Leaking water into the bilge

jlinder · Aug 31, 2009

Went out Saturday and noticed that the bilge pump had a lot more water than normal to pump out of the bilge. I would have to turn the pump on every 20 min or so to pump some water out.

Suspect I have a problem developing around the outdrive ???

Details: 1988 OMC Cobra with a 5.0L GM engine. Don't know how old the seals are or if they have ever been services.

Any advice on:
1. What to look for?
2. What typically goes bad?
3. What is involved in the repair (do I need a shop?)

dubs283 · Aug 31, 2009

Re: Leaking water into the bilge

grab a flashlight and a mirror on a stick and see where on the transom the water is coming from

look around where the driveshaft from the drive passes through the transom

where the shift cable tube passes through the transom

where the y-pipe attaches to the transom assy

TowRoper · Aug 31, 2009

Re: Leaking water into the bilge

there are allot of places for water to get in, like the cooling, transom, mani's boat drain plug etc i would try putting muffs on it and seeing if you can find it that way and if that wont work do it dons way by leaving it on the trailer and backing it into the water still on the trailer and look for the leak that way and like don says bring the mirrors and flashlights and look at every part even if you have to be upside down to see it good luck and let us know what you find.

TowRoper · Aug 31, 2009

Re: Leaking water into the bilge

one more thing if you don't already have it i would install an automatic bilge switch it can save allot of bailing

bds85466 · Sep 1, 2009

Re: Leaking water into the bilge

If you can't find a leak between the hull and the drive, it's possible your fresh/raw water cooling/exhaust is leaking somewhere. I've told others that today I'm replacing a leaky exhaust manifold that was peeing right into my bilge. Would have never saw it unless the boat was running when I inspected it. Could be hoses or the manifolds themselves.

Tow Roper told me he'd install an auto bilge switch for you as he really enjoys going down into peoples bilges and getting dirty.

TowRoper · Sep 1, 2009

Re: Leaking water into the bilge

i said what? oh i guess i did! ok but that dont include the price of the parts lol

jlinder · Sep 1, 2009

Re: Leaking water into the bilge

Thanks everyone. I will have to wait until this weekend to start crawling around inside the engine compartment - work is keeping me pretty busy.

Regarding the exhaust manifolds - I just replaced them - they were cracked. But I did check them at that time and it was all solid - not a drop of water leaking out.

But the odd thing in my mind is that water was getting into the bilge while I was at anchor. Wouldn't have expected a problem without the engine running.

Bondo · Sep 1, 2009

Re: Leaking water into the bilge

But the odd thing in my mind is that water was getting into the bilge while I was at anchor. Wouldn't have expected a problem without the engine running.

Ayuh,... Only the cooling system would flood the bilge only with the motor Running....
The driveline hardware,+ sealing leaks whenever it's Wet....

sdoomaha · Sep 1, 2009

Re: Leaking water into the bilge

Did you trim your outdrive up when anchoring? If your bellows is leaking, the more you trim the outdrive up, the more it stretches the bellows causing any crack or split to be "larger".

Good luck!

bds85466 · Sep 2, 2009

Re: Leaking water into the bilge

jlinder said:
But the odd thing in my mind is that water was getting into the bilge while I was at anchor. Wouldn't have expected a problem without the engine running.

Agreed. I didn't know if you had checked your bilge directly after anchoring or not. If you checked it directly after anchoring and then before you left and found that to be the time when water seeped in, you have a much better clue --> drive line.

jlinder · Sep 2, 2009

Re: Leaking water into the bilge

Problem was it was getting dark when this happened so it would have been very difficult to find any leaks.

We anchored in a cove, shut down the engine, and I ran the bilge to get out any water that had collected there. Thought it pumped out more water than normal.

Did not tilt the drive up.

After about 20-30 minutes resting and eating a nice dinner went to leave and the first thing I did was run the bilge.

Again, water pumped out for about 20 seconds. Had not run engine, had not tilted drive, had not done anything to get water inside the bilge

Normal would have been to have no additional water in the bilge.

Checked drain plug when we pulled the boat out of the water. All seemed solid and secure.

93corona · Sep 14, 2009

Re: Leaking water into the bilge

What did you find out on your leak because our boat was doing the same thing last time we took it out. I thought maybe the transom was getting soft and allowing it to leak around the outdrive seal but hoping that is'nt the case. Up until the last time we took it out it hardly took on any water at all. If you have figured it out please post what your problem was. thanks.

Don S · Sep 14, 2009

Re: Leaking water into the bilge

The FIRST thing anyone with a leak has to do, is locate the leak. Then you can get help fixing it.
Fixing something that happend on Joe Blows boat probably won't help a bit on yours.
Fixing a lot of "Common" leaks means you may fix a lot of things that don't leak before you find you have an "UN Common" leak.
Find the leak, then post a question about how to fix the leak that you have found. That's how it done.

93, if you have a leak, find it, then start your OWN thread to get the proper fix.

93corona · Sep 15, 2009

Re: Leaking water into the bilge

Don I did'nt mean to offend anybody I was simply stating that his problem sounded exactly like mine and thought that I would try to take a short cut and use his solution to his problem to help me out in finding my problem. Sorry!

Bondo · Sep 15, 2009

Re: Leaking water into the bilge

I was simply stating that his problem sounded exactly like mine and thought that I would try to take a short cut and use his solution to his problem to help me out in finding my problem. Sorry!

Ayuh,.... The Point is, your boat ain't jlinder's boat,+ you're hy-jacking His thread by posting Your problem,...
Rather than starting a thread of Your own about Your boat,+ It's Leak...

The odds are slim to None that jlinder's leak is exactly where your's is,...
And,..
There's No short-cutting a Leaky Boat problem,...

The Solution Always starts with putting the boat in the water,+ Looking for the Leak...

Good Luck....

Leaking water into the bilge

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