Major water leak! help!

Quadruplecccc

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Apr 3, 2006
Messages
133
Heard water gushing into boat before I got it off the trailer. It's coming in at transom above y-pipe to a mercruiser 5.8( 1976) alpha .Pulled the drive off. Found no water in the bellow. Shift cable bellow is secure. Forced water into water pickup line in gimbal . No leak inside. It is a lot of water. I just cant see where it is coming in. I filled the boat with water up to the starter and no water leaked out. Where else can it come from??
 

Grub54891

Vice Admiral
Joined
Jun 17, 2012
Messages
5,908
Is the transom solid?? It could have a bad seal where the housing attaches to the transom. If the transom is rotted, it WILL leak badly.
Or how about the steering​ rod, at the top of the gamble, it has a seal also. If when backing in and it gets submerged, it will leak also, but I'd think not to much.
 

Quadruplecccc

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Apr 3, 2006
Messages
133
transom is 40 yrs old but not soft anywhere that I can find. It was fine in June , the last time I got to use it. Do seals go that quickly?
 

500dollar744ti

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jul 23, 2012
Messages
691
soft is a relative term, it can feel solid and still be rotten. tie your boat to a dock and go in reverse, give it a little gas, if the water starts to rush in, the transom is not sealed correctly.
 

Grub54891

Vice Admiral
Joined
Jun 17, 2012
Messages
5,908
Yes they can start to leak quickly. Just like anything else, My brakes worked fine yesterday, today they don't.
 

Watermann

Starmada Splash of the Year 2014
Joined
Jan 12, 2013
Messages
13,747
I would think about the exhaust leaking, run it on muffs and see if water leaks out from around the Y pipe..
 

Chris1956

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 25, 2004
Messages
27,036
Raw water hose intact? Do you have a power steering cooler. If so, they are inline in the raw water hose.

If the Y pipe is not sealed to the outdrive, it can leak there. There are likely rubber elbows on the Y pipe as well. They can leak.
 

Scott Danforth

Grumpy Vintage Moderator still playing with boats
Staff member
Joined
Jul 23, 2011
Messages
47,297
if you can hear the water coming in, you should also be able to see the water coming in. back boat into water and get in there with a flashlight
 
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