Yesterday I had the boat out for the first time this year and was running in the mid 60’s and all of a sudden my feet started getting wet. I looked down and water was shooting out where my dash runs down and meets the floor. I slowed down and popped the engine hatch and the bilge was completely dry. As you can imagine I’m completely confused at this point trying to figure out where the heck this water is coming from and it’s only when I’m moving so I’m thinking there’s a hole in the hull somewhere up front (meanwhile my girlfriend is freaking out thinking the Titanic is about to go under). I then noticed the speedometer wasn’t working so I quickly tore the gauge panel off and bingo the hose wasn’t connected anymore. I always thought it was run off of air pressure coming up not Niagra Falls of water coming up the hose. I hooked the hose up and was fine the rest of the day but didn’t go above 40ish. Any ideas on how to keep this from happening again? It’s a small hose so I don’t think most hose clamps would work…..I thought about maybe using a zip tie or something but there’s not much to grip onto on the speedometer tip. Maybe putting super glue on the speedometer tip? Thanks

tie rap!

been there! Done that!!!

impressive how such a small hose can spread water that much!

Several options

1 . Replace with a GPS speedo, eliminate the pickup on the transom and have a much more accurate MPH reading! Ofcourse this is a pricy fix!

2. Cut off 1" from the end of the plastic/rubber tube where it connects to the speedo fitting. The plastic/rubber over time will stretch and become loose

3. You could try fittings like these. These have a compression ring that clamps the tube as you tighten the fitting

http://www.parker.com/literature/Ins...0for%20Web.pdf

Yep, zip-tie it on there. Go find the nice (read: expensive) zip-ties with the metal tooth in them, not the all plastic cheap ones. If you can't find them at Lowes or Home Depot or the like, check your local electrical supply house.

They do make crimp on tiny hose clamps, but they are overkill for this application.

I ended up doing what 502ss suggested... see suggestion #1. Damn GPS slowed me down though!! btw if you don't want to spend allot on a GPS/speedo, think you can get a pretty decent hand held Garmin GPS for around $150 or so and it will show you your speed.

1st time my speedo hose popped off the wife thought I pizzed my pants.......

i think you,re right about how the speedo suppose to work,,but if the hose comes off you loose the air column between gage and water

Lol, I remember when my speedo did that last year. Boat was originally a 65 mph boat, now its a 75 mph boat. My temp gauges quit working one day after a wtfo run, thought that was odd. Few mins later my feet were getting wet, water pouring out from under console.

I just did away with it, as I base everything off rpm anyway. Then if i really want to know speed I just turn gps on. The factory speedos are not accurate anyway.

Thanks everyone for the info! I already have a nice Garmin GPS so I figure I'll hold off upgrading the speedo for the time being but I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who had this problem. I'll figure i'll try cutting off a little of the hose and then put on a good zip tie and see if that does it. I appreciate the suggestions

Get a gps antenna and use your existing speedo....Livorsi makes them.

Huh??????????
So the GPS antenna triggers a magical device that puts air pressure to your standard speedo????