Found hose clamp screw in bilge now have water, need help

[Robertpel9]

Went to put my cover away before taking off on the lake today and i saw a hose clamp screw on the bottom of the bilge. I looked eevrwher ein the engine compartment to see where it came loose from, i could not find anything. I pumped a some water out of the bilge (First time using it in two weeks as i was out of town, i keep it in a wet slip, it does not take on water but if it rains i will get a little water ack there after a few weeks). Anyway i ran the pump until no more water came out which due to the location of my pump leaves a copule of inches down there. I had a fun day on the lake, when i got back to the dock i ran my bilge pump and it did pump out about 3 seconds of water so clearly i took some on (I never have in the past).

I crawled all over the engine compartment and traced every darn hose on my 4.3GS Volvo and all clamps are there with none missing screws.

I am really stumped here, what the heck could this possibly be i spent 40 minutes crawling around looking at every hose and clamp and am at a loss?????????????

 

[marine4003]

Re: Found hose clamp screw in bilge now have water, need help

If you looked at every junction where hose meets metal,and have confirmed there's a clamp...then its possible that at some time a clamp was replaced and the old one was dropped in the bilge,my FORMER mechanic did this..all old parts were dropped in the bilge,only found when extensive bilge cleaning was done.

 

[Sea Breeze]

Re: Found hose clamp screw in bilge now have water, need help

I had the same issue with a careless mechanic and I too did not realize it until I did some extensive cleaning.

 

[captlee]

Re: Found hose clamp screw in bilge now have water, need help

Sounds like 'spare parts' from a previous fix. Monitor the water levels in the bilge for the next few trips just to be sure.

 

[Robertpel9]

Re: Found hose clamp screw in bilge now have water, need help

I was thinking the same but why did i take on about 3 seconds worth of bilge water coming out of the pump thru an hour of engine use? I don't believe i have taken anything on in the past

 

[captlee]

Re: Found hose clamp screw in bilge now have water, need help

Maybe the water was in an area of the hull that didnt run down to the bilge pump till the boat was underway? Ive had this happen on a 25' pacemaker where one of the drain holes from 1 area to another was clogged with debris.