Splashwell Problem, Need Solution

Attached is a picture of the splashwell on my 74 Glastron Sportster, it seems that when they attached the new engine they blocked the drain hole for the splash well. So now I'm left with this and I'm not sure how to fix it... I first thought maybe the hole was just plugged but it looks like the engines mounting plate on the transom is blocking it....

I was thinking that it might be a good idea to add a bilge pump to the boat anyway, the drain hole at the back of the boat is accessable from the inside right where the fuel tank sits. So if I can't get past the engine can I hook this to a pump or something along those lines to get the water out of the boat.

Also in the fuel tank area under the splashwell (not sure what you call that area) they put in foam blocks on each side, I'm pretty sure that's not original so unless someone here can tell me why it's there I think I'll remove it so I can clean that area up, get some more space for a bigger fuel tank some storage.

Since this is our first boat we want to get everything cleaned up and right before we take it out to the lake. I hesitated on the foam because I wasn't sure why it was there, but the wood that's there needs to be glassed to seal it in, and that's going to happen before we go to the lake...

Thanks

-Paul-

Re: Splashwell Problem, Need Solution

Usually those drains are on the outer areas of the splash well. I guess you could use a bilge pump for it but I would rather have one in the bilge (down by drain plug) A couple things, I would seal up all of those holes on the transom and even plug the old splash well drain since it doesn't work any way. Then I would install at least one on one side so water doesn't sit in there. I laid out a method I used when I installed mine that worked very well in the splashwell(see installing transom drain, down a few threads) I would also check out the condition of your transom very well with those unsealed holes in it hopefully its not waterlogged and starting to rot. lift your motor up to trailer position and lock then push up and down hard right by the prop and observe the transom where the motor is mounted to it. There should be NO FLEX to it if there is then continue investigation. You can do a search here on how to test a transom for other ways to check it out. good luck with everything and post back if you have more questions.

Re: Splashwell Problem, Need Solution

You had me worried for a minute there, I did as you suggested and push down hard the front of the boat came up but the transom didn't wiggle a bit. What is the best way to patch all those holes?

I also looked more closely and sure enough the mounting plate is blocking that hole.. Arg...

So if I plug that hole I'll have to remove the engine, not something I really want to do. It doesn't hang over the transom, it bolts directly to it.

I'll go take a look at your thread and see what you've done...

Thanks

-Paul-

Re: Splashwell Problem, Need Solution

There's really only one reason for the blocks of foam, you can decide if it's a good reason or not. It's so if your boat ever got swamped, it would stay afloat in an upright condition.

Is that a reinforcing plate bolted to the transom, blocking the drain? If so, you'll be looking at a new transom soon, or else fishing the new motor off the bottom. Meantime you oughta be able to drill through it. I've never seen an engine mounting bracket that would block that hole. (but don't drill it if it is the original bracket)

Re: Splashwell Problem, Need Solution

Gack more good news, yep it's bolted there...

There is a pic attached, I'm starting to regret buying this boat. I just wanted something I do some easy repairs on and take the family out on the lake, live and learn I guess...

I'm going to patch all the holes this weekend, the transom does seem very solid, I check each of those holes and didn't find any rot. They will be sealed before I take her out.

But now looking at it, looks like they mounted a long shaft engine on a small shaft boat... (&^%%$#@!@#$$%%)...

The guy who sold it to me took it out all the time, so it might be ok for now but I know I'm going to have to address this at some point...

I might also take each of those bolts out and make sure that the holes are sealed and if not seal them now...

-Paul-

Re: Splashwell Problem, Need Solution

To fill the holes you can clean out hole real good even drill onesize bigger if in question then epoxy a wooden dowel in hole, but make sure the dowell is about 1/8" short you dont want any of it sticking out then after epoxy has cured clean all well with acetone and fill/finish holes with marine tex avalible at most boat shops. If there is just a backer plate that is blocking the splashwell drain tube, as stated above drill a hole in the backing plate only NOT the bracket that the outboard mounts with. To seal up the bolts use a 3M product called 4200 take said bolt out clean well with acetone and hole apply 4200 to bolt and inside hole re tighten said bolt wipe excess. Also if there is a plate on the outside of the transon that should say something as to the transom condition. Might go another4-5 years might not only you can make that call. might think about a cable from outboard bracket to hull somehow just in case. If you end up relocating a new hole you could put a drain plug in the one that is there for a quick easy fix.

Re: Splashwell Problem, Need Solution

Forgot to add the picture. ..

I'm heading down the marine store and I'll pick all that stuff up, if they don't have it then there are a couple of other places around or I'll just do it online...

If you look at the picture you can see that they bolted the mount high, if I dropped it one hole the splashwell would drain. Not sure if I have enough manpower here to do that or what that would do to the boat, it's mostly just the wife and I working on this and I'm pretty sure that motor is way more than I can lift.

I might go talk to the local boat shop about this one, they should have the tools to do that for me...

After this summer I'll start working on the hull and get that cleaned up and re-painted, the floor is solid, I bounced all over it looking for soft spots (I weigh over 295), I even checked the area under the splashwell and it was all solid. Some parts need to be sealed in that they added, but they are still structurally sound and dry. He kept it in the garage and I bought a cover the day I took it home to keep it dry and out of the elements. I looked for rot everywhere I could find so I'm hoping it's fine...

Thanks

-Paul-

Re: Splashwell Problem, Need Solution

They say that the cavitation plate should be even with the bottom of the boat( the flat horizontal piece about 6-8" above the prop) give or take an inch. There is an easy way to raise or lower an outboard with just you and your wife. Have trailer on level ground and chock wheels front and back and have the trailer jack about in the middle of it's cranking range. Tilt motor all the way down block with wood, pieces of ply or 2x4 etc up to the skeg on bot of drive remove top bolts from outboard (good time to clean holes,bolts etc and ready for new sealant) Then SLIGHTLY loosen lower bolts. When lowers are loose have helper SLOWLY raise or lower trailer jack depending on what you need to do to motor. Once the new holes line up get the top bolts in and tightned up nice and snug then remove lowers and seal them up and your done. My wife and I did this on my 235hp evinrude and it was not hard at all. Take the prop off just in case easier to move around back there. also take a ratchet strap and go across your transom hooks just to ensure the motor doesn't want to try and tilt up while you are working, even with the ratchet strap on there it will still move up or down easy enough.

Re: Splashwell Problem, Need Solution

Very Cool Tip OhWellCraft...

I just checked and the cavitation plate can come down a few inches for sure, I'm going to get the sealant for the holes and try your suggestion. With the motor all the way down right now it almost touches the ground so blocking will be easy to do.

This could be the reason that he told me I needed to have someone up front, if the engine was too high would it not prevent the tilt from pushing the front of the boat down?

Regardless I'll adjust it today and seal up those holes...

Thanks

-Paul-

Re: Splashwell Problem, Need Solution

One other thing if this boat is new to you I would want to check the condition of the water pump in the lower unit. make sure you never start it without water going to it or it will fry the impellar in a heart beat. Make sure there is a good stream of water coming from the tell tale little nipple on bottom of engine cowl on drivers side. Over heating will destroy any outboard quickly. when out on the lake after running a bit you should be able to put your hand (engine off) on the head(by spark plugs) for at least a three count before you have to pull away. If you suspect the waterpump at all i would advise changing it. Not very difficult to do but seems daunting at first. If you decide to change your self post a new thread topic and people here can walk you through it. I live in Utah and around here outboards especially older ones NO ONE will work on them. Might be different where you are at check around if you don't feel good about attempting this sort of repair yourself. Also the best tool you can have in your toolbox is a good manual they will pay for themself quickly if you can do a few of these things yourself. Mine is a 83 model evinrude and looks very similar to yours do you know what year yours is? If not post back with the numbers that are stamped onto the mounting bracket passanger side between upper and lower mounting bolts and I can tell what year it is. Isn't boating fun ha ha ha.

Re: Splashwell Problem, Need Solution

seeing the picture makes me less pessimistic than I sounded earlier (easy for me to say, eh?). I mean when somebody wants to shore up a soft transom they'll usually use a brace that covers more area - spreads the load out more so to speak. Maybe there was another reason for this one?

if you do find any soft wood in there, try to dig as much as you can out with whatever kind of tool you can improvise. If the cavity's not too big it can be saved (how big is too big? dunno). West Marine recommended a 3m wood filler product for me, don't remember the name but it was blue and had the words "Marine" and "Wood Filler" in it. Worked great. I would be just as confident with marine-tex.

Main thing is, rot is a bacteria that will keep spreading unless you kill it. I've heard that bleach and glycol (antifreeze) are good for this.

If you can't find 3m 4200, I use 5200, some say it's too permanent, hard to remove if you ever need to, I haven't encountered that problem myself.

Lot of good advice from ohwellcraft. But I noticed you said "drivers" side...a lot of people would have said "starboard".

Re: Splashwell Problem, Need Solution

Jtexas, good pick up I thought about it when I wrote it but didn't wan't to confuse someone with terms he may not be familiar with. Hopefully he is familiar but never know if he's just getting into boating he may be thinking why don't you just use terms I can better understand. Besides I thought front, back, drivers side, passanger side, floor boards, spinny thinggy, drivers seat, and body WERE all boating terms???

Re: Splashwell Problem, Need Solution

This is our first boat, but either drivers side or starboard work for me, I'm multi-lingual

I had an issue with the motor when we got it home, I ran water into it using one of those rubber clamps and had a good stream going, but it would take off at a really high RPM and I would have to kill it. I finally figured out that a bolt had loged in the carb, I removed it but have not restarted the engine since. I was actually going to buy a 55 gallon barrel to run it in because I didn't think the hose was actually enough to prevent burning out the water pump. I've been as careful as I can be, I ordered the manual for it, it's an 84 90HP Manual Tilt Evinrude, long shaft and once that's show up I'll check everything out before we hit the water.

The one thing I wanted to find was a new gasket for the motor cover, any idea where those can be found?

I knew there would be some work on the boat, whoever wired it obviously has never heard of connectors or shrink tubing, the tilt switch was not even on the dash. But the boat looked and felt solid, the engine ran and I can fix all the other stuff. I just bought new plastic to replace the old lexan (moved to polycarb as it's hard to scratch), I also picked up some Marine-Tex and some 3M stuff so once the wife get's home I'll work on lowering the motor a bit.

Thanks for all the advice, I'm in Idaho one state away from you OhWellCraft so maybe we can meet up at a lake somewhere, your only a 5 hour drive if your around the SLC area

Cheers

-Paul-

Re: Splashwell Problem, Need Solution

The gaskets for the hood are a tough find, I think they can be ordered through Evinrude(BRP) but they are kind of spendy and difficult to install. I have heard of people using rubber hose that is split down the side but I dont know how well it would work seems too stiff but maybe. I guess a person could use like surgical tubing as it is quite soft and would conform pretty well? Might try ebay Might find it there or even a whole new hood and pan. Mine was starting to tear along the back I used clear silicone while the hood was on and was able to glue it back togather it actually turned out well and has been a few years now. I have had pretty good luck with my hose attachment but I always make sure the hose is on full bore and try to only use it to winterize and summer prep(getting close hehehe) Yes I do live in SLC most of my boating is done down south (Lake powell) but not all and I do like to go alot through the summer to as many places as I can. One thing I did was the seafoam decarb treatment when I first bought it and it made a big difference on all aspects of engine performance idle etc. There is a well laid out procedure on here as to how its done. Mine is an 83 wellcraft cuddy with a 235 evinrude on back. This was my first outboard boat (numerous I/O) and I had a lot to learn about outboards. The first summer I had it I didn't even realize that the transom was TOAST, I am a hardcore slalom skiier and was going every weekend all summer long and not babying it at all. I still can't believe how lucky I and my family were to make it out alive or my outboard didn't end up on the bottom of the lake. I only discovered it by reading of all of the older outboard transom problems on this forum, went home removed one of the chincy plastic splashwell drains, stuck my finger in there and just with my finger tip dug out about an inch of mush, thought maybe it was just around the drains and realized quick that the whole thing was the same. So I pretty much had a 430pound 235 horse hanging on by a thread yikes. The jack method I gave is how I (and three friends) removed that pig and put it on a stand that I built and hung on until I finished the new transom project. A lot of work indeed but it has not leaked one drop and is solid as a rock that was four years ago now. Hang in there and do stuff as you can and money permits and you will be ready for the season in no time.

Re: Splashwell Problem, Need Solution

The hose attachment is fine for running the engine long as it's peeing good you know the pump is working. Sounds like you been warned about reving the engine with no load, keep it under 1500 RPM or so. Maintaining that engine is well within the scope of the average do-it-yourselfer.

Re-wiring your boat is a real labor of love. But heck there's lots worse ways to spend an afternoon.

Re: Splashwell Problem, Need Solution

Thanks

I'll use the hose attachment then, I just wanted to be careful and not damage anything, I've worked on two strokes before and I know what spinning them up without load can do. I can deal with the engine part, but all the other mechanical pieces that go into the water are new to me.

The wiring is a hazard waiting to happen, I'm picking up a fuse block today so I can neatly wire everything, using connectors and shrink wrapping and labels. I figure by the time it's warm enough to hit the lake, I'll have all the important stuff done and will be ready to take it out.

I need to post a message about electronics at some point, but I'll get the wiring cleaned up and safe and then I'll tackle all that. I am adding internal cabin lights and upgrading the bow light, we want to do some camping up in northern idaho and being able to run at night will be needed.

Looks like it's going to be dry today so I'll get to start on those holes in the transom, I'm going to drill them out larger like suggested and check for any rot. I put a screwdriver in there and they seemed solid, I got a little end grain out and it was dry and looked normal. I have some system three rot fix which has a fungicide in it, so I'll use that to place the dowels in and possibly see about soaking the holes with it before I lock in the dowels. That should lock it in and stop anything that's gotten in there.

Thanks

-Paul-

Re: Splashwell Problem, Need Solution

DO NOT REMOVE THE FOAM AND WOOD! The foam is for upright floatation and the plywood box that helps form it is actually a structural member. See--on those Glastrons, the wood part of the transom does not go across the whole stern of the boat. That plywood actually helps transfer some of the transom load to the hull floor.

It also seems common for transoms on older Glastrons to bow outward with age--from the weight of the engine--even with no rot present. Usually the first sign of a sagging transom is a crack in the bottom of the splashwell running from the transom forward. Didn't get the full gist of other replies, but if you have no rot or after you repair the rot, use a piece of 3 X 2 X 3/16 aluminum angle on top of the transom, running the full width. put the 2 inch side on top and the 3 inch side inside. Use about (5) 5/16 through bolts to hold it in place and you should have no further transom problems.

Older Glastrons were known for their rotten floors so be sure to check yours carefully. They were also a light boat and that made them fast. The bottom was adequate but the topsides were also known to be a little thin.

As far as the splashwell drain, why don't you just drill a proper sized hole off to the side near one of the stern "d" rings and buy either the plastic tube or a brass drain plug tube. Both are sold at almost any decent sized marine store.

BTW. That's my 15 foot Glastron V153 in the avatar--I did the same transom reinforcement on it and It now has a 90 on it with no problems.

Look at all the pretty Glastrons in James Bond: Live and Let Die.

Re: Splashwell Problem, Need Solution

Did you see mythbusters try to replicate that jump? Pretty cool even though the boat and "Buster" ended up capsized. Didn't sink though.

Re: Splashwell Problem, Need Solution

Good information Frank, I am going to at least seal the wood that's there so it won't rot. When we bought the boat we looked everywhere for rot and could not find any, I bounced all over that floor and it's solid. They took pretty good care of it, and it was used every summer. I knew there would be some work, but for the price we figured it was a great starter boat. I've sunk about $400 on top of the base price to get things up to snuff, the wiring was my biggest concern because it could have started a fire.

I have not seen any cracks and the transom is straight, the splashwell will drain as soon as I lower the engine, they have it mounted way too high which I'll address as soon as the weather clears.

I love this little boat, I'm also redoing the instrument cluster, along the way someone had done a piece of metal. I'm replacing that with some black ABS, mounting in a speedometer, fuel sensor, ohm meter, voltmeter and lighted toggles. I just got some new plexi for the center window and the two side ones, now I'm just waiting for this stupid windstorm to pass, they keep predicting rain and I don't want to run wire in the rain

Cheers

-Paul-

Re: Splashwell Problem, Need Solution

The drain hole in the transom is blocked by the power tilt/trim unit since they used a longer than needed motor. Most all Johnson/Evinrude motors that I've seen have sufficient adjustment to mount on a transom one size smaller than intended. To solve the drain hole problem, I simply just cut out a 1/4" or so thick sheet of aluminum and make a motor mounting plate, I then mark and drill the location of the transom drain hole and drill the appropriate size hole, then I oblong the hole to a point where it is clear of any motor obstructions. This works fine and even helps to protect the transom a bit. It spreads the load out and prevents surface damage to the gel coat.

If they've added a rear plate to reinforce a weak transom, and you don't intend to repair it, I would make certain that there is an equal sized plate in the inside as well to prevent bolt pull through.
They very well may have added a transom plate also to cover up an existing or older set of motor bolt holes, if that is the case, I'd want to make sure the unused holes are well sealed beneath that plate.
If the existing plate is what is blocking the drain hole, you may well be able to just oblong the hole in that plate to allow drainage.

I would not want to add a bilge pump in the splash well, I wouldn't want any water to lay there at all, it should all drain out by gravity.