2001 290 Sundancer

[Wanderer 290]

So I have a drip, 1 per 5 seconds.

2001 290 Sundancer, twin 5.7 EFI, Bravo 3, 450 hrs and always fresh water.
The drip is on the port engine/outdrive and looking under the engine appears to be just port of the centerline of the engine and dripping down the inside of the transom on to cables routed and mounted to the transom under the interior transom plate. Viewing photos of Bravo 3 transom plates the only openings are for the raw water cooling and hydraulic lines / mercathode wires.

As a side note, upon launch the leak was actually almost a constant small stream but in 24 hours has diminished to 1 drip per 5 seconds.

The leak is not the steering pin and is below the bellows as those are are visibly dry.

Anybody experienced leaks through either of those openings?

If so what was the fix?

Thank you.

 

[Strecker25]

So I have a drip, 1 per 5 seconds.

2001 290 Sundancer, twin 5.7 EFI, Bravo 3, 450 hrs and always fresh water.
The drip is on the port engine/outdrive and looking under the engine appears to be just port of the centerline of the engine and dripping down the inside of the transom on to cables routed and mounted to the transom under the interior transom plate. Viewing photos of Bravo 3 transom plates the only openings are for the raw water cooling and hydraulic lines / mercathode wires.

As a side note, upon launch the leak was actually almost a constant small stream but in 24 hours has diminished to 1 drip per 5 seconds.

The leak is not the steering pin and is below the bellows as those are are visibly dry.

Anybody experienced leaks through either of those openings?

If so what was the fix?

Thank you.

When we had our 98 290 I had loose transom assembly bolts. They don’t require much torque as the gasket is foam but the engines had been recently removed for new transoms by the selling dealer and the bottom two nuts were hand tight. Probably unlikely but worth checking a few on yours

the other much more unfortunate source is a wet transom that’s begun to rot to the point where the transom assembly seal fails because the transom is no longer flat.

could also be the Y pipe connection to the transom assembly, but that’s nearly impossible to check or repair with the engine in the boat.

 

[Wanderer 290]

I had the engine out 2 years ago to work on the genny and inspected the transom, checked mounting bolts for tightness and the y pipe looked fine so that is why I am inquiring about the other possibilities.
Thank you for your response.

 

[Strecker25]

I had the engine out 2 years ago to work on the genny and inspected the transom, checked mounting bolts for tightness and the y pipe looked fine so that is why I am inquiring about the other possibilities.
Thank you for your response.

gotcha, that's good news!

Here's another thing to try and its not fun. If you can wedge yourself in the bilge (I'm 5'10" and was able to do this) you can put one arm all the way under the oil pan and get your fingers into the void right under the Y pipe where the hydraulic lines and wires you are talking about come in. I put a paper towel in there and dried it up really well, then watched very closely to see the water slowly pool back up on the little "shelf". Once I saw that I could trace the leak to the source.

water leaks are sneaky and can be deceiving because it often ends up in a much different place than where it ingresses. As an example, I was getting water in my center bilge which is 10-15' forward of the engine room and in the center of the cabin. Turns out the hot water tank was leaking and the water was running forward in the boat ending up in that compartment. Took me forever to find it and I thought for sure the source was somewhere in the cabin

good luck, keep us posted

 

[Little Ducky]

Good luck.

I replaced a transom at the end of last year because of the sloppy pin so the water leak was easy to conform especially with an outdrive that had inches of slop left and right.

Make sure your bilge pump works as it should.

 

[Wanderer 290]

I found the leak!
Both outdrives were leaking where the mercathode attaches to the trim hose manifold on the bottom of the transom plate. Internally, the leak was under the y pipe.
There is a thin fiber gasket that after sitting for a winter would dry, shrink and allowed water seepage. Within 2 days of launch the gasket would swell and seal.

 

[Strecker25]

I found the leak!
Both outdrives were leaking where the mercathode attaches to the trim hose manifold on the bottom of the transom plate. Internally, the leak was under the y pipe.
There is a thin fiber gasket that after sitting for a winter would dry, shrink and allowed water seepage. Within 2 days of launch the gasket would swell and seal.

sweet. I wonder if that was the problem on our boat, it did the same thing.