A water leak though the transom

[nhcris]

Hi, please help! Last weekend when I was out on the lake I noticed my bilge pump was coming on about every 5 minutes, I thought I had a popped hose. I lifted off the motor cover and looked around, all hoses were fine. I basically wedged my head under the motor and saw a lot of water coming in under this bracket (see pic) What is this? Gaskets for it? Hard to do? The picture is taken with the camera under the oil pan pointed towards the transom...
p.s. its a 1992 cobra 3.0L

 

[sam60]

Re: A water leak though the transom

Pull the inlet hose from the transom and hook it up to a garden hose and get a mirror and flashlight. Picture doesn't tell much of a story.

 

[Kainon]

Re: A water leak though the transom

so with age and vibration the transom assembly can loosen up and with the weight of the engine actually push out on the bottom of the outer drive assembly letting water in..

also I've seen the Y pipe corrode and that too will also let water in.

I'm in nothern MA and if your not too far north in NH might be able to help. PM me. ( but not with questions about your boat )

 

[nhcris]

Re: A water leak though the transom

The water is obviously coming through the transom not from a hose or anything, should I crank down the nuts on that bracket? It doesn't apear to be very rugged like it would just bend...can you tell me the proper way to tighten down the outdrive, (pattern,torque)?

 

[Bondo]

Re: A water leak though the transom

The water is obviously coming through the transom not from a hose or anything, should I crank down the nuts on that bracket? It doesn't apear to be very rugged like it would just bend...can you tell me the proper way to tighten down the outdrive, (pattern,torque)?

Ayuh,.... Those nuts don't just loosen up by themselves,....

You have a Rotten Transom.... There's No wood left for the nuts to clamp against...

Tightenin' 'em Now, will distort the transom plate, 'n Bust it,... it's only cast aluminum....

The "Fix" is to pull the drive, motor, 'n transom assembly, then replace the rotten wood, 'n reinstall everything...

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: A water leak though the transom

I concur with Bond-o and if you are in an area that has cold weather in the winter such as freezing (your profile is not filled out to know where you are) they the wet transom may have been destroyed by freezing and thawing.

If you are in a hot area then the water could just be inside the transom creating rot.

You best bet is to get a 1/4" drill and drill test holes inside the transom. Drill down near the bottom below the hard drive and along the bottom near the drain hole. DO NOT go deep, a half inch deep is enough. Look at and examine the drill shavings....... it the shavings are not dry then your transom is wet. I would not be surprised if water comes out of the holes.

If you encounter all dry wood then the holes should be filled with marine tex or 2 part epoxy. You could use 3m 5200 but tape over it when it's applied since it will run on a vertical surface. DO NOT use silicone which is worthless on a hull.

 

[nhcris]

Re: A water leak though the transom

All the words I didn't want to hear.....how would water get into the transom though? It looks as though its all encased in fiberglass? This is a new boat to me,was told it was always trailered to the lake and back, so it never sat there to soak it in. The floors don't appear to be rotted I would think those would be the first to go. A little info on the boat: 1992 four winns freedom 180, bought in maine now in new hampshire.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: A water leak though the transom

All the words I didn't want to hear.....how would water get into the transom though? It looks as though its all encased in fiberglass? This is a new boat to me,was told it was always trailered to the lake and back, so it never sat there to soak it in. The floors don't appear to be rotted I would think those would be the first to go. A little info on the boat: 1992 four winns freedom 180, bought in maine now in new hampshire.

20 year old boat that is new to you. Regardless of how YOU treat it.......abuse could have happened in the previous years.

Drill the investigating bore holes. You "might" think that boats are all sealed up but they are NOT. Nothing is first to go on the list for rot......it can pop up in the strangest places first.

You really did not want anyone to lie to you.

 

[nhcris]

Re: A water leak though the transom

Your right Bob, I didnt want any lies....just better news with a simple fix Thank you all for your wisdom and i will drill even though i really dont want to...

 

[Kainon]

Re: A water leak though the transom

So on the outside of the boat, if the pitot or if there was a depth transuder that was replaced and not properly sealed that will let water in over time.. ALso if there had been water sitting inside the bilge high enough to get into that area and if there's no sealing of the transom in there and will rot it .

 

[talon8]

Re: A water leak though the transom

I can't open or see the photo. I too thought I had a transom leak. It turned out to be the water pipe that goes through the transom had corroded and was leaking just inside the boat. To test, does it leak when on the muffs or only when the boat is in the water? If it still leaks when on the muffs and the boat is out of the water then it is likely not a transom leak but a cooling water leak.

To clarify, this is about a 6" X 1" tube with a couple of bends in it and a flange in the middle that passes the water from the stern drive, through the transom bracket to the inside of the boat. There are hoses clamped to both ende of the piece. It was leaking just past the hose clamp on the inside of the transom. It is in a spot that is impossible to see and it took forever to find out where the water was coming from but it appeared as though the transom mount was leaking.

 

[nhcris]

Re: A water leak though the transom

So can you guys tell me if I can tighten the transom bolts with the engine still in the bolt, it looks like I can only really get to a couple of them. The transom itself doesn't appear to be rotted from what I've been able to tell.

 

[nhcris]

Re: A water leak though the transom

Ok, so I undid one side of that bracket and let it swing down. Are those bolts up inside the lower bolts on the transom assy? They seem tight as hell, could the drive just have a bad seal?

 

[nhcris]

Re: A water leak though the transom

bump

 

[Bondo]

Re: A water leak though the transom

Ok, so I undid one side of that bracket and let it swing down. Are those bolts up inside the lower bolts on the transom assy? They seem tight as hell, could the drive just have a bad seal?View attachment 152462

Ayuh,... That's really nothin' to report, 'n there's little more to be said,....

If it's Leakin',... Somethin's Wrong....

Close inspection of the area, as it's leakin' is all ya can do....
ID the leak,...
Then tear it apart to fix the leak...

The nuts you took off, hold the inner transom plate to the outer transom housing,...
The little plate is sorta a big washer to spread the load to the wood...(on a Merc, that's different)
In that area, there's the transom housing gasket, 'tween the outer housing, 'n the fiberglass,...
Those rarely go Bad, 'n leaks are usually from rotten transoms...
There's also the exhaust y-pipe, or down-pipe,... it's usually some sorta o-ring, 'n rarely goes Bad, unless corrosion is present...
And,..
On a Merc, there's the hyd. manifold in there,... ain't sure how OMC did it...

No need to bump this,... next move is Yer's....

 

[nhcris]

Re: A water leak though the transom

Thanks Bond-o for explaining that to me. I'm just not following why a possible rotted transom would allow water to pour in with the engine off, there wouldn't be any stress there to flex it. Also, I put rtv around the whole perimeter of the (outdrive?) and that hasn't pulled off the fiberglass at all showing any flex. I raised the outdrive and grabbed it by the lower unit and tried shaking it and doesn't seem to have any flex. Any ideas on how to proceed?

 

[Bondo]

Re: A water leak though the transom

Thanks Bond-o for explaining that to me. I'm just not following why a possible rotted transom would allow water to pour in with the engine off, there wouldn't be any stress there to flex it. Also, I put rtv around the whole perimeter of the (outdrive?) and that hasn't pulled off the fiberglass at all showing any flex. I raised the outdrive and grabbed it by the lower unit and tried shaking it and doesn't seem to have any flex. Any ideas on how to proceed?

Ayuh,... Back the boat into the water, on the wagon,...

Get it Leakin' good, 'n LOOK....

use yer camera from many angles,... whatever it takes to ID the leak....

It's a leak,... there Ain't no Easy buttons....

 

[nhcris]

Re: A water leak though the transom

OK so I backed the boat into the water and watched the water coming in over that bracket,but cant see in any deeper to be able to tell where the water is coming in at. So i have decided that i'm going to pull off the (sorry if i get the part names wrong) outdrive, can I leave the upper and lower attached and remove the whole thing at once at the pivot housing? Will this actually help me in my quest?

 

[bruceb58]

Re: A water leak though the transom

Will this actually help me in my quest?

The only thing that is going to tell you is if the bellows are ok but if that was the case, your water would be leaking in much higher around your gimbal bearing.

 

[CLEAT21]

Re: A water leak though the transom

If by chance it is a bad transom, I used some stuff a while back on a boat with an outboard engine and it was pretty easy and worked great. Not sure how easy it would be for an inboard-outboard but might be something to look at. See web site http://www.transomrepair.net/