Leak Identification - Transom Plate Seal ?? - 4.3L OMC

[grandwind]

1991 Four Winns 200 Horizon with 4.3L OMC Cobra I/O. Is this leak indicative of a transom seal or could it be from another source based on the location of the leak ?

 

[88 Capri (2022 SOTY)]

It is very possible. That discoloration leads me to believe it's been leaking in some respects for quite sometime.
You could also have a rotted transom because of that leak or it is causing it, my boat is only a few years older and the key hole was bare wood so it just let moisture in.
I've seen threads that had leaks in that area due to bad bellows but only when the engine was running.
You may need to pull the drive, transom mount among other things to repair if the bellows aren't the culprit.

 

[grandwind]

Thank you 88 ... I ran the unit in my drive way with the ear muffs hooked up and no water intrusion. I launch it, dont start it, and that was when the pic was taken of the water coming in, just sitting in the water, no engine running. Should have mentioned that in the first place. Bellows and outdrive have not been serviced in 10 or so years. Use the boat maybe 5-10 times per year, running under 1 hour per launch.

 

[Bondo]

Thank you 88 ... I ran the unit in my drive way with the ear muffs hooked up and no water intrusion. I launch it, dont start it, and that was when the pic was taken of the water coming in, just sitting in the water, no engine running. Should have mentioned that in the first place. Bellows and outdrive have not been serviced in 10 or so years. Use the boat maybe 5-10 times per year, running under 1 hour per launch.

Ayuh,..... Welcome Aboard,..... With it's age, the odds are the transom is rotten,.....

 

[88 Capri (2022 SOTY)]

Ayuh,..... Welcome Aboard,..... With it's age, the odds are the transom is rotten,.....

If it does come down to the transom being rotten there are plenty of threads on the site and in the stickies that show and explain what you may or may not be confronted with, plus plenty of people here who have plenty of knowledge to share.

 

[grandwind]

looking to have someone pull my sterndrive and identify a thru hull leak, and service the outdrive if its not transom rot. 1991 FourWinns Horizon 200, 4.3 OMC CObra

 

[jbcurt00]

Merged so history of questions are w request for service center....

Better call Doc & request to use his DeLorean, may need to break space~time continuum to find 1 for an OMC setup

 

[Scott Danforth]

looking to have someone pull my sterndrive and identify a thru hull leak, and service the outdrive if its not transom rot. 1991 FourWinns Horizon 200, 4.3 OMC CObra

If you do the work to pull your drive, engine and transom shield. You are into it for a weekend and you work at your own pace

If you pay someone to pull your drive, motor and transom shield, you are out $2k if you can find someone willing to work on 32 year old obsolete motor / drive

 

[Don't Panic!]

Where are you? I did find one old dude near me that would work on the Cobra. Although he really didn't want to, and convinced me to do it myself. I did tow it to him twice to help me with a few specific things though.

I snorted a bit when I read Scott's weekend timeline, lol. It took me more than a year of occasional work, but I pulled everything out (down to the bare keyhole), inspected, replaced some stuff, cleaned up a bunch of things, and reassembled. Even with my own labor I'm in for a few thousand. I can't think it would be remotely worth it to pay someone for the labor, it's a lot of time consuming stuff. And in my case that was absolutely best case scenario because there was no rot. If I had found rot, I was going to cut my losses and dump the boat. Sometimes I wish I found rot.

It was a lot of work, but at the end of the day at least I have a 35 year old boat with an obsolete drive that doesn't like to shift out of gear lol.

 

[Scott Danforth]

I did say, to pull the drive/motor/shield your in it for a weekend. Build the A-frame on Saturday, pull the drive at 8AM Sunday, pull the motor at 9AM on Sunday, pull the transom shield at 10 am. Clean the bilge and find the rot by 11am

 

[grandwind]

Where are you? I did find one old dude near me that would work on the Cobra. Although he really didn't want to, and convinced me to do it myself. I did tow it to him twice to help me with a few specific things though.

I snorted a bit when I read Scott's weekend timeline, lol. It took me more than a year of occasional work, but I pulled everything out (down to the bare keyhole), inspected, replaced some stuff, cleaned up a bunch of things, and reassembled. Even with my own labor I'm in for a few thousand. I can't think it would be remotely worth it to pay someone for the labor, it's a lot of time consuming stuff. And in my case that was absolutely best case scenario because there was no rot. If I had found rot, I was going to cut my losses and dump the boat. Sometimes I wish I found rot.

It was a lot of work, but at the end of the day at least I have a 35 year old boat with an obsolete drive that doesn't like to shift out of gear lol.

Located in SE Pennsylvania