My boat is taking on water
 

I noticed yesterday that my bilge pump started coming on an awful lot. I opened the hatch and noticed water coming in at a pretty good clip, maybe a gallon or so every couple of minutes, I assumed it would be the the bellows or the hose coming in just above the shaft to the outdrive. It was neither. The water appears to be coming out of the bell housing at the rear of the engine. Any suggestions as to what the problem could be ??

The boat is a 38' Cig TopGun with 502's and bravo's

Help, Ineed a fix before the NYC Poker run !!!!

Bob

Could be a freeze plug on the rear of the engine block. I know its not running but it is below the water line so water will come in. I would get the boat out of the water now. If, or should I say when, it gets worse the pump may not be able to keep up.

Also can be the gasket around the gimble or the fitting connecting the raw water hose to the gimble.

Im with Cord on this...
The most common (IMO) is the 90* elbow for the raw water inlet. If thats what you say is not leaking (hose just above the drive shaft) then you may have to pull the houseing to check the o-ring.
Does it show any signs of shifting inside or out?

I wouldnt feel comfortable boating on Lake George knowing the tow rig is in the shop.

Good luck and keep us informed.

Bob;
Have you had any luck finding the leak? Let us know. The alternative to repairing it is to trade it to me for my Checkmate and let me worry about the leak while your on the NYC poker run.:D

If the water is coming out of the
engine bellhousing, I'm with Roger
on this one.

jt

Bob did you plan on running the poker run or just hanging with the Jersey crew?

Answer this then, If I put it on the hose and run it while on the trailer, this would eliminate al other option correct ?? It wouldnt be the bellows or a seal or gasket problem correct ??

Bob

GL, I was and still might run in the damn thing. I wouldnt go all the way down there and just be a spectator.

You know what they say.... You got to be in it to win it !!

Thanks for the call bud

Roger1, You looking to trade that Mate in ?? See my post in the Baja forum. I am willing to take a trade for a smaller, quality performance boat in good shape on my 2001 29 Outlaw SST.

5 YEAR WARRENTIES, with trailer and all the goodies Baja has to offer ont he Boat for under $80k and Ill take a trade

Cant beat that !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!

Bob,why dont you run it on the hose to see if it is the freeze
plug before you put it back in to look for the leak? I talked to
Safari,he is in for the poker run if we are still going.

Can you see the water coming in?

Oddly enough, we had excess water, pulled the bildge plug female, recaulked, added one size bigger screws (3) and we have had a dry bildge since.
Just my 2 cents.
Bryan

Thanks for the offer. I`m sure it`s a nice boat but I gota geta gun.:D

Roger, Believe me, I know how you are feeling, I got the bug last year and it ovewelmed me !! You wont be dissapointed once you do find one Goodluck

Bob

Rick, Iam going to the Northshop to try that right now, I am still planing on going to te run. So tel Sfari to sleep at your house on FridayNight so you can wake his ass up at 0430

The only draw back is going to be the weather, As you know,, I must behome fo Sunday afternoon. So I am watching it VERY close

Bob

Gee Rodger, havn't you broken down and order a new Gun yet ??? Time to get the economy "jump started" you know.

-Greg

Its the steer shaft seal.

More info, I put the boat on the hose and ran it .NO WATER !!

When you float the boat, it instantly starts leaking righ from behind the coupler area. You cant see exactly from where because its so tight, but thats where it is presenting itself

HELP

Bob.
Im going with the transom assembly seal. Did you try to tighten up the assembly?
Or like Obnoxus pionted out the Swivel shaft seel. When the hydrolic rams are attached it is very hard to detect play in the assembly. I found mine was shot when I disconected the ram to swap out the drive this winter.
I would definatly want to know where its comming from before you run it again so you can keep an eye on it.

Greg;
I need to get my economy ''jump started'' first. Also,In order for this to happen I`m afraid that the ''Little Red Car'' Is going to have to go down the road.:( __Roger

If it's the transom seal, you could try caulking it off as a quick fix. Just get some silicone caulk and run a bead around it. Refloat the boat and see if it affected anything. If there is no change, you can strip it off with some elbow grease and some 3m adhesive remover.

Check the shift cable bellow,
that can leak water in in that
area.
Do you have silent choice/ corsa ?
I've had the bolts that hold the collector
( y pipe ) come loose, that will leak in
this area also.
1 more thing I've fixed a couple of times,
speedometer hose ( drive pickup type)
rubbed on coupler, hose worn thru.

But if I'm betting, ...... shift cable bellow.

jt

Bob, sorry to hear about your troubles. I had the same problem two years ago. Took off the transom assembly and replaced pivot seal. Also a friend of mine had his Y-pipe corrode so much that it had holes in the bottom of it. You can take the B1 outdrive off pretty easily to see if water is inside of the drive shaft bellows. Other than that, it could be any of the things mentioned already. I had to pull my motor, put the outdrive back on, put the boat in the water with 4 fat f*cks in the back to see where the leak was coming from. When I had the outdrive off I replaced all the boots and shift cable. Good luck!!

Allen

i would also say it's the shift boot. last year someone was slicing mine while the boat was on the rack (must have pissed someone off). I went through 3 of them in a month and it sounds very similar to your problem.

If you turn your wheel to the left and raise the drive you will be able to see if the boot has any tears in it.

good luck....see you at the run!

The water is pissing from the coupler right where the shaft from the drive comes in. This is driving me ****ing nuts. Keep in mind that the water is actually shooting back towards the transom, not coming from the transom. What is in or behind that coupler that could be causing this. Is there a shaft seal or something like that ??

Check the sea pump hose clamp where it comes through the transom plate in that case. That about the only way it could go back toward the transom.

After further review, I put 2 hoses on the engine while on the trailer (ears and fresh water flush) and this had enough water pressure to cause the leak to start again So its either a
1.freeze out plug or
2. cracked block

Out comes the engine this week

Thanks for all the suggestions

OTIS,

If you still have the stock cast-iron manifolds, they may have rusted and are now leaking. Pull the engine and check 'em out! :cool:

My good. good, friend Rick Peek, (Epeek) found the problem in about 13 seconds flat !! Cracked Y pipe. We made a temporary fix with a screw and some 5200 that should last for a while. Idont want to have to pull the moter until after our short summer season if I dont have too. Unfortunitly, We missed the NYC poker run trying to figure this out. Oh well

Bob