Note from JD: This post is in regards to the first sailboat that I owned (this one). Somehow, some diesel fuel and gotten into the bilge and the smell got old REALLY quick.
I tried the PureAyr product that I wrote about here and I can report that it definitely works!
I sprayed it on nearly everything – cushions, head, sole, engine, etc… and it most certainly removed the diesel smell from which I was suffering. This was very good. The bad is that I noticed the smell was back after running the engine for a period of time. I think this tells me that I am getting a lot of engine compartment “fumes” going thru the cabin. I think the answer is a bilge blower type arrangement that blows air out of the engine compartment when the engine is running but am not sure how easy that will be to accomplish.
I have never heard diesel pusher people complain of this issue, perhaps they tout the good things. Sure sounds like pressure in the coach is lower than the engine compartment and there is a poor seal. However, I have worked with a lot of diesel engines that were running gensets and they did not smell of diesel fuel. Perhaps a fuel filter leak or something that seeps a little out. A little fuel makes a lot of smell.
New to your blog and have been enjoying reading it. Do you travel with a RV-4? That is a sharp looking plane.
This was actually on my first sailboat – the post is not very clear about that, sorry. This particular boat had some diesel fuel get into the bilge and I got tired of the smell very quickly.
Oh yes! The RV-4 is a fantastic travel machine – a magic carpet.