How to check where water enters the hull?

[kanada]

78 9teen with 470 i4.

I only own this boat a week. Sunday we put in the water for a test run.
Water was calm - we probably had it in the water 30-45 min.

Once I pulled a bout out a bunch of water came out when the plug was removed.

So how would I test with the boat on the trailer where the water is coming in?

thanks!

 

[Betterthannothin]

Re: How to check where water enters the hull?

Put the plug in and fill the bilge with water, then lay under the boat and you shoud see the leak. Make sure you put enough water to cover the entire suspect area.

 

[ziggy]

Re: How to check where water enters the hull?

might check your bellows out. this is a common place for water intrusion. best i understand, there' normal service life is around 5 years.
check the shift cable and the drive shaft bellows.
if ya pull the drive and there's water inside the bellows. that'd be a sign they are bad.
another thought too. i suppose the exhaust pipe could have a hole in it. this would fill up the inside of the boat too.

filling up the boat with water could lead to discovery. but, imho. that'd be the last thing i'd do. i'd check for other places. drive shaft bellows and shift cable bellows are pretty common places for water intrusion.

another thought. though i don't know if it applies to aristocraft's. but if the transom were rotted and weak. the gimble housing could be separating from the boat and letting water in. best i know. nineteens have a piece of wood right where the gimble housing is mounted. i guess the rest of the transom is glass. ya should be able to stand on your drive and not see the transom flex..

if ya still can't find it. ya might try posting over in the 'non repair i/o's and inboards forum... you'll likely get more exposure there for folks to help ya out.

 

[pack-rat]

Re: How to check where water enters the hull?

i also got a 78 19 last year that sometimes gets a lot of water out of the plug after a day in the water. it wouldn't leak in tied to a dock overnight. i found that mine takes on quite a bit of water over the sides while running around if theres any chop or other boat wakes. (i discovered this as my passengers in the back seats got drenched! at least if was just my wife's dip weed cousins, so no big deal!). i never found any actual leak. anyhow, just food for thought. you know, another spot i just remembered on mine there's a ballast tank formed in the bow, theres a tube from it that hooks it up to a small orfice in the very front of the bow, just under the eye for the trailer winch hookup. i think it fills up as your coming up on plane, to ballast the bow downward, then drains back out as the boat planes out, at least thats all i could figure it would do. if that tube is missing all the water would run down into the bilge. probably it's worth checking, you gotta crawl into the little space under the windshield.

 

[ziggy]

Re: How to check where water enters the hull?

good point on that little tube possibly leaking pack-rat. mine must have in the past as when i got it, that area on the outside is goobered up with sillycone.
that tube ya see goes from where ya see it on the outside up to the ft. bottom of the center window panel pocket. i always wondered where the center panel disappeared to when sliding it down. well, one day i had my cat onboard and lost her at sea. couldn't figure out where she went. found here on top of that pocket. only the attached leash gave her away. imho. that tube is to let water out of the center window pocket. there really aint a seal at the center panel of the window so rain easy gets in that area. that drain tube that leads to the outside of the hull by the bow eye is the drain tube for that window pocket.

you gotta crawl into the little space under the windshield.

thats fun to do isn't it... a real back breaker for sure...
i get a little water in my bow area. my best guess for where it leaks on my boat is the bow light. i can see the trickle, right by where that tube enters the boat, but i don't think it leaks because the only time i get water in the bow is after rain or high seas where i'm splashing water on the bow itself.

i also resealed the ft. half of my cap to hull seam. at the rub rail. that glue had degraded on mine. mostly the ft. half which is why i only did the ft. half the boat.

fwiw. my boat don't take on any water if it's calm out. not unusual to remove the drain plug at end of day and get nothing out of it.
in higher seas i'll get less that a cup out. when i'm out in the stuff i can drain 1/2 gallon out maybe up to a gallon. never had more than that and assume that them days the water has intruded via splashing right into the boat from the high waves.

great to have ya on board pack-rat

 

[dbkerley]

Re: How to check where water enters the hull?

After a day of tubing and the like we get quite a bit of water out of the bilge. I searched for the source for some time until I watched my grandson when he crawled up the ladder and stood on the rear deck for a few seconds. I'll bet he drained 3 gallons out of his vest and suit right there. Multiply that by 4 or 5 kids in and out all day and it adds up to alot of water.

Just a thought. I never found a leak and that was all I could come up with.

 

[H20wens]

Re: How to check where water enters the hull?

Just to pile on - pay attention when you pull the plug at the end of the day. If the water is unusually warm, it could be coming from the engine or exhaust. I have seen quite a few folks with block and/or exhaust drains left open. Beyond that, I'll have to argree with DB. It is surprising how much water the kids dump into the boat.

BTW - I've never had leakage from the center windshield cavity drain that I know of. As for the wood in the transom, there does appear to be a very small reinforcing "ring" around the stern drive. The rest is definately glass. I'm not convinced that the ring is wood either. I'm pretty sure Scott said that this area is a built up laminate.