Transom Crack

[unclemd]

Thanks in advance for your help.

I purchased a 2013 Rinker 186BR new last year with the 4.3MPI but was only able to put 10 hours on the boat due to my work schedule. The boat was placed in storage for the winter and removed from storage last week. While prepping the boat to be used I noticed a horizontal crack inside the engine compartment on the transom. I can't recall it being there before it was placed in storage? The crack seems to be around where my rear deck overhang meets the hull. The crack only seems to be on the interior of the boat with no sign on the outside. I figured that it my of been caused by transom flex so I trimmed the lower unit up and placed a jack under and applied pressure to the lower unit using the jack while looking for any flex in the hull or widening of the crack Inside. I could not detect any movement or flex. What could this be?

 

[smokeonthewater]

I say repair the crack to prevent water intrusion and forget it

 

[Scott Danforth]

Since this is a 2013, and you most likely have a warranty, call your Rinker rep. that should be a warranted repair. Have it repaired and then go boating.

 

[tpenfield]

Could be from the swim platform flexing. . . . Or . . . Could be from moisture getting inside the transom core and expanding it. Discomforting regardless.


Definitely go the warranty route. There was a thread on the Internet ( cannot remember the exact forum) about 1-2 years ago where a fairly new boat had similar issues and it proved to be water intrusion. Naturally, the manufacturer ducked and claimed that moisture intrusion alone was not a warranty claim.

 

[72GT160]

Back into something?

 

[Georgesalmon]

Looks like the interior gelcoat is cracked. It was probably pretty thick. Its there mostly for cosmetic reasons to make the engine compartment look nice. Just use your boat. In the trade we called it "bilge paint" which was the cheapest gelcoat we could find made up of all the stuff the suppliers made wrong and recycled.

 

[gm280]

You didn't state if where you stored it was climate controlled or not. Could this be from freezing? If any water was in there and it froze, it can easily crack like that. I would not simply ignore it but would check into the warranty, if that would help. If the factory doesn't offer a solution, it really needs to be fixed, and before any more water gets in there as well... JMHO!

 

[Chris1956]

Crap, the transom on my speedboat has been wet for 20 years, stored outside in freezing weather, and I have no cracks at all. I would therefore doubt it is water in the transom that froze.

I would have someone stand and bounce on the swim platform and see if the crack moves. Do you see glass fibers in the fiberglass, or is it all resin? if they wont fix it under warrantee, you will need to remove the P/S unit and grind the crack down to bare wood and make it 4 inches wide. Lay some fiberglass cloth and matt and saturate well with poly resin. Use the new mat and cloth to build up the area a bit thicker than original.

 

[unclemd]

You didn't state if where you stored it was climate controlled or not. Could this be from freezing? If any water was in there and it froze, it can easily crack like that. I would not simply ignore it but would check into the warranty, if that would help. If the factory doesn't offer a solution, it really needs to be fixed, and before any more water gets in there as well... JMHO!

I am very doubtful this was caused by freezing the transom sounds solid. It was not stored in a climate controlled area but the boat had very little use on it. If it was due to freezing I would think the hull would be split bellow the water line where most of the water would be present? I emailed the company with pictures on Monday and they still never emailed me back. The only dealer around is in another province and would require a ferry ride and a couple of days to get the boat to them.

 

[unclemd]

Crap, the transom on my speedboat has been wet for 20 years, stored outside in freezing weather, and I have no cracks at all. I would therefore doubt it is water in the transom that froze.

I would have someone stand and bounce on the swim platform and see if the crack moves. Do you see glass fibers in the fiberglass, or is it all resin? if they wont fix it under warrantee, you will need to remove the P/S unit and grind the crack down to bare wood and make it 4 inches wide. Lay some fiberglass cloth and matt and saturate well with poly resin. Use the new mat and cloth to build up the area a bit thicker than original.

I did not see any flex in the transom from walking on the swim platform but at the same time the connection point is very hefty and not like a typical platform. At the same time I also failed to see any flex when I put strain on the lower unit so I don't know why it would be cracked or even know how it cracked.

 

[tpenfield]

If the core of the transom is wood, then expansion of the wood (due to moisture) may be the cause. I have seen a similar thing happen with stringers and sailboat rudders, etc.

Is the crack open enough that you can see the core of the transom? If so, you could use a standard moisture meter (about $30 at the big box stores) to get a moisture reading.

 

[ondarvr]

It looks more like a manufacturing issue, the laminate has what looks like a raised seam at the crack. It doesn't look like they overlapped the glass correctly.