Well It looks like my boats not going to LOTO this weekend. I dropped it in the water today just to make sure everything was squared away, and when I opened the hatch water was pouring through the top of the transom assembly where the steering arm is. I'm guessing that the outer assembly didn't make a tight seal, when I reinstalled it, but I have no idea why it wouldn't. Has anyone seen this before? Anything I can check/fix without having to pull the whole works back out? I've got until 7 am tomorrow. Luckily we have backup boats available.

Mike

If the assembly didn't seal to the transom, you can test that very easily. Just take a tube of silicone caulk and run a bead around the entire transom. If the leak stops, then you know the cause. If not, then you know you need to look elsewhere.

grease the zert fitting on the top of the transom assembly. I had the same prob. but only when the boat was on the trailer and that part of the transom was under water greased it and it went away.

Grease is keeping your water out

I think he meant it only leaks during launch when the azz end of the boat is low. My tiller arm seals are above the water line so if I had a seal problem yet kept all tubbies (ie me) of the platform and slowed down responsibly, I'd get little if any water in the boat from the seal area. Many boats are not the same as this though. Greasing often would be a necesity until a proper repair was made to the seal. Sound right batty?

Did you take the boat off the trailer oly?

BT

Thanks for the suggestions. I greased it before I tested, and it leaked when it was off the trailer completely.

I don't think I'll have time to try the caulk before I leave, and I'd rather not tow it all the way to lOTO if I'm not sure. By the way this board is great, almost instant answers.

Mike

I once had a bellows with a crack... I can't remember where it was pouring in at but I do remember it would come in faster when the drive was trimmed up.

yes this is what I meant. I would only get water when launching the boat. and it was minimal at that. but greasing stopped the prob.
I also had a bellow leaking but grease would not fix that so I had to replace the bellow. oh and the water from that was leaking at the bottem of the transom ass.

no leaks now