The Mystery Continues - Water In Bilge

[Old Vet]

Bought this boat in August. Never got to use it much...only about 4 short runs (11 hours) before pulling it for the season. Each time out....I'd get alot of water in the bilge....when I shut down and tied to a dock...the pump would come on and expel alot of water.

Some of you have offered suggestions....thank you all very much....and I've explored them all. To no avail....so far.

I had the transom inspected by a guy (marina owner) who rebuilds transoms. It's in such good shape he thought it had been recently redone.

Had a marine mechanic over last Saturday to inspect my bellows that I thought had a couple of tears in them. Nope. They're all in great shape.

Since he's alot smaller and more nimble than I....he crawled right down deep into the engine bay and looked at everything. No evidence of anything that should result in the amount of water my pump has been expelling.

The only thing I found myself that wasn't good was a thru hull fitting on the starboard side down low near the water line....my deck drain. It was loose....no caulking left under/around it...and the hose was barely attached to the end of it. In fact it fell off in my hand when I messed with it. There was a small puddle of water under the fitting inside....up on the platform my water tank is sitting on.

I've removed it...recaulked it...reinstalled and made sure the NEW hose is now all the way on and tight. But I won't know now until next spring if that was the culprit. But I'm having a little difficulty believing that so much water was coming in through that thru hull fitting. But...ya never know I guess. :huh:

I have another thru hull directly under the bilge...the guy checked it and all appears to be fine with it as well.

Appears the next thing for me to do come spring when I put the outdrive back on will be to connect the water to it and let it run here in my yard and crawl around the engine bay again to see if there's any water coming out of the engine anywhere. If not...... :huh:

I just got my remote wireless "borescope" camera off e-bay yesterday that will help me see those impossible to get at places under and around the engine. It should help.

Next step after that I guess if nothing is found will be to splash the boat and spend a whole day and night on board at the marina to see if the bilge pump starts at all while the boat is sitting at rest in my slip.

I have only seen the pump start and expel water after a run so far. I don't know yet if it was taking on water while sitting idle.

Please keep those thoughts coming guys. Any/all ideas are greatly appreciated. :smt100

 

[SCORPIO]

You may want to consider a bilge pump counter, it will count and display the number of times you pump kicks on during the week while you are away. That way, you can see if you have a persistant leak or just something associated with the engine running. While the boat is out for the winter, give the hull a thorough looking over, see if there are any cracks that could be letting water in. I doubt this as the older Sea Rays have very heavy hulls, but now is the time to look at that.

Good Luck.

 

[tdschafer]

I could see that thru-hull fitting causing the problem.Even though it sits above the waterline, when you come off plane the following sea comes at you above that line and with some force. I could see it letting in a fair amount of water.:huh:
Todd

 

[SeaRay]

I would assume that someone has already looked at this but just in case....Check and make sure the bilge drain fitting is tight and sealed properly.

Mine was loose and I was getting quite a bit of water leaking around it.

There are three screws that hold the flange on where the drain plug would thread in. Make sure those three bolts are tight. Might even want to pull it off and reseal the whole flange.

 

[ohsnow]

On a 1986 300 I had the knuckle on the outdrive outside of boat was leaking and running back along shaft into bildge. Was very hard to find and was about a grand to fix both sides.

Only way to find it was to feel in the slot thru the transom wall where out drives connect, but leak was from outside. slow and steady....