HELP! What's going on in my engine compartment?

Bridog

Well-Known Member
Oct 4, 2006
4,961
Gulf Shores AL / Brick NJ
Boat Info
2016 19SPX OB
Engines
Mercury 150 4S OB
Started with a small chip missing at the beginning of the season and now it has grown. You can pull it off with your finger. It's not smooth like gel coat but it covers the entire engine compartment over the rough fiberglass. Very thin. How worried should I be. My engine compartment always has "some" water in it since day 1. Would this be covered under warranty? My boat was splashed in 07 so it's less than 5 years old. Any advice would be great. Thanks, Brian
 

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Hey Brian, I'm wondering if you had some hairline cracks in the Gellcoat and water got in there and froze during the Hard?
 
Hey Marshall. I'm not sure. Plugs are pulled in the Winter so there "shouldn't" be any water in there. Is this considered gel coat? I have already spent my own money on 5-6 small gel coat chips repairs over the last 4 years and one larger one under the water line this year during Winter lay-up. These were considered normal. This one doesn't appear normal to me. I hope this isn't going to cost me more $ out of pocket. I already E-mailed the service dept, but as you know, they are off today. Thanks, Brian
 
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Hey Brian, I'm wondering if you had some hairline cracks in the Gellcoat and water got in there and froze during the Hard?

Sounds completely possible.

There appears to be somewhat of an adhesion issue between the gelcoat and resin, a minor build quality issue. I'd pull everything out that's loose and then fill it in so you don't have any water issues progress. Use a good dewaxer "just in case". It's 100% non-structural, just cosmetic, but through capillary action the water will draw itself under any parts which are not adhered.

Typically the US Marine hull warranties would attempt to not cover that repair as it's part of the hull warranty and they'd probably consider it cosmetic, definitely worth a shot though.
 
Looks like an adhesion problem. I'm sure if there was a hairline crack that any residual water accelerated the peeling. I wouldn't worry about it too much.
 
Birdog -

Maybe Hampton will chime in here - he had the same cracks/chipping in his '05 340 bilge and he posted details and pictures of how he "fixed" it. Try a search. I recall he stated that Sea Ray's answer was "It's just cosmetic" - no warranty - but that may have been someone else said that.

Mine has a couple of gelcoat cracks in the bilge sump area, but no chipping as yet.

I think you will find this common - at least among the mid-decade Knoxville made boats...
 
I have the same thing going on in one spot near my bilge pump and it has happened before and been repaired. In the service records, I found where the previous (and original) owner had some minor repairs made to the bilge gelcoat once before from chipping/peeling. This was when the boat was only a couple years old and I believe it was determined to be cosmetic so not covered 100% by the Sea Ray warranty however the records show they did a "goodwill" partial payment where SR paid 33%, Dealer paid 33% and the Owner paid 33% of the repair cost.

I have asked 2 or 3 boat repair people about the new chip and been told by all it is cosmetic and not a big deal. This gel coat was sprayed in bilge after the resin set so I don't know if it is a different type of gel coat that will dry in air or it just did not cure well. I have been told they can seal it back up with bilge paint or epoxy but none recommended trying gel coat again.
 
Brian,

This look like nothing more than a cold bond between the glass layup and the gelcoat in the bilge area. That could have easily happened if the boat fully cured before the gelcoat was applied. Once you lose adhesion and water gets under the gelcoat, it is going to spread some. The fix is easy.....sand, de-gloss, clean with acetone and "paint" new gelcoat over the flaked off areas. Just verify that the source of the water isn't thru the fiberglass.

As someone has said, this is a cosmetic issue and does not involve the boat's structure. You might get Sea Ray to help with the repair cost as a good will gesture, but it won't be covered under the structural warranty.

Oh, and good luck getting U.S Marine to pay for a Sea Ray/Brunswick repair.
 
Hey Brian,
I havent seen anything like that in my 2005 300DA that I recall, but will look around in the bilge more closely this weekend. I do have some hairline cracks in the gel coat of the shower sump bilge outside of the shower box itself, but nothing is lifting up/off like that.

-James
 
Just verify that the source of the water isn't thru the fiberglass.
Frank, How would that be done? Test's needed? BTW, I had this under the waterline this year. Is this the same thing? Thanks again everyone. Sincerely, Brian
 

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Looks like an air bubble under the gelcoat to me. I had a few of these on my 300 along the chine that I had to repair. The bilge chipping is something I have not encountered though.
 
Brian,

I think the cause is the same, i.e cold bond between the glass and the gelcoat, but the one on the exterior started as a void and grew with water pressure. The one in the bilge sump had water get under it and the separation grew. If the spot on the hull above is the only one you saw, I really doubt you have a problem with a delamination, but since it is a possibility, however remote, I mentioned it.

To check the hull for leaks, I would pick a time when you are not going to run the boat then vacuum all the water out of the bilge with a shop vac. Wipe the area down with acetone or lacquer thinner (Do Not try to use the vacuum after using acetone) and let the boat sit .....watch it for an hour and trace any water that shown up in the sump. If the area under the gelcoat (red in the first photo) gets wet but the surrounding gelcoat stays dry, we have a problem. My bet is that it remains dry, but you will know the next morning.
 
I've had the same thing happen in the lowest point of my bilge. This is gelcoat. Gelcoat is NOT a waterproof barrier. Thus the comments about this being a "cosmetic" issue seem to make perfect sense.

I still have yet to repair the quarter sized area on mine, but I'm planning on preping the area first then use an epoxy to coat the area. I believe the epoxy will be a waterproof barrier.

Would that mean that all the boats out there with only gelcoat covering the inside of their bottoms are prone to water intrusion? I find that hard to believe...
 
If the spot on the hull above is the only one you saw, I really doubt you have a problem with a delamination, but since it is a possibility, however remote, I mentioned it.
Frank, The only other spots I've had looked like this and were small chips above the waterline. I was told these were just air bubbles in the gelcoat and nothing serious.
 

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I did repair mine, but I used bilge paint from West Marine. Worked great. Still seems to be holding up as of March. I traded the boat.
 
John, how did you prep the surface? I also ahve a large patch that just came loose. I will shoot a picture tomorrow. I assume I need to remove any loose pieces, scuff and clean with Acetone, then apply the paint?
 

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