10M

I have a 38 EC that does not have captain's call. It's new to me but I was crawling around in the engine compartment the other day and was surprised to see that it has a Y off the tail pipes that goes down to the bottom of the transom. Does the exhaust actually split and exit out the drive or are they blocked off? Not sure why they would have the lower option with no captain's call and the downturned tail pieces.

38fountainecman

10M I can tell you why. The exhaust actually does split between the thru hull and the "y" pipe down through the drive. I ran into an issue with my exhaust leaking where the "y" pipe enters the transom assembly. I either had to remove engines and replace the assembly and/or "y" pipe or block off the "y" pipe. So, I removed the solid piece where the captain's call goes and routed the exhaust directly out the transom. Problem is the transom exhaust or actually mufflers. there are two plates with 3" holes, one near the transom and one near the downturn at the outlet of the exhaust. Then there is mesh in between. I actually lost 200-300 rpm's by routing directly out the transom. I imagine that Fountain figured this out in testing and decided to route both through the transom and through the drive to minimize back pressure and maximize speed. Some day I will find the will to remove engines, correct leak and put back the way it was. Oh, and I tried to drill out the plates with the 3" hole and couldn't find anything that would cut through the stainless. I would have to removed the exhaust pipes cut, remove internal sound deadening devices and re-weld. Not going to do that.

10M

Interesting... I would have thought it would be more restrictive going through the drive. So what was causing yours to leak down at the bottom? Where the hose hooks up to the transom assembly? Also curious how you blocked it off.

Did you ever have issues with leaking around the turndown pipes? Seems like a known issue, mine surveyed dry but i'm wondering if I should remove the rings and seal there just in case.

38fountainecman

The current set-up is the least restrictive as the exhaust can go through both the drive and the transom pipes. Pretty smart if you think about it. I couldn't see where my one drive was leaking, but I think it is where the cast aluminum "Y" pipe mounts to the inside of the transom assembly, probably due to corrosion of the connection. It was so bad I almost sunk the boat in the lake behind my house. I blocked the drive exhaust off by removing the diverters, filling the cast aluminum "Y" pipe with expanding foam, adding a 2" plumbing rubber cap on the outside of the exhaust tube exiting the transom assembly with stainless hose clamp, plugging the side exhaust exits on the transom assembly with tape (the tape the handy man in a can sells) and adding a 4" plumbing rubber cap with stainless hose clamp on the upper sides of the cast aluminum "Y" pipes. So, when I go back to fix it, I'll need to buy new "Y" pipes. I have not removed the exhaust trim rings, but have sealed both where the ring hits the transom and where the ring hits the exhaust pipe with silicone. I have a little rust on the inside of the transom so I know some water has gotten through the rings.