Killer_TA

I just rebuilt an engine and painted the bilge there are hoses on both sides of my bildge that look like they should go to the drains under the back seat. I will take a look and see if I can find out were they go. The hoses are under the steps in front of the engines in the bilge.

bck

I think that you'll find one of those hoses goes to the sink and the other one goes to the toilet. Does the bulkhead in front of the engines have the same drain holes that Jeff32 described ?

offthefront

iTrader: (1)

if you try to ad holes where the stringers meet the engine room bulkhead make sure its sealed from the inside ...drill it oversize then fill with west sytem epxy and then redrill ...if the plywood is exposed it will wick up water and rot the bulkhead and the stringer ...
I really think there is a path somwhere ... Is there not a drain in the center of the boat just before the bulkhead ? The 311 drains the cabin from there ...this is in the engine room...not forward .m

bck

Since my bulkhead was rebuilt I can't really say what holes are supposed to be in it. I can tell you that right now mine does not have any holes in it. I don't see any way for water anywhere in front of this bulkhead to get to the rear engine bilge. Where does the hose from the front bilge pump (under the step) drain ? I don't see that hose coming out anywhere in the engine compartment.

offthefront

iTrader: (1)

bck ..... Is there not a pad in the engine room where the center stringer ties into the bulkhead ? On the 311's the bilge pump sits on that pad and under the pad it is open ... I believe its a path up to the Cabin well ... My 311 does not have a forward pump and I dont think any of the 311's do ... I know there are 2 steps down in the 357 ... I'm thinking the forward bilge pump just raises the water out of the well to the V part of the hull under the fuel tank and into the rear Bilge?

jeff32

my boat does not have a hole in the bulkhead in the middle, in front of the main center stringer. just one on each side . The water pump in the cabin floor is not draining water either in the bilge, either besides the gas tank. I have a hose going all the way back of the boat, and it dumps water out of the boat directly, and this water exit is just beside the exit of the rear bilge pump... maybe that is what you want to have and it is quite simple to do if you don't already have that... Let us know!

bck

I'll get back over to the boat in the next couple days and take a closer look at everything. I think I'll give Formula a call on monday also. I'll let you know what I find out.

bck

I thought I had this solved today, should have known better. After talking with formula this is what I learned. Some 357s have drains that run all the way from the front under the step to the rear bilge and some don't. The problem with that setup is that dirty bilge water would stain the cabin carpet so they stopped doing it. As for the cockpit drains, I was told they drain into fiberglass boxes that hold the water, the boxes have a hole that drains through the rear bulkhead into the bilge. That seemed to be my problem - no holes in the rear bulkhead. So based on the picture in this post I drilled a hole below the drain near the outboard stringer. I got out the hose and started putting water in the drain and no water is coming out the new hole. Not sure how to continue. I'm trying to find someone that has a boroscope so I can see whats going on in there, but don't think I know anyone. Any ideas ? This is a brand new bulkhead and I'm not happy about drilling that hole for nothing and I really don't want to drill another without knowing what's going on.

jeff32

Are you talking about your cockpit drain? If they don't let water out, can you at least see, like in my pictures, the botttom of the cockpit drains, from under the back seat? Do you have a picture?

bck

Yes, the cockpit drains. Mine are just like the ones in your picture. The drains let the water out just fine, the problem is that all the water goes forward into the cabin instead of backward into the engine bilge area. I don't have any holes in the rear bulkhead to allow the water that drains from the cockpit to get to the rear of the boat, it is all forced to go forward into the cabin. I do not have the hole you showed in post # 7. I drilled a hole in that area but the water is not coming out, it still goes forward into cabin.