Sundowner,Water getting around fuel tank

[Hildebrand]

Hi, I have a 225 sundowner,1990, it has the 5.8 omg. I know my boat is stored as it’s winter, but I haven’t had time to ask this question. I noticed mid summer last year when cleaning my boat I had about 10 gallons of water around the fuel tank area. The water doesn’t ever come back to the engine compartant and pump out. The engine compartment stays pretty dry and the blige pump works good. I know my cover leaks a bit on a supper heavy rain and I’ll have a little water on the floor in the cabin. Is that normal to have that water get stuck in there ? Should I still a little hole in the fiberglass between that and the tank area to get the water to the blige pump to pump out? I did try and search but didn’t see much. Thanks

 

[froggy1150]

Sounds like you need to move to restorations...... chances are your boats rotting

 

[chevymaher]

If you look there should be a small hole in the bulkhead for that water to drain. It is probably blocked with something. But he is right being a 1990 best check for rot.

 

[tpenfield]

Agree with the others . . .

Is the fuel tank plastic or aluminum? If aluminum and sitting in water, then plan of needing to take out and inspect/replace the tank.

 

[Grub54891]

Different boat but mine did that also. Found a small hole that even my pinky finger can't get in to. Cleaned it out with a stick. This spring I'll have to get a long extension for a hole saw, make it bigger and then slather some epoxy around the new cut also with a rag tied to a stick. Access is so limited I can't get my hand in there.

 

[Hildebrand]

Sounds like you need to move to restorations...... chances are your boats rotting

Could you explain some more,please ? The floor in the boat is solid and has no visible sign of soft spots or rot. Where else should I be looking for rot ? I’m new to boats so if I’m into a bigger problem I’d like to get it addressed. I did have the out drive pulled and serviced this past year and they put a new shift asset in it and they never mentioned any rot. The tank in aluminum. Thanks

 

[Hildebrand]

Also would like to add, we don’t keep the boat in the water. We keep it in our drive way when not in use. Don’t know if this makes much of a difference with the question.

 

[Hildebrand]

Also would like to add, we don’t keep the boat in the water. We keep it in our drive way when not in use. Don’t know if this makes much of a difference with the question.

 

[alldodge]

The water needs to come out, and being an aluminum tank eve more so. Does sound like the manufacture did not build a drain hole in, and I would look at installing one.

Since you can see the water, does this mean that the tank is not foamed in, or is it you can just see one end?

Storing in the drive way would tell me the water is coming in from rain

 

[Hildebrand]

That’s a good question. Right in the floor above the tank there is a cap that we can unscrew and kinda look down. I don’t remember if there is foam around the tank or not but I do think there is. I can get this information the next time I see the boat. Also, I am going to look at installing a drain from that to the blige pump area. There might be a little one and I didnt see it and it’s plugged

 

[kcassells]

pic time

 

[GA_Boater]

Do you park the boat bow up using the tongue jack? Water can pool in plenty of places without a downhill run. A raised bow helps drain water from the hull when the plug is pulled.

It might be time for a new cover or get some cheap tarps to thrown over the existing cover to help keep rain out.

 

[Hildebrand]

My cover isn’t in bad shape, I truthfully think it leaks around the windshield some place but. I obvious signs. I just know after a heavy rain I have water st the bottom of the step and that’s the end of the tank st that end. This may be a dumb thing on my end but during the summer I don’t think I ever pull the plug but maybe once or twice. And now that we’re talking about this there’s no way for that water to have a chance to drain out when parked in my drive way. I normally back it in, unhook and toss the cover on a d that’s it.

 

[Hildebrand]

pic time

what pictures would you like to see ?

 

[chevymaher]

The cover off the tank would be a good start. See if it is black and nasty in there.

 

[kcassells]

Are you getting water out of the bilge drain, a lot, all the time? Put boat on trailer on a tile towards stern.

 

[mickyryan]

need to access in front of tank as far forward in boat as you can and pour a mixture of bleach and fungicides in , most likely plugged up with mold mildew , anytime you park boat park bow up as far as you can and pull plugs .

 

[Hildebrand]

Gonna try and get a few pics this weekend. The boat is stored inside a pole barn right now.

 

[Hildebrand]

Sorry didn’t see these two post. The only time I ever notice the back blige going off is if we’re swimming or tuding and we’re back and forth out of the water and the deck is soaked or if the lake is supper choppy and waters splashing all over.

 

[Hildebrand]

So I stopped out today and checked the boat out. The tank is aluminum. It sits off the floor some and has brackets holding it in. There’s a little bit of water at the bottom but not touching the tank. It’s not much at all. There is two holes in the fiberglass inside to drain to the bilge and the cabin. Why would they want it to drain to the cabin ? But the holes are not all the way at the bottom, they are up a inch or so and some water won’t ever get out of there unless you suck it out.