Lord Farringdon
New Member
- Feb 19, 2010
- 515
- Boat Info
- 2005 Sea Ray AJ, Raymarine C80.
- Engines
- 285 HP, DP-G Duo Prop Stern Drive
Hi,
I have a 2005 hull (launched 2007) and to cut a long story short, this boat has had water in the bilge for most of its short life I think. I have at last managed to fix all the rain water ingress areas but was perplexed when immediately after draining, drying and cleaning the bilge out, I started getting salt water in through what I thought was the transom drain plug. Hauled the boat out and put some teflon tape around the plug threads and re-inserted. (I noted afterwards that others suggest not putting teflon tape around these plugs as it is not designed for the marine environment. Fair point.). Anyway, it didn't work and leaking seawater continued. The leaking wasn't great, more seeping really and I have been keeping my eye on it.
Strangely I visited the boat today and expected to see the bilge semi filled but was surpised to see no more then half a sponge full if that. It seems the flow has stopped altogether.
I have just purchased an inspection camera which has made a detailed view of the area much easier and I was a little horrified at what I saw. This is a view looking aft along the bottom of bilge centreline to the transom drain plug.
This looks like transom rot? If so, I may have a major problem here. I suspect the source of seawater flow was in fact water draining out of the transom after the bilge had been dried out. I equally suspect it has all drained out now and so the flow has stopped.
Here is a picture of the engine bay showing the difficulty at which veiwing the drain hole has been.
A couple of views looking into the aft bilge from both sides of the engine. Nothing jumped out at me when I took these images.
This a view of the transom shield giving detail of the transom cross section. (This a view from the top and shows the the steering shaft bearing and bushes being replaced).
So what you guys think. Transom rot or not? Is it just gunge from dirty bilge water? What is the transom made of? What is rotting? But more importantly, what do I do to fix it? :huh:
Terry
I have a 2005 hull (launched 2007) and to cut a long story short, this boat has had water in the bilge for most of its short life I think. I have at last managed to fix all the rain water ingress areas but was perplexed when immediately after draining, drying and cleaning the bilge out, I started getting salt water in through what I thought was the transom drain plug. Hauled the boat out and put some teflon tape around the plug threads and re-inserted. (I noted afterwards that others suggest not putting teflon tape around these plugs as it is not designed for the marine environment. Fair point.). Anyway, it didn't work and leaking seawater continued. The leaking wasn't great, more seeping really and I have been keeping my eye on it.
Strangely I visited the boat today and expected to see the bilge semi filled but was surpised to see no more then half a sponge full if that. It seems the flow has stopped altogether.
I have just purchased an inspection camera which has made a detailed view of the area much easier and I was a little horrified at what I saw. This is a view looking aft along the bottom of bilge centreline to the transom drain plug.
This looks like transom rot? If so, I may have a major problem here. I suspect the source of seawater flow was in fact water draining out of the transom after the bilge had been dried out. I equally suspect it has all drained out now and so the flow has stopped.
Here is a picture of the engine bay showing the difficulty at which veiwing the drain hole has been.
A couple of views looking into the aft bilge from both sides of the engine. Nothing jumped out at me when I took these images.
This a view of the transom shield giving detail of the transom cross section. (This a view from the top and shows the the steering shaft bearing and bushes being replaced).
So what you guys think. Transom rot or not? Is it just gunge from dirty bilge water? What is the transom made of? What is rotting? But more importantly, what do I do to fix it? :huh:
Terry