go boom.

When I bought a new Lund in 1999, I had the same smell. I thought it was gas and the dealer said it was vapors coming out of the vinyl lining the compartments. Took a couple of years to go away. I would hope they fixed that sometime in the last 20+ years.
The maiden voyage to break in the Yamaha after filling the tank with gas, I noticed something sloshing in the bilge. It was gas. Left the lake and went back to the dealer. They drained almost 4 gallons of gas out of the boat. The sending unit wasn’t tightened down. They replaced the sending unit and gave me a bottle of bilge wash. I don’t don’t who made that sending unit, but it worked until I traded it in last year. I had the boat sent back to Lund to see if the floatation needed to be replaced. The took core samples and said the gas didn’t penetrate the foam. That gas smell went away quickly, but the vinyl smell took longer.
The next time you smell it take it to the dealer and have them smell it then, not after it sits for a while.

Give the mechanic a lit cigarette. Tell him to put it in his mouth, and have another look. Customer service since Covid. Has become anything but that a lot of places. Don’t mess with a possible gas leak. I was 100′ from a boat. When a guy hit the key. To find the 30 gallons of gas he just pumped in his boat was in the bilge. Because the filler hose didn’t get hooked up. He was blown completely out of the boat. Lucky he lit in the water, not the boat. Also a shot glass of gasoline on a hot day. Can smell like 10 gallons. But don’t take it lightly.

If it as intense as you say by giving you headaches, etc., I’d tow it back to the dealer and tell them to keep it for a week. Obviously something is wrong somewhere.

If the dealer is reasonably close, let them send someone to your home when the fumes are evident.

DON’T start taking floors or anything else apart. It may affect your warranty or you might produce a spark that will ignite the fumes.

Your boat is NOT safe to use in this condition and I wouldn’t store it near your house or in a garage until the problem is discovered and fixed.

If the dealer continues to not own up to the problem a call to Lund should be made or letter to Lund from and attorney should be produced.

I have this issue with my impact.
When the tank is full or near full and the outside temp heats up.
The gas expands and soaks the boat cover around the filler cover.
I have to jack the front of the boat up higher to get it level as my driveway slopes down to the front of the boat. I use a cinder block to gain enough height.

Did they do anything when rigging your boat that could have pierced a vent line for your gas tank. I know when I replaced my floor in my old Pro V, I pierced the vent line. The gas smell was over powering. Even after I replaced the vent line, I couldn’t get the gas smell out of my storage compartments.

“The sending unit wasn’t tightened down.”

This happened to me. When the take was full the whole cabin reeked of gas. Or when the tank wasn’t completely full and it was a hot day. Service tech didn’t tighten it down.

What ever happened to yours…(gas expanding in hot weather) don’t use it until you know what’s going on. Move past the dealer if he can’t find it. The risks are too great.

PS Just a few weeks ago a boat blew the three people on board out of the boat. They all survived but one was air lifted. Another had a broken nose.

Thanks to all for the replies. Lots of food for thought as I try to navigate my way forward.

Being that it’s a new boat, I definitely need to exhaust all options with Lund (and then some) so as to not void my warranty or as one contributor warned: create an even bigger problem.

I’m currently focusing on trying to clear the “we don’t smell gas” hurdle and conclude that what I’m smelling is or is not gas (or other? combustible) fumes once-and-for-all.

I thought I was on to something when I came across a handheld “combustible gas leak detector” from Klein Tools, but it turns out most such (affordable) tools are intended/reliable for methane only.

My next thought is maybe I should invest in a marine gas vapor detector, like an inboard boat would have? Although it wouldn’t alert me to the presence of _any_ amount of gas fumes, it would at least let me know when I’m over 20% the Lower Explosive Limit and in a potentially dangerous situation.

Anyone ever install one of these in their Lund or similar boat? Any brands/model to recommend / stay clear of? Any caveats to consider when installing and selecting a location for the sensor? Of course, I wouldn’t want to break the bank for a problem that shouldn’t be there in the first place, but at least I might find peace of mind in using the boat unless/until the alarm sounds.

Matt,
PM me your hull VIN # and dealer information. I have a good contact at Lund in the warranty service dept, I’d like to get them involved. This dealer may need a “nudging” to address your concern.

This is nothing to mess around with.

HRG

When it is at the dealer, they probably are parking it level.
Is it level when you first detect an increase in gas odor?
Once the tank overflows the filler pipe the boat will wreak for a week or more.

@eyekatcher I find your comments intriguing.

Where I park my boat at my house does leave the boat listing _slightly_ to starboard – not a ton, but you can tell the concrete the trailer sits on tilts that way a bit (by design, actually, because the concrete runs up against a building on the port side).

Add to that, I am generally in the habit of refilling on my return from the lake. So, when parked at my house, the tank is generally full.

I’ve heard of others having fuel backflow out the filler or vent while refueling – that has never happened to me. I’ve never seen a hint of liquid gas anywhere inside or outside the hull, nor running from the transom drain.

Are you suggesting that perhaps in the right situation, a full tank pitched in just the right direct might send liquid fuel into an area of the fuel system it doesn’t normally sit in and THAT might cause a lingering fuel smell?

I’ll have to give that more thought to see if/how that might fit my scenario. Any additional specifics on that scenario I should take into account?

On a related note, at the service center’s suggestion I did take the boat out this past weekend (very cautiously) and run a couple/few gallons out of it. Waiting to see if there’s going to be a change in the odor. So far, I cannot say there’s been any change.

Matt Hetherington wrote:

I thought I was on to something when I came across a handheld “combustible gas leak detector” from Klein Tools, but it turns out most such (affordable) tools are intended/reliable for methane only.

May have to look into this for the fish house. Safety first.

it comes out the overflow/ filler area
and is wicked up by the boat cover
and then drips on the carpet.
smells for a week.
doesn’t happen when I raise the bow a cinder block higher under the jack.

eyekatcher wrote:

it comes out the overflow/ filler area
and is wicked up by the boat cover
and then drips on the carpet.
smells for a week.
doesn’t happen when I raise the bow a cinder block higher under the jack.

Jeez, is this common?

I’d never settle for this on a boat.

To the OP, get this resolved the correct way…not by a cinder block.

eyekatcher wrote:

it comes out the overflow/ filler area
and is wicked up by the boat cover
and then drips on the carpet.
smells for a week.
doesn’t happen when I raise the bow a cinder block higher under the jack.

@eyekatcher Is this with a full tank on hot days? Or, full tank no matter the weather, dependent solely on boat pitch?

I’ve never seen liquid fuel anywhere, but do wonder if the situation you describe could be similar to what’s happening in my case. I’ll take a closer look (er, sniff) around the boat cover and carpet near the areas the fumes are strongest.

Thanks again to all who’ve chimed in. Since starting the thread, I have exchanged some e-mails with Lund directly and am hopeful I’m on track to get to the bottom of what’s going on and have the issue(s) properly resolved.

When fuel is in the tank at the gas station, the ground temperature is lower than the air temperature. It will always expand in volume.
I do not attempt to fill beyond the first automatic shutoff.
I don’t use much fuel on any given day, so I only refill occasionally.
Because I always have a high fuel level, it will occur on days the temperature rises causing expansion
until I have used a couple of gallons.

@eyekatcher Thanks for the additional insights.

FYI: I sniffed around the boat cover and wall/flooring materials close to the fuel filler, but don’t detect fumes in those places specifically.

The most consistent area where I detect fumes (and where they’re the strongest) is under the port-aft jump seat.

On my last trip to the local Lund service center, the service mgr and one of his tech’s removed the fuel compartment hatch in my presence.

Though the service center’s story has apparently since changed in this regard (or, perhaps how they characterize what they smelled doesn’t meet Lund’s standards for authorizing more objective diagnoses of the fuel system – I’m not sure which), all 3 of us agreed there was an odor of gasoline in the general area where the fill line attaches to the tank (I also smelled fumes near one of the other connections, but to a lessor degree).

That area of the fuel compartment, where the fill line attaches to the tank, happens to be immediately adjacent to the area under the port-aft jump seat I referenced above. Pretty strong coincidence there’s a problem in that area of the fuel system, I think.

Even after leaving all hatches/seats open yesterday afternoon (which was quite a breezy), that same general area under the port-aft jump seat continues to smell of fumes. If it were just the result of some spillover, I would’ve expected the odor to dissipate and not return until the next spillover.

the potential for a fire is NO JOKE, if gas fumes are present strong enough to smell all it takes is the right amount of air and an ignition source and BOOM !!!

Take your attorneys business card and a written statement from your banker and insurance company with you to the dealer along with the boat.
the statements should read something like:
To whom it may concern, with my clients life a great concern to us and not wishing to see him burnt to oblivion and if he were to survive and live a life of pain and suffering resulting from a leaking boat tank which you yourselves have smelled, we respectively ask you to refund the entire amount of the purchase price or further action will be taken as required and allowed by law.

Am I joking?? HELL NO I AM NOT !!
I just watched two of my best friends die from a house explosion a couple of months ago, they both had third degree burns over 50% percent of their body.
both died from the injuries after living for two weeks, good thing they were in a medical induced coma so they didnt suffer.

dont risk your life, demand they make it right and ASAP!

Matt,
I understand that your hull may be going back to the dealer to have the tanks and lines pressure-tested, hopefully you can be present for it and confirm the results.
Lund wants this resolved just as much as you do.

HRG

Iowaboy1 wrote:

I just watched two of my best friends die from a house explosion a couple of months ago, they both had third degree burns over 50% percent of their body.
both died from the injuries after living for two weeks, good thing they were in a medical induced coma so they didnt suffer.

@iowayboy That is a horrific story and I am sorry for all involved. It is a stark reminder of how seriously a combustible gas leak (of any size and nature) should be taken.

On a related note, there’s this story from just last weekend: https://www.thealpenanews.com/news/local-news/2021/07/alpena-couple-loses-boat-not-love-for-lake-huron/

Obviously, there are times when the unexpected happens without warning, despite best efforts. However, there are other times when clues present themselves that can head off a looming catastrophe if only they are picked up on and taken seriously.

It’s stories like these that are like a slap in the face saying, “Pay Attention!!!”

Hot Runr Guy wrote:

Matt,
I understand that your hull may be going back to the dealer to have the tanks and lines pressure-tested, hopefully you can be present for it and confirm the results.
Lund wants this resolved just as much as you do.

@Hot Runr Guy That’s news to me. It has been a week since I’ve heard anything from Lund on this issue.

In the meantime, I drove an hour to the next closest Lund authorized dealer / service center this past weekend and dropped the boat for a second (technically third) look.

I’m told on Monday they performed a physical inspection of all hoses and connections and didn’t find any obvious problems in that regard. They let it sit Tuesday and then sniffed around the boat again today and said they’re not smelling any fuel at this point. I’ll obviously take another look (er, sniff) with them when I pick it up and see if we’re in agreement.

They have a theory that fuel might have gotten into the filter cartridge in the external vent line and that could have been the source of the fumes, taking time to ultimately dry up and fully dissipate, which perhaps it did while in their possession.

Anyone else have experience to help support this theory? Should I expect this to be a regular occurrence? Any known steps to prevent this from happening? And, if this is a regular occurrence, how would one tell the difference between “an expected amount of fumes” and “a dangerous amount of fumes” in this case?

Thanks again to all for the helpful comments offered.

@Hot Runr Guy Seems your ESP is finely-tuned.

Just got an e-mail from Lund stating they’d authorized a pressure test and “sent a kit” for the work. Unfortunately, they arranged everything with the previous dealer / service center I was working with and no one bothered to bring me into the loop.

I’m now working to see if Lund can redirect the “kit” and work authorization to the dealer / service center where the boat currently sits. Hopefully, that’s an easy switch.

I’ve been thinking more about this theory that the fumes could be due to gasoline making its way to the filter in the external vent line…If gasoline were indeed reaching the filter and saturating it, anyone have a theory as to how residual fumes would be escaping into the below-decks compartments?

I’d think any fumes in the filter itself would vent out thru the hull they way they’re supposed to. If instead they’re venting from the filter to the interior of the boat, I’d think that would indicate there’s a leak in the system somewhere. That is, whether the fumes are from the gas in the tank or from gas in the vent filter, they should both vent exterior to the boat the same way, if the fuel system is working the way it should be.

Anyone have any particular insight that might explain otherwise?

For the record, Lund notified me today they’ve made the decision to authorize the pressure test to be done at the dealer where the boat currently sits.

I’ll report back with the findings in case they are of any use to someone else down the road.

After long last, the fuel system pressure test was conducted today. Although it did take quite awhile to materialize and there were a few hiccups in getting it going, it ultimately happened nonetheless.

Trying to keep it brief, the test concluded with the service center declaring more/less “no leak – boat safe to operate”.

My lingering concerns are:

1. While pressure didn’t drop during the test, it didn’t hold steady either. Instead, the pressure INCREASED continuously during the test. After first being pressurized, the digital pressure gauge Lund provided in their test kit climbed steadily from something like 1.5 psi to 2.5 psi when pressure was finally relieved. Is this normal/expected/explainable?

2. I managed to get my hands on an “industrial type” gas leak detector rated for use with gasoline, something a fireman or gas co. might use to identify/trace a leak. The service center ran the detector over the top of tank connectors while pressurized and they all (well, at least the two senders and the fill inlet with attached check valve) set off the detector. A soap/water mix was then applied and there was no _obvious_ sign of a big leak at those points. Still, the detector said there were fumes at each. Anyone have a theory for that?

In any case, since there’s nothing more the service center can/will do for now on this and they’re satisfied the increasing pressure == no leak, I’ve got the boat back in my possession. Since I’ve got the gas detector, I at least have something to give me an idea “how bad” things are before starting the engine and I guess I’ll just monitor going forward.

Guess I was just hoping for a more conclusive result to the test…Something like an absolutely steady pressure reading and absolutely no fumes detected throughout.

@Hot Runr Guy: Thanks for any contribution you may have had in ultimately getting Lund to follow through on the pressure test.

Pressure and temperature are proportionally related. If they pressurized your gas line and sealed it off, and the ambient temp increased through the test, you’d expect the pressure to increase as well…and that’s actually a good sign of a sealed system.

Matt Hetherington wrote:

A soap/water mix was then applied and there was no _obvious_ sign of a big leak at those points. Still, the detector said there were fumes at each. Anyone have a theory for that?

@Hot Runr Guy: Thanks for any contribution you may have had in ultimately getting Lund to follow through on the pressure test.

I chased a minor nat gas leak inside my house for months, I could smell it, but could not get the soap/water spray to find it. I finally added a bunch more Dawn soap to my spray bottle, and the increased concentration of soap finally found the slowest-growing bubble you ever saw.

HRG