Excessive Water In Bilge

O

Old Vet

New Member
Sep 12, 2010
706
St Lawrence River/1000 Islands
Boat Info
1987 268 Sundancer
Engines
454 Magnum, Alpha One
I have a bit of a mystery on my hands here that I've not yet been able to solve.

I just bought this 1987 268 Sundancer a little over a month ago.

I am often seeing the bilge pump start and throwing out a pretty good stream of water. Way more often than I think it should have to.

And I have no idea yet where all that water is coming from.

Bellows were both changed on April 20th this year

After a cruise and I park it at a dock.....pump comes on and discharges water for quite a while.

Yesterday....sitting in my slip in calm water......the pump came on and discharged quite a bit of water.

I've looked in the bilge....at the transom area....I see no evidence of any leakage anywhere.....yet.

So where the heck can it be coming from?

Another question.

On the starboard side.....near the transom......I have 2 thru hulls. The top one is the discharge from the bilge pump. The lower one...directly below it....very near the water line is a mystery to me. Anyone have any idea what this lower one is for?

During rougher water...when the boat is bouncing up and down....I see and hear water entering this lower thru hull and gurgling in it. I'm wondering if this is somehow the source of the water my bilge pump continues to discharge????

The odd guy around here has been telling me...."ahhh....it's "normal" to have some water in your bilge". The amount of water I see discharged sure doesn't seem "normal" to me. In fact....I don't recall ever getting any water in my bilge on my last boat 20 years ago. Seems to me that if I did...it was pretty rare.

Any ideas please?

Thanks.
 
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You are wise to investigate the water in your bilge. Some possibilities:
- drain plug
- power steering cooler
- bellows ( I know they were just changed...just sayin')
- exhaust/cooling system
- trim tab lines
- swivel shaft at top of outdrive...look where steering arm penetrates transom behind your motor...see any dripping?
- cooling water hose from outdrive to motor

The thru-hulls you mention could be for self-bailing cockpit , A/C discharge, etc. ?

Basically you are gonna have to get down in the bilge with a flashlight and get a little dirty to pin it down. If you don't see any thing make sure nothing will bite you and start the motor and observe again. Good luck.
 
"Basically you are gonna have to get down in the bilge with a flashlight and get a little dirty to pin it down."

Not a problem there...I am fully prepared..and expect to.

In looking over the entire transom area.....I've not yet seen any evidence whatsoever...anywhere of any water entry.

The boat hasn't been moved for over a week....sitting in a private covered slip. I was at it yesterday....nice warm calm day. Standing at the back of the boat....up on the slip wall...I was looking at something else.....suddenly the pump started and discharged a bunch of water yet again.

All seems quite odd to me at the moment.

The search will continue.

Please keep any/all other thoughts coming.

Thanks.
 
Do you have an A/C unit running on the boat? Mine has a condensate line that discharges into the bilge.

"In looking over the entire transom area.....I've not yet seen any evidence whatsoever"
Could your freshwater system have a leak? Have you filled it lately?
 
Nope....no a/c

Have had the boat such a short time....not even been able to use it much yet....let alone anything else.

"Could your freshwater system have a leak? Have you filled it lately? "

Filled my water tank only once so far since I got this boat...and haven't even used any water from it yet.

Could it have a leak? Possibly I suppose...but everywhere I've looked so far shows no evidence of water leaking from anywhere. Actually...if my fresh water system was leaking.....I'd expect the tank to be empty by now since it's been a month since I filled it...and going by the amount of water that I have being pumped out of the bilge.

I'll obviously be going over it completely...again and again if I have to in order to try to find the source of this water being pumped out.

The boat's likely to be coming out of the water within the next few weeks for the winter. Going to be lots of hunting going on..before and after lift out.
 
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It's not "normal" to have water in your bilge. It must be coming from somewhere. Start by completely cleaning and drying your bilge. Then keep an eye on things to try and see where it's coming from. If it's not rain water and it's still leaking when you're sitting still, then obviously you're only looking at things at the water line and below.
 
I had a crack in my shift cable bellows on my Alpha I that was causing the same symptoms as you. I couldn't find where the water was coming in. But on my boat, I didn't have a bunch of choices. One time finally I heard a small trickle when I had forgotten to lower the outdrive as soon as I got in, after putting the boat in the water. With the drive lowered, I never heard or saw a thing. Only over time would it fill up, as yours.

Tom
 
The larger through hull is the self bailer the smaller one over it is the bilge on the right side on the left side again the larger one on the bottom is the self bailer which are under your engine hatch the smaller one is the discharge from the shower sump. Check your through hull's for tightness. You also cary 24 gals of water if you have a small leak it will take a while to drain out but you should see water on the shelf where the tank and pump is. Do you keep the system pressurizes or do you turn the pump off when not using the fresh water sys? Check the water heater.
 
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Thanks Dad...

"you should see water on the shelf where the tank and pump is."

Dry there.

"Do you keep the system pressurizes or do you turn the pump off when not using the fresh water sys?"

Off when not being used.

"Check the water heater. "

New water heater. All dry there.

"Check your through hull's for tightness."

As I mentioned...it's likely to be out of the water within the next 3 weeks or so. Once it's home here in my yard...I'll be going over it with a fine toothed comb. Haven't had it long enough yet to know everything about it....still "learning" it.

Will be MUCH better informed next season for sure.
 
"Check your through hull's for tightness."

As I mentioned...it's likely to be out of the water within the next 3 weeks or so. Once it's home here in my yard...I'll be going over it with a fine toothed comb. Haven't had it long enough yet to know everything about it....still "learning" it.

Will be MUCH better informed next season for sure.[/quote]

You want to check as much as you can while in the water because it sounds like it is coming through the transom.
If you have a high powered spot light look real hard at the gimbal housing area where the raw water comes in try it running and sitting. It could be the bellows even though they were changed they are a bear to get on I know I did mine this spring and it is real easy to think you have them on and miss it a little because you have to fit them while mounting the out drive. Do you have a trailer? If not when you get it out check the tightness of the clamps.

To give you some idea how tight it here is a shot of the input shaft bellows and the water intake hose the holeto the right is for the exhaust.

P4040131.jpg


This picture is the Gimbal bearing and the exhaust bellows.

P4040136.jpg
 
Old Vet said:
Thanks Dad...

"you should see water on the shelf where the tank and pump is."

Dry there.

"Do you keep the system pressurizes or do you turn the pump off when not using the fresh water sys?"

Off when not being used.

"Check the water heater. "

New water heater. All dry there.

"Check your through hull's for tightness."

As I mentioned...it's likely to be out of the water within the next 3 weeks or so. Once it's home here in my yard...I'll be going over it with a fine toothed comb. Haven't had it long enough yet to know everything about it....still "learning" it.

Will be MUCH better informed next season for sure.
Click to expand...

How will you be able to tell where the water is coming in when the boat is sitting in your yard?? :huh:
 
"How will you be able to tell where the water is coming in when the boat is sitting in your yard?? "

LOL Yeah well...that's a pretty legitimate question for sure.

I'm hoping to sort out this water issue before it gets lifted out for sure. But there are still other things to learn about it....like what all those thru hulls were for....why the trim gauge on the dash doesn't work...amongst other things I just haven't had the time to tinker with yet as much as I'd like.
 
Just a thought, but you seem to be describing a fair amount of water getting in based on how often your bilge pump cycles. Please don't take this lightly. "Little" leaks have a way of becomming big leaks. If it was me, I wouldn't rest until I found the source of the leak. Remember, boats float as long as you keep the water on the outside:grin::grin:
 
Keep an eye on your batteries if you are not hooked up to shore power. With that much water coming in, you sure don't want a dead battery! I was getting a bunch of water in my bilge too. I changed out my bellows, and since then I have drained out maybe a teaspoon of water out of my bilge.
 
electricaldoctor said:
How will you be able to tell where the water is coming in when the boat is sitting in your yard?? :huh:
Click to expand...

Well you can turn the bilge pump off while on the trailer and put water into the bilge. You can fill it up to the bottom of the starter. Look at the outside to see where the water is running out. It could be the seal around the transom or the garboard plug housing areas that have been problems in the past for some. What ever the problem you need to find that leak.

Ken
 
Thanks for all the thoughts so far folks.

"Please don't take this lightly."

I can assure you I don't take this lightly at all. The first time I saw the pump come on was on our very first 2 hour cruise on the boat just 2 days after I had it delivered to me....after we tied up at a dock. We were sitting there chatting when I heard it start and looked over the side to see a good stream of water being pumped out.

Ever since then it's been weighing on my mind and I've been trying to figure out where it's getting in.

Unfortunately I'm not at the boat all the time and don't know exactly just how fast that water is getting in....or how often that pump starts like that. I can't see or hear any water entering. And I've not yet spotted a location that appears to be the entry point.

Sometimes when I'm at the boat the pump never starts. I turn it on manually to see if anything will pump out. Sometimes yes...sometimes no.

I've actually only had the boat out 4 times so far for an hour or two cruise each time. Twice...after docking...the pump has started while I was still there on the boat....causing me to scratch my head and wonder what the heck is going on.

I can spend an hour at it in the slip puttering around with something and never hear it start. Unfortunately when I'm away from it.....I don't know if that pump is starting once every hour....or two hours...or three hours. :huh:

I'll be going to the boat again today to check it again and I'll continue to hunt around.

And the mystery still continues.
 
I'd still suggest drying it out all the way. Then, when you leave the boat, you can tape a bunch of paper towels (or something) in the bilge in various locations. Assuming your covered slip doesn't let rain water in, this can help narrow it down.

For example, maybe something on the engine (hoses, circ pump, etc) is leaking meaning you'll only get the leak when the engine is running. Or, maybe the leak only happens when the boat is moving. If either or those are true, then the towels shouldn't show signs of having been wet.
 
The 2 bottom transom bolts are worth a check. They are the only bolts that go thru the hull.

They are alloy and corrode away. This is where I had a leak and took months to find. Eighteen years in salt water !

Here is a picture.


picture.php


I replaced mine with 316 SS

Check and see if the nuts on the inside the boat are wet. :thumbsup:
 
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