Boat partner's wife hates diesel smell

[RKO]

This is a first boat for them and she loves sailing, but asked him to do whatever he can to lessen the smell of diesel fuel in the cabin. is there anything that can be done, other than keeping it clean and ventilating as much as possible?

[Kalinka1]

is there a leak somewhere? Malt vinager or vanilla will kill the smell. Of course then the boat smells like a chipper or Ice cream cone!!

[mbianka]

Originally Posted by RKO

This is a first boat for them and she loves sailing, but asked him to do whatever he can to lessen the smell of diesel fuel in the cabin. is there anything that can be done, other than keeping it clean and ventilating as much as possible?

Do what I did:
THE BIANKA LOG BLOG: Going electric: Part 1: The why and how
It's nice to get use to the smell of clean on board.

[S/V Illusion]

There should be no diesel smell. Have you tried identifying and eliminating the cause(s)???

[Sailmonkey]

If you smell diesel you have a leak or some cleaning to do.

[David M]

If you can smell it inside then there is a leak somewhere or there is a problem with the tank vent. The problem can be fixed without resorting to removing the engine. Putting down oil sorbs in possible areas will help you to trace the leak.

[boatman61]

Wash down the engine and sump area... once clean and dried wash out the bilges with good bilge cleaner should do the trick just fine... helps track the leak as well if one exists...

[svHyLyte]

Originally Posted by RKO

This is a first boat for them and she loves sailing, but asked him to do whatever he can to lessen the smell of diesel fuel in the cabin. is there anything that can be done, other than keeping it clean and ventilating as much as possible?

The fuel system on a yacht is closed such that, if there is diesel smell, there must be a leak somewhere, or residue from a prior leak remaining. First and foremost, ensure that there are no fuel leaks. The usual suspects are the fuel filter(s), at the injection pump, and, often, in the fuel return circuit. Once the leaks have been stopped, or proved non-existent, cleaning is next. A good degreaser/cleaner with (very) hot water will get up most of any spill. A good strategy is to use lots of hot water and cleaner on and under the engine (being careful around electrics) and in the bilge and then suction it out with a shop vac. Dump the vac contents into a 5 gallon bucket with a few oil absorbent pads before discharging the wash water and dispose of the pads in the appropriate manner for your locale. There will likely still be residue in the bilge and we found that mixing lemon juice concentrate (sold in gallon jugs at most food supply wholesale outlets) with hot water, filling the bilges with the mix and allowing it to soak for a day or two will dissolve virtually all of the remaining residue. Once that's pumped out, thoroughly dry the bilge. If you bilge does accumulate water, a citrus based bilge cleaner can be added to the bilge to quickly break-down any oil that makes its way into the bilge and prevent smells. (One should also add oil absorbent pads/sheets under the engine to collect drips.)

The last thing that we found helpful was making up bags of Activated Charcoal using lengths of women's nylon stockings. These can be laid, or draped, under and about the engine compartment and will absorb most odors quite effectively. (We found they need be replaced annually.)

With the foregoing, we have no boat smells on the yacht at all, even after having had had a workmen cross thread a filter canister during a service which allowed 40+ gallons of fuel to leak into our bilge. (The ensuing clean-up, as above, was paid for by the boatyard, fortunately.)

FWIW...

[Captain Bill]

I'm assuming you are talking about thesmell of diesel fuel not diesel exhaust. If it smells of fuel you have a leak somewhere or you spilled diesel at your last filter change and didn't get it all cleaned up. I have found that a product called "Greased Lightning" is very effective at removing the diesel and the smell. I have also noted that the ultra low sulphur diesel sold for cars smells a lot less than offroad high sulphur diesel sold for boats.

[RKO]

Good to know. we just bought the boat a month ago. I'll check for leaks and give it a good cleaning asap. Instead of waiting for spring as I had planned...

[S/V Illusion]

Originally Posted by Captain Bill

I have also noted that the ultra low sulphur diesel sold for cars smells a lot less than offroad high sulphur diesel sold for boats.

The only difference between the two is the colorant added to signify road tax has been levied on diesel. The other diesel "sold for boats" is the same exact thing and is ULSD too.
There is no high sulfur diesel anymore (in the United States) and you can't smell the dye.

[Irish rambler]

Lots of good advice from the guys on here as always, my 2 penn'orth is that apart from making sure there are no leaks and your vent pipe is positioned so that it doesn't blow fumes inboard.Once the bilges are clean I use a good squirt of washing up liquid into the bilge area and let it slosh around with the normal movement of the boat and when you pump out any oil will be emulsified and bio degradeable. I just like to keep life simple.

[Stu Jackson]

Odor eliminator PureAyre eliminates cat, pet, smoke, skunk, cigars, gasoline, cooking and musty odors.

[Cheechako]

She probably doesnt like the exhaust smell, for some reason I know a few people whom it bothers... usually women.. not sure why. Only thing I can say for that issue is to make sure you are motoring fast enough to escape the exhaust when going downwind. Also, a piece of tubing on the exhaust outlet can help keep the exhaust from getting sucked forward by the "draft" at the stern. I have seen boats with a long ish 1ft-1.5ft piece of what looked like old fire hose hanging out there.

[David M]

There are also Tier 2 diesels that smell and burn much cleaner. Tier 3 diesels are starting to be available now as well.