Water in transom, 2002 Cobalt 226 and new problem found.

I am working on installing a swim platform. While doing this work I decided to reseal the other screw holes in the transom and the garboard plud. Pulled out the screws holding the speedo tube and the temp gauge and all the wire clips. Imagine my surprise when one of the holes wept water. They were sealed with silicone which is beyond me as to why Cobalt would use silicone to seal this stuff.

Anyway, I drilled the hole out larger and thh fiberglass is dry, but when I get to the back of the hole, where it breaks through into the bilge, I get water. This hull is not fully lined as far as I know so I'm not sure where water is staying.

I drilled all the other holes larger, 1 slightly above, 1 slightly below and toward the keel and some others up higher. None of the others have water.

In order for me to grind from the inside I would have to pull the motor and if I do that, this is going to get much more involved because I will be doing a lot while the motor is out.

The brochure says cobalt was using a synthetic transoms in 2002 and this hole is not in the transom, but rather in the spot between where the transom ends and the bottom of the boat is.

I have a call into Cobalt, but the nearest dealer is about 130 miles away. I am waiting for them to call me back.

In the meantime, what are the thoughts from the experts on here.

Re: Water in transom, 2002 Cobalt 226

Re: Water in transom, 2002 Cobalt 226

Welcome to iBoats!
Some PICS would really help us to help you. Kinda hard to PICTURE what you are seeing.

Re: Water in transom, 2002 Cobalt 226

Re: Water in transom, 2002 Cobalt 226

I'll get some pics posted a little later today.

Re: Water in transom, 2002 Cobalt 226

Re: Water in transom, 2002 Cobalt 226

So here are some pics of the first issue with water in the transom.

The hole where you see the orange handle is sticking out of is the hole that had a small amount of water in it. I also took off the trim tabs on both sides and so far, no water at all.



I used a shop vac to try to pull water out and could not get anything to come out. I drilled the hole a bit bigger and no water as well. Perhaps a small blister somewhere?

But, while hanging out at the transom and removing the tabs I found this.


At first I thought impact, but not spider cracks or surround damage as you would normally see with impact. I took off the anode to look at the bottom of the mounting plate and saw this.




Since the gelcoat is bending I would surmise that this happened when the drive was first installed. Perhaps the gel wasn't fully cured so it was able to bend and then cure. Now it is brittle as you would expect cured gelcoat to be.

In reality, this will have to be fixed which means the motor has to come out and I will have a chance to check everything. I did not hear back from Cobalt today, but will be calling them first thing in the morning to discuss this. If they take care of it, I will get it done now. If they don't, it will likely have to wait until fall when I have the time, patience and room to work on it to that extent.

Thoughts?

Re: Water in transom, 2002 Cobalt 226

Re: Water in transom, 2002 Cobalt 226

Talked to cobalt this morning regarding the water in the hole and the gelcoat damage at the base of the transom plate. Waiting for their response.

Re: Water in transom, 2002 Cobalt 226

Re: Water in transom, 2002 Cobalt 226

My issue is being taken to upper management Thursday. I'll update then.

Re: Water in transom, 2002 Cobalt 226 and new problem found.

That looks more like impact damage to me, especially since there is some kind of sealer on the corner in one of the pics. Cobalt would not throw some sealer around the drive if the drive mounting caused the Gel to flex and crack. Looks to me like a previous owner tried to fix some impact damage on their own. I would not wait to fix this as your transom could be compromised if the damage was infact caused by impact. Water in the transom area also is not suprising based on the compromised area around the drive.

Re: Water in transom, 2002 Cobalt 226 and new problem found.

superpop said:

That looks more like impact damage to me, especially since there is some kind of sealer on the corner in one of the pics. Cobalt would not throw some sealer around the drive if the drive mounting caused the Gel to flex and crack. Looks to me like a previous owner tried to fix some impact damage on their own. I would not wait to fix this as your transom could be compromised if the damage was infact caused by impact. Water in the transom area also is not suprising based on the compromised area around the drive.

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I initially though impact damage as well. The reason why I don't believe it to be the case is that you are not looking at sealant applied around the drive. You are looking at the gelcoat which curled indicating this had to happen when it was still in the curing process. Cured gelcoat will never behave that way and as of now, if I put might finger nail under it it will chip off.

Normally impact damage would create stress cracks out from the corner and there is not a single stress crack. That is why I believe it to have been caused during contruction/installation.

In either case, it's getting repaired. Either by me or by cobalt. Hopefully by them.

Re: Water in transom, 2002 Cobalt 226 and new problem found.

I will bet it is water infiltration getting in and separation of the gel coat

Re: Water in transom, 2002 Cobalt 226 and new problem found.

Did you ever find out what composite material they were using for the transom, if it is NOT wood what DID they use??? I'm curious.

Re: Water in transom, 2002 Cobalt 226 and new problem found.

Bob_VT said:

I will bet it is water infiltration getting in and separation of the gel coat

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I agree.

Re: Water in transom, 2002 Cobalt 226 and new problem found.

Woodonglass said:

Did you ever find out what composite material they were using for the transom, if it is NOT wood what DID they use??? I'm curious.

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Don't know what the material was. In 2010 they were using kay-cell in the 230. Don't know if they were using it in 2002 or not.

http://www.kayco-composites.com/Marine.html

Bob-VT - what makes you believe it is water intrusion. Not saying it is not, but you are much more knowledgeable than I and I am trying to learn what I can. I have never seen gelcoat curl that way which is why I believed it to be caused early on.

Re: Water in transom, 2002 Cobalt 226 and new problem found.

Thanks! I had not heard of K-Cell. Looks interesting. I wonder about the cost???

Re: Water in transom, 2002 Cobalt 226 and new problem found.

Cobalt said it is cosmetic and out of warranty. I was hoping but not expecting their help. I am trying to get more information on what material was used in the transom and their recommended repair process. Looks like I am finally going to learn how to do gelcoat. I hope that is the extent of it. At this point, unless I learn something new, I am planning on pulling the motor and driver to gain access to the area that needs to be repaired. While the motor is out, I will investigate the water out of the hole that started this thread and plug the garboard hole.

Then I can redrill it making sure it is completely encased in epoxy. I'll repair the gelcoat, sand and polish it all and reinstall engine and drive.

While engine is out, it will get a good cleaning and inspection. Bolts that I now have access to will be checked and any issues dealt with. Probably will replace some of the wiring and hoses since we are going on 10 years. It should make for another 10+ years of fun. Might even put in a corsa captains call exhaust while I am in there.

Re: Water in transom, 2002 Cobalt 226 and new problem found.

So I am still figuring out my plan to correct this situation. As part of that plan I wanted to drill out all the holes in the transom so they could be sealed and filled with epoxy or vinylester. Previously, only one hole had shown any sign of water. Today, many of the holes appeared wet even though they have been open for the past two weeks. As I redrilled the holes the material that was coming out was really wet and looked like sand. I was trying to figure out how this could be happening. I picked and probed and was freaking out a bit. I decided to finish drilling the holes and on the last hole, which had been previously drilled and was dry as a bone, I pulled out the bit and there was something green and slimy on the end. I thought to myself, is that some kind of larvae? This is worse than I thought. Then I looked at the flutes of the drill bit and saw the black and yellow stripes. Some kind of wasp/hornet had laid eggs in these ideal holes. So now they are all drilled and taped over. I am trying to decide if I should squirt some alcohol into the holes to aid in drying, but it was really wierd to pull out all the wet material from holes that were previoulsy dry.

Re: Water in transom, 2002 Cobalt 226 and new problem found.

I don't think it'll ever dry out, just continue to rot.
Sounds like you might need to replace the transom.

Re: Water in transom, 2002 Cobalt 226 and new problem found.

produceguy said:

I don't think it'll ever dry out, just continue to rot.
Sounds like you might need to replace the transom.

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It can't rot. There is no wood. It could delaminate and have other problems, but rot is not an issue.

Re: Water in transom, 2002 Cobalt 226 and new problem found.

How did I miss that.

Good luck on your project.