Water in the bilge, where do I look for leaks?

handfulz28 · 01-05-2007, 01:25 PM

It seems as soon as I put the boat in the water, a fair amount of water pools in the bilge...maybe an inch or two deep? I'm wondering if there's any correlation to ramp launching because when I first bought the boat, it was dry-stored and didn't seem to have any water in there.
But assuming something has just worked loose from running it, the obvious points would be:
all bolts that pass through the transom (platfrom, transom assly, tabs, ???)
anywhere around the exhaust through the transom

What about thru-hub exhaust when you're not using it? Is there a block-off in the transom assly somewhere that keeps water from coming in?

Besides it obviously being tight back there, how much am I in for if I find I need to replace/re-seal thru-transom bolts?

RonS · 01-05-2007, 02:10 PM

what model boat??

axapowell · 01-05-2007, 02:18 PM

This may sound petty but, I had a similar issue last season. Not a lot of water, but enough to bother me. I pulled the boat and put teflon tape on my drain plugs and it stopped. Sounds silly, but from taking the plugs in an out it must have made just enough difference. I would try this first, just to rule it out, before you tear into anything else!

Hope this helps,
Dave

handfulz28 · 01-05-2007, 02:32 PM

Sorry, '91 311.

Ya' know Axa, I've wondered about that. I keep telling myself to put it in there tight, but not so tight I can't get it back out. I might try that.

I'm thinking I might get somebody to back it down the ramp while I crawl in there and see if I can tell where it's coming from.

Treads · 01-05-2007, 04:24 PM

hand,

Had the exact same problem last season. Just for chit and giggles, put the teflon tape on like axa said. No more water. Certainly easy, and more inexpensive to cure. Worth a shot

handfulz28 · 01-05-2007, 05:18 PM

OK, so that's two for the thread tape. If that fixes it, think that means I need a whole new thru-hull drain and/or plug? Great excuse to get a new stainless setup.

And if that wasn't enough, I noticed today that the guy that detailed my boat a few weeks ago, must've used a pressure washer to clean my cabin carpet. Not only has it been wet for 3 weeks, he didn't know to pull the under-step drain plug so it would at least drain out. I wonder if a dehumidifier will help it dry out down there?

Rippem · 01-05-2007, 05:47 PM

walk around on towels repeatedly to pic up as much dampness as possible. Shop vac "up" or "against the grain" to stand the pile up, then fan(s).

handfulz28 · 01-05-2007, 06:15 PM

Thanks Rip. Been working on too many complex problems this week to consider just using towels

I was also thinking about using some Damp-rid hangers to make sure it doesn't get smelly.

ninetym · 01-05-2007, 06:17 PM

handful,

Where is that understep drain located. Figured there had to be one but cant find it.

handfulz28 · 01-05-2007, 06:31 PM

ninetym: in my SR1 you have to lift up the cabin step (mine's hinged) and it's down right there in the V. I couldn't see mine today since the water in there was dirty, but I think it's pretty close to/right at the bottom.
Dang, I just started using a new PC and haven't moved my pics over yet. If I can figure out quickly how to do that, I'll post a pic.