What is this Crack in my Transom Telling Me?

Soder99

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Dec 19, 2009
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I have owned this boat for 4 years now and have never noticed this crack. That's not to say it's not been there the whole time. It's about 8" long in total and as you can see runs under my outdrive.

I do my very best to keep the boat dry. She doesn't leak water anywhere from either the hull or the engine. The drive/boat have not incurred any trauma lately.

I'm afraid this may be a sign of a rotting transom since the boat was 13 years old when I bought it. It's worked fantastic as long as I've owned it, but want to make sure that continues.

Thanks for your expert help!

Soder
 

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jigngrub

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Re: What is this Crack in my Transom Telling Me?

Yeah, I'd say your transom has been structurally compromised by rot.

Time to start drilling and checking the shavings.
 

jbcurt00

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Re: What is this Crack in my Transom Telling Me?

This is an I/O transom:
attachment.php


Isn't the transom shield supposed to sit flush w/ the exterior transom skin. Else it's likely to be leaking water past the transom gasket.

All of that ^^^ would be a good indication that further inspection is warranted as it suggests a water intrusion compromised transom.
 

Bondo

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Re: What is this Crack in my Transom Telling Me?

This is an I/O transom:

Isn't the transom shield supposed to sit flush w/ the exterior transom skin. Else it's likely to be leaking water past the transom gasket.

All of that ^^^ would be a good indication that further inspection is warranted as it suggests a water intrusion compromised transom.

Ayuh,.... If this is the boat in the signature, Ya, that's a Problem,....

I can't believe it don't sink, just sittin' in the water,...
 
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Re: What is this Crack in my Transom Telling Me?

uh-oh. my crystal ball sees a lot of work ahead.
 

Capt Ken

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Re: What is this Crack in my Transom Telling Me?

That sure don't look like a Mercruiser transom assembly. Where's the trim line manifold? Looks more like a Volvo.
 

Soder99

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Re: What is this Crack in my Transom Telling Me?

Ayuh,.... If this is the boat in the signature, Ya, that's a Problem,....

I can't believe it don't sink, just sittin' in the water,...

Wow, you guys just might be to quick to be helpful. But fear not my friends, that picture is zoomed in really close. It is looking at the sacrificial zinc. Here's another pic zoomed out with a broader perspective.

Thanks for all your quick replies...even if it's not what I want to hear.
 

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tpenfield

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Re: What is this Crack in my Transom Telling Me?

Subscribing in to follow along. Yea, if the boat is 17 years old, then the first thing to check would be rot in the transom.

Maybe drill a few test holes on the inside face of the transom in the area where the crack is showing on the outside. Take a look at the engine mounts as well to see if anything funky is going on there.
 
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jbcurt00

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Re: What is this Crack in my Transom Telling Me?

Limited pix, limits info which then affects the replies. Esp when defects are only viewed remotely via the internet.

Pix of the interior side of the transom would have been helpful, but you'd be hard pressed to get a pix of the inside surface opposite that crack.

Yep, some transom core samples would be my 1st step..
 

phillyg

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Jul 26, 2007
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Re: What is this Crack in my Transom Telling Me?

....................I'm afraid this may be a sign of a rotting transom since the boat was 13 years old when I bought it..................................Soder

Oh yea, that crack is a sign of pending doom; your transom is going to fall off next time you go to sea.:eek: Just kidding
It may just be a crack in the gel coat, but I agree with others; time to drill some holes and see what's going on. If nothing, repair the crack after making sure it's really dried out.
 

jigngrub

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Re: What is this Crack in my Transom Telling Me?

Wow, you guys just might be to quick to be helpful.

We see lots of rotten transoms in the forum, lots. We see rotten I/O and outboard transoms, we see rotten fiberglass and aluminum boat transoms, transom rot is a very common problem with pleasure boats.

Yours is one of the more obvious looking I/O transoms, I/O's don't usually crack like that... they just start leaking badly so you may have other issues as well.

Along with rotten transoms, we see a lot of rotten decks too. Then when the decks are removed to either fix the rotten transom or deck we see lots of rotten stringers and saturated floatation foam. All of these problems go pretty much hand-in-hand. Sometimes the rot is isolated, but more time than not it's widespread.

Take a look around at the different restoration threads in this forum and you'll see a little bit of what we the regulars see on a regular basis.

Here's a good one to start with:
http://forums.iboats.com/completed-...gnature-deck-stringer-restoration-510077.html

^^^^ That boat was only 16 yrs. old when it had to be restored.^^^^
 
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