Tracing a leak

[KBHumphrey]

I have a 1992 20' Wellcraft Excel with 4.3 Volvo Penta. It's the first boat for my and my family; we've been out 4 times this summer. One thing I notice, seconded today by my father-in-law, is that it takes on too much water. After a couple hours, I can flip the bilge switch and it will run a minute or two straight. Seems like too much water to be taking in. I'm thinking some of the transom seals are probably leaking.


Question is: What's the best way to trace a possible leak? Fill the bilge area with water on dry land and look for seepage? Any other ideas?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Augoose]

Re: Tracing a leak

That is a technique (fill bilge and watch for leaks0 and there are quite a few folks around here that would say "any" water is too much water.
I'm not familiar with the Penta but many others on here are... so I'm pretty sure that your topic has been searched before, so you are likely to find some good information that other people have posted.

At any rate, on the mercruisers I would examine the shift cable bellows and u-joint bellows for tears, loose seals or dry rot.
Also, you'd be surprised at how much water can be brought in from skiers and swimmers if they don't drip off enough on a swim platform or whatnot.

 

[KBHumphrey]

Re: Tracing a leak

So I monkeyed around a little bit with the boat yesterday. Running it on muffs, the first thing I noticed was that water would drip from the bottom of the engine while running. The stream was fairly steady. I don't know where the leak comes from as I couldn't see anything, just the drip. It seems like there's a seal or valve somewhere in the water jacket causing this. How critical of a problem is this? Obviously I can just keep pumping the bilge, but should I be concerned about a cracked block or other issue?

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Tracing a leak

Obviously I can just keep pumping the bilge, but should I be concerned about a cracked block or other issue?

Yep. You're going to want to track that down.