Normal amount of water in Bilge?

M

mambodave

New Member
Jun 22, 2009
160
Charlotte NC
Boat Info
1987 SeaRay 270 Sundancer
Engines
Twin V6, I/O
Hi all! Quick question. I have a 1999 310 Sundancer. We just spent our first real weekend on it. I have a few questions though.

- Whats normal activity for the bilge pump? We had the AC running constanly this weekend becuase it was so hot, and Im wondering if the Air conditioner pumps excess water from condensation, etc into the bilge for discharge. Seems like at least every hour the pump would kick on and shoot out a healthy amount of water ( half gallon Id bet). The compartment is fairly dry with exception to a little run down from the front of the engine compartment to the back. is this normal drain activity? Towards the back there always seems to be a few inches of water in there at the dock.

-All of the sudden the starbord engine wont go over 3000 rpm (at full throuttle). All diagnostics seem fine, is it posible its a cable issue? What elese should I check?

Thanks in advance!

Dave
 
We have a '99 310 also.

Very little water in bilge. It stays dry unless it rains and I have found specifically where that is coming in yet.

Our AC condensation appears to be pumped out by the mid cabin bilge (?). THey does kick on a little more often when AC is on.
 
Hmm well you will surely get some varied opinions on water in the bilge. I have some that sits in the lower sump area its annoying I am still looking into how to overcome it.

As for the AC if your set up as I am most likely the AC condensate drains to the shower sump and goes overboard from there. Water running down from the forward bulkhead in the ER could mean a few things.

No worries if the AC condensate does drain down there. Or you have a fresh water leak in the fresh water system if the condensate does in fact drain to the shower sump. Open up the floor covers in the main cabin and follow the white pvc pipe from the AC and see where it goes.

As for the ER leak is the water pump running or does it shut off. If it running you have a leak somewhere or a faulty pressure switch on the pump. I am chasing a similar issue now. Check all the visible connectors down in the ER and check the Water heater connections. If the water pump shuts off, your AC drains to your shower pump, and you still have a leak from the forward ER bulkhead it may be coming from the fitting on your fresh water tank, that should be right next to where your fresh water pump is mounted... Good Luck!!!!

Welcome aboard I learn every weekend I am on the boat, now if I could only loose about 50 pounds and shrink about a foot to make life in the ER a bit nicer...
 
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There are many possibilties as to why your engine won't turn up.
One of the more common causes is excessive bottom growth. Is your boat wet-slipped? V-drives or I/O? When was the last time you (or a paid diver) cleaned the bottom and props/gear?
 
tobnpr said:
There are many possibilties as to why your engine won't turn up.
One of the more common causes is excessive bottom growth. Is your boat wet-slipped? V-drives or I/O? When was the last time you (or a paid diver) cleaned the bottom and props/gear?
Click to expand...


Fresh bottom paint and clean as new 3 weeks ago., wet slip, salt water, Stern Drives.
 
Alegria said:
Hmm well you will surely get some varied opinions on water in the bilge. I have some that sits in the lower sump area its annoying I am still looking into how to overcome it.

As for the AC if your set up as I am most likely the AC condensate drains to the shower sump and goes overboard from there. Water running down from the forward bulkhead in the ER could mean a few things.

No worries if the AC condensate does drain down there. Or you have a fresh water leak in the fresh water system if the condensate does in fact drain to the shower sump. Open up the floor covers in the main cabin and follow the white pvc pipe from the AC and see where it goes.

As for the ER leak is the water pump running or does it shut off. If it running you have a leak somewhere or a faulty pressure switch on the pump. I am chasing a similar issue now. Check all the visible connectors down in the ER and check the Water heater connections. If the water pump shuts off, your AC drains to your shower pump, and you still have a leak from the forward ER bulkhead it may be coming from the fitting on your fresh water tank, that should be right next to where your fresh water pump is mounted... Good Luck!!!!

Welcome aboard I learn every weekend I am on the boat, now if I could only loose about 50 pounds and shrink about a foot to make life in the ER a bit nicer...
Click to expand...


Thanks, Ill try and chase it down next weekend. Its all dry untill the stern. Front bilge and mid section seem to be bone dry. Ill post if I find the source.
 
3 weeks in Charleston Harbor, very fast current, 84 degree water temp and it's very much time for a diver. If you hauled your boat today, you wouldn't believe the amount of growth on the drives and bottom.
Which marina are you in?
 
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I noticed I had more water in the bilge than normal. Sunday, I opened the hatch to look at something else and noticed water dripping from the front of the seawater pump. Just pulled the pump and brought to my mechanic. There was clear evidence the seal was bad. He called a few minutes ago and said the bearings were shot as well as the seal being bad. Good thing I caught it before it failed completely while underway. You might check for the same. It didn't drip while the motor was running, just when it was off (and the boat in the water).

Also, if you've opened your strainers recently check that they aren't leaking out the top. I've not seated mine all the way before and had water leaking out of there.
 
srt8mag said:
3 weeks in Charleston Harbor, very fast current, 84 degree water temp and it's very much time for a diver. If you hauled your boat today, you wouldn't believe the amount of growth on the drives and bottom.
Which marina are you in?
Click to expand...


Diver coming out next week before next run..

Im in the Harbor Marina at Patriots Point. I did notice the growth on the trim tabs...

Only reason Im wondering, is that the engine was fine the day before, it popped up overnight seems like.
 
ultratiger89 said:
I noticed I had more water in the bilge than normal. Sunday, I opened the hatch to look at something else and noticed water dripping from the front of the seawater pump. Just pulled the pump and brought to my mechanic. There was clear evidence the seal was bad. He called a few minutes ago and said the bearings were shot as well as the seal being bad. Good thing I caught it before it failed completely while underway. You might check for the same. It didn't drip while the motor was running, just when it was off (and the boat in the water).

Also, if you've opened your strainers recently check that they aren't leaking out the top. I've not seated mine all the way before and had water leaking out of there.
Click to expand...


Good idea. Strainers are sealed good, (i checked).
 
Mambodave -

I chased a couple of bilge leaks and here's what I found:

1. Visible leaks with the engine running from the port engine raw water pump and an oil cooler line (under the engine on an 8.1). The problem - loose clamps. I then checked every other clamp - seems like 25+ per engine on closed cooled 8.1s - found a lot of them needed tightning. Probably hasn't been checked since my boat was new, although they did a 200 hour check in Nov '08 prior to delivery. I've added this task to my maintnance list.


2. I then discovered a cracked elbow in my fresh water tank fill pipe. This leak was showing up in my center and engine room bilges. Fixed that and I now have dry bilges.
 
mambodave said:
Hi all! Quick question. I have a 1999 310 Sundancer. We just spent our first real weekend on it. I have a few questions though.

- Whats normal activity for the bilge pump? We had the AC running constanly this weekend becuase it was so hot, and Im wondering if the Air conditioner pumps excess water from condensation, etc into the bilge for discharge. Seems like at least every hour the pump would kick on and shoot out a healthy amount of water ( half gallon Id bet). The compartment is fairly dry with exception to a little run down from the front of the engine compartment to the back. is this normal drain activity? Towards the back there always seems to be a few inches of water in there at the dock.

-All of the sudden the starbord engine wont go over 3000 rpm (at full throuttle). All diagnostics seem fine, is it posible its a cable issue? What elese should I check?

Thanks in advance!

Dave
Click to expand...

Welcome to the board.

In mine (and probably yours) the A/C drip pan has a hose that runs into the grey water sump below the cabin floor. Here in FL, the A/C puts out lots of condensate, and my sump pump discharges at about one hour intervals. It goes out of a thru-hull on the port side. That makes me feel comfortable, since it shows that the pump and float are working OK.

The center compartment of the bilge usually has some water in it, about an inch back where the low-water pump is and maybe an 1/8 inch over the higher forward portion. Once the boat starts moving, the pump takes out almost all of it. There is a high-water pump back there, but I have never had it turn on. If we have a long dry spell, then most of the water evaporates. On the other hand, heavy rain gets in, mostly from the rod holders.

I don't think that growth would slow down just one engine. I assume that, now that it has started, it is repeatable. This happened to me once, and it turned out to be a bad coil.
 
update..... the engine seems only limited under load in gear. In neutral no issue...
 
OK this is a long shot, but I’ve heard of fouled spark plugs causing a low RPM under load issue.

If you want to swap out to a new set of spark plugs it’s an inexpensive do it yourself thing to try.

As to the wet bilge, when you next have the boat hauled I’d give the bellows a good examination. When were the bellows last changed? They last about 3 to 5 years.
 
Yes, all clean.

I belive its due to the shifter controls binding. It did not repeat itself this weekend.

The Quicksilver controls are no joy to work as I think they are fairly work out. You have to hunt for N and gear on the startbord side.
 
could have been a fuel issue, it could also be the "flapper" in the exhaust was malfunctioning (restricting flow) and now it's worked itself free. Those are the only two I can think of. Generally electric problems are either it runs or doesn't, not it loses power.
 
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