Transom drain plug base moved when I removed the plug...

Skuza

Well-Known Member
Nov 1, 2006
1,453
Lake St Clair, MI
Boat Info
400 Sundancer
Engines
7.4L Horizons
Last fall when we were winterizing I removed the plug and in doing so I noticed that the base turned slightly, about 1/16th of an inch but it did in fact move a little. I'm worried that I broke the seal around it now. It is not a thru-bolted piece and I wonder if I should remove it and re caulk everything? I'm worried that it might be soft down there which is what allowed it to turn? :smt009 The plug was a little tight but I'm the one that put it in last spring. I usually put some teflon tape on the plug and tighten it good but not too tight, or so I thought. Any thoughts? :smt017
 
If it were mine, I'd remove the whole plug assembly and sand off the bottom paint down to bare gelcoat where you can see what you are dealing with. Chances are, all you need to do is fill the screw holes with thickened West Systems epoxy...easy to do with a West hypodermic ...let it cure, sand then rebed/reinstall the Garboard plug assembly with 3M 5200....after cleaning up the plug assembly down to bare bronze.

Don't tighten the plug so tight next time!
 
My 37 did this as well. I cleaned it up and rebedded it. It was also through bolted so I needed a person in the bilge to turn the nuts while I secured it from the outside. 5200 takes the worry out of it.
 
goblue said:
My 37 did this as well. I cleaned it up and rebedded it. It was also through bolted so I needed a person in the bilge to turn the nuts while I secured it from the outside. 5200 takes the worry out of it.
Your drain plug was throug bolted? Ours is just 3 screws threaded into the transom as there were no nuts on the backside.
 
Skuza said:
goblue said:
My 37 did this as well. I cleaned it up and rebedded it. It was also through bolted so I needed a person in the bilge to turn the nuts while I secured it from the outside. 5200 takes the worry out of it.
Your drain plug was throug bolted? Ours is just 3 screws threaded into the transom as there were no nuts on the backside.

Let me rephrase that. It is now. The screws were a joke and an invitation to transom rot. I drilled them all out, loaded them up with 5200 and through bolted them. On a boat this size the yard frequently pulls the plug and they can easily move something that should not be moved. I discovered mine was loose when I put the plug back in. :smt001
 
I had a leak and the culprit was the plug seal. Once it was fixed no more leak :thumbsup:
 
I pulled mine out just to check it last year. I rebedded it with 5200. Mine was through bolted and one of the bolts was wired into the main grounding system, Mercathode or whatever it's called. It was a bear hanging upside down trying to get the nut lined up and held in place while I ran to the outside of the boat to screw it in! It took hours, but it is possible to do all by yourself. It's MUCH easier if you can find a small person to squeeze down in there to hold the nuts. :smt013
 
I had similar situation. Since I had no one who could give me a hand in the bilge to get the nuts off, I applied some epoxy around the plag base and greased the plug thread. So far so good. But, I think that Frank's suggestion is more of a long term fix. The only issue I remember is that it looked almost impossible to reach those nuts in the bilde.

Alex.
 
Holding the nuts...

Sundancer said:
... It's MUCH easier if you can find a small person to squeeze down in there to hold the nuts. :smt013

That always seems to be a problem - finding that special "someone"....
 
FWIW, I am going thru the same issue. I plan to do what Frank mentioned. One thing I noticed on mine is that there was no bonding wire attached to the plug. I plan to install one. My existing plug was a bit corroded, so I will be replacing it (more for piece of mind than anything else. The new plugs are either 2" (with 3 screw holes) or 2 3/8" (with 4 screw holes). My existing one is 2 1/4" with 3 holes...nice huh???? :smt021 I have to get the larger size and modify the hole accordingly.

One more thing, I also believe the transom on yours and mine are solid fiberglass below the waterline. I doubt there could be any rot. Correct me if I am wrong here....

Good luck
 

Forum statistics

Threads
112,948
Messages
1,422,827
Members
60,931
Latest member
Ebrown69
Back
Top