How much water is normal?

[NOTW]

Today a buddy and I took my boat out in a very calm lake. We weren't in the water and no splashes/waves came in the boat. The boat and we stayed completely dry. We were out about an hour and a half. When I pulled it back out and pulled the drain plug, the water came out for about 5-7 second. I'd say it was about 2-3 quarts of water in it. So I'm wondering if I have a problem or is this normal?

 

[73Trihull]

Re: How much water is normal?

There is definitely a leak somewhere. You didn't say how long you were out but I would start looking for leaks. Check the bellows for cracks that's a common source.

 

[JBow]

Re: How much water is normal?

I wouldnt call it normal. Its getting in there somewhere. Is it an I/O? Maybe a bellows or something like that. My 40 year old boat can sit in the water for days and not take on a drop. I think you should try to find it in case its something that could get worse.

 

[sheridon]

Re: How much water is normal?

I wouldn't call it normal either. Even when I go swimming and tubing some, I don't normally have any water in my bilge.

Do you have a cooler that you put ice it? Only time I had water in the bilge was from the ice that melted from the built in cooler.

 

[rwidman]

Re: How much water is normal?

You have a leak and you should get it repaired ASAP. It won't get better by itself.

 

[NOTW]

Re: How much water is normal?

It does have a cooler, but we wasn't using it. It is an I/O MerCruiser 350 Magnum. We were out about an hour and a half. I'm going out again tomorrow so I'll keep an eye on it to see if I can find the problem. I looked at the bellows (what I can see without taking anything apart) and they appear to be in good shape. Actually, everything appears to be in great shape with the exception of the drain plug housing, it looks a little corroded. Is there a seal behind the drain plug housing (or whatever it called?)

 

[scipper77]

Re: How much water is normal?

The question here is where is the leak. If it is through the transom you really need to address this before there is rotten wood. If it is through the bellows you could have expensive repairs to the gimbal. The best possible source of this leak would (in my opinion) be a hose in the engine leaking or maybe even the power steering cooler.

I hope that wherever the water is coming in from is an easy fix.

 

[NOTW]

Re: How much water is normal?

Yea, I do too. I'll be keeping a real close eye on it tomorrow to see if I can find the leak. I don't think its the bellows, they all look real good. I'm hoping its something simple.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: How much water is normal?

be careful. Leaks get bigger

 

[rwidman]

Re: How much water is normal?

................. Actually, everything appears to be in great shape with the exception of the drain plug housing, it looks a little corroded. Is there a seal behind the drain plug housing (or whatever it called?)

The bronze fitting the plug screws into? There's no "seal", a marine sealant is applied to the back of the fitting and then it's bolted or screwed to the transom.

It will be hard to find the leak while you're underway. Dry everything, then put the boat in the water for an hour or so while looking for the leak or wet spots.

There is a chance that the leak is in your engine's cooling system. Two of my slip neighbors (with Mercruiser engines) had a plug on or near the head rust out and leak. This is a plug for a hole that looks like what a sensor might be connected to. About 3/4" in diameter and threaded. It takes a square drive to remove it. Or a big screwdriver from corner to corner.

 

[NOTW]

Re: How much water is normal?

My boat has a water hose that isn't functional above the ladder on the left. If you pull the water spicket out, there is no hose or anything attached to it. It sits down in an O ring seal, but it is by no means a tight or even close to a water tight seal. You can somewhat see the hose in this picture above the ladder to the left.

I'm wondering if water could be coming up over the deck and into that hole when I go from full speed and drop down to an idle for no wake zones. I'm always driving so I don't even know if water comes above that deck, but I do know when I slow down it looks like a giant wake is about to crash over the back of the boat. I normally slow down then give it some throttle to stop it from splashing. Has anyone heard of this? I did notice some water directly under this hole inside the engine compartment.

Also, I was looking where the bilge pumps the water out of the boat. Is it possible that water is going down inside that tube and leaking?

I'm sorry, obviously I'm very new to boats! LOL

 

[NOTW]

Re: How much water is normal?

There is a chance that the leak is in your engine's cooling system. Two of my slip neighbors (with Mercruiser engines) had a plug on or near the head rust out and leak. This is a plug for a hole that looks like what a sensor might be connected to. About 3/4" in diameter and threaded. It takes a square drive to remove it. Or a big screwdriver from corner to corner.

I'll take a look and see if I can find that plug.

 

[73Trihull]

Re: How much water is normal?

There should be hose clamps on the bellows check to make sure those are tight. If at all possible I would do a few things. First I would run the motor on a hose in the driveway and look around the engine compartment for coolant and/or water leaks. If that all checks out I head to the water and if possible let it float for awhile and check for leaks that way. Then I would have a buddy drive around for a bit while you check things out and look for leaks.

You shouldn't get water in through the bilge pump. Im not sure what that is near your later but I would suspect that if your wake comes back over the platform that there would be more water than what you saw.

 

[gozierdt]

Re: How much water is normal?

NOTW, as far as your question about stopping suddenly, it's never good practice to just cut the throttle. As you've noticed, you get a big stern wave that suddenly catches up with the boat as it settles into the water, and can easily come up over a stern platform, or in really bad cases, right over the transom. You should slow down gradually, or as you've discovered, at least give the boat a little gas as it settles down, to outrun that stern wave. I doubt that the stern wave is the source of your water, but you can certainty plug that source as you look for where the water is coming in. Be especially vigilant for leaks in the bellows, or around the stern drive mounting. Those can cause big problems down the road...

Good luck in your hunt!

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: How much water is normal?

everything appears to be in great shape with the exception of the drain plug housing, it looks a little corroded. Is there a seal behind the drain plug housing (or whatever it called?)
__________________

It's called a garboard plug and from your description sounds like it could be the source of your leak.

 

[rwidman]

Re: How much water is normal?

My boat has a water hose that isn't functional above the ladder on the left. If you pull the water spicket out, there is no hose or anything attached to it. It sits down in an O ring seal, but it is by no means a tight or even close to a water tight seal. You can somewhat see the hose in this picture above the ladder to the left.

It's a transom shower for rinsing off after being in the water, right? Your boat has a fresh (potable) water system, right?

If the hose is not attached to the shower handle, where is the end of the hose? In the bilge? If you have water in your tank, it's going to come out of the hose and into the bilge.

Find the hose and reconnect it. Or cap it off, your choice.

If you're boating in salt water, taste the water in the bilge. If it tastes salty, it's an external leak or splashing. If it tastes fresh, it's a water system leak.

 

[NOTW]

Re: How much water is normal?

Yea, the boat is equipped with a fresh water system, however I don't use it and it has absolutley no water in it.

Update: We took the boat out again and when we backed it in the water I had a close eye down there to see if it took on water. It did fairly quickly and with the motor not running. (I actually ran the water hose to the boat this morning and everything stayed dry so I'm ruling out all hose related leaks for now.) Its hard to see down under the motor, but it really looked like it was leaking through the garboard plug. So I went and purchased a new garboard plug today and when I took off the original it had practically no seal at all left. I took the three screws loose and it was already coming loose from the boat. With a slight tug it came right off! The entire mating surface was wet so I know for sure water was getting through. SOOOOOO, If I haven't found THE problem, I'm sure I at least found A problem. The garboard plug that I purchased is actually too small, so I cleaned up the original real good and I'm going to get some 3m 5200 and pop it back in. Also, the boat seemed to only take on water at idle speeds or sitting still.

On a side note, I really liked the new garboard plug. It has a ball in it that allows water to exit the boat, but not enter the boat so if I was ever to forget to put the drain plug in, it would buy me some more time! Too bad it was too small...

Thanks for the help guys and wish me luck, I hope my leak is gone! How can I let these kids down? (This was from today's ride!)

 

[rwidman]

Re: How much water is normal?

Dry the area really well before installing the new fitting. A heat gun or hair dryer will work. If you need new screw holes, dry out the old ones and seal them as well.

Another thing you can do is mix up some epoxy and coat the inside of the hole to seal the transom from any water that might get in trom outside or inside. A Q tip is good for this.

 

[scipper77]

Re: How much water is normal?

Glad to see that you seem to have this worked out. I love a happy ending!!

 

[Stachi]

Re: How much water is normal?

Yea, the boat is equipped with a fresh water system, however I don't use it and it has absolutley no water in it.

Update: We took the boat out again and when we backed it in the water I had a close eye down there to see if it took on water. It did fairly quickly and with the motor not running. (I actually ran the water hose to the boat this morning and everything stayed dry so I'm ruling out all hose related leaks for now.) Its hard to see down under the motor, but it really looked like it was leaking through the garboard plug. So I went and purchased a new garboard plug today and when I took off the original it had practically no seal at all left. I took the three screws loose and it was already coming loose from the boat. With a slight tug it came right off! The entire mating surface was wet so I know for sure water was getting through. SOOOOOO, If I haven't found THE problem, I'm sure I at least found A problem. The garboard plug that I purchased is actually too small, so I cleaned up the original real good and I'm going to get some 3m 5200 and pop it back in. Also, the boat seemed to only take on water at idle speeds or sitting still.

On a side note, I really liked the new garboard plug. It has a ball in it that allows water to exit the boat, but not enter the boat so if I was ever to forget to put the drain plug in, it would buy me some more time! Too bad it was too small...

Thanks for the help guys and wish me luck, I hope my leak is gone! How can I let these kids down? (This was from today's ride!)

I bought and installed the same Garboard drain as you did...anti-dumb***** model as it was described by a fellow iboater...lol