Transmission Spewing Water

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Nov 15, 2021
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I have a used Tige 2004 Switch V I just picked up and the bilge kept filling up with water too fast after only being out on the lake a short time. I took it to a shop to have it looked at and they said the packing in the prop shaft was leaking too much water so they fixed that, they also said the sea water pump was leaking so they replaced the whole pump and told me the leaks were fixed. However, I took it out on the lake today and it did not leak just sitting at idle, but as soon as I put it into gear and started to move, I could see water is coming out of the transmission. Is it suppose to do this? I have to constantly be turning the bilge pump on to get it out. I am new to boating, but I have to think this is not normal and there must be something wrong that the mechanic failed to identify and fix. Can someone please watch the video I took of it today and tell me what they think the problem is and if it is a big deal to fix or not? I uploaded the video to YouTube and will post a link to it here.

 
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Bondo

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Nope,.... Not normal,..... Is there any oil left in the trans,..??

Welcome Aboard,.....
 

kenny nunez

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It may be a core plug in the rear of the engine block. To me it appears to be coming out of the flywheel housing.
 
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That picture I just posted is of the front of the fly wheel. It is open. It looks like there use to be a rubber gasket covering it. Not sure if water could be coming out of here?
 
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When it’s running have you checked all the clamps for your exhaust system? The ones in this pic look loose to me!
No, I will check them. But I can tell you, I ran it for about 35 min on fake lake and got no water in the bilge, water was coming out the exhaust pipes as it should from the hose water, but nothing leaked into the bilge. I didn’t think to engage the propeller and transmission on fake lake though. Tomorrow morning I want to take it back out on fake lake and hook up the hose then engage the transmission to see if I get the same water spewing into the bilge when transmission is engaged and see better where it’s coming from.
 
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Just checked, they aren’t loose. I checked the transmission fluid also and it’s still full. It was under pressure slightly because when I took the cap off it kind of made a noise like when you remove the lid on a soda pop can that was shook up, I mean just very slightly though. Is that normal?
 

kenny nunez

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If the transmission cooler has an internal leak , your transmission has water in it. The water is blowing out of the front seal.
 

Grub54891

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I use a selfie stick alot. You can get right under the motor and see whats going on. Keep the phone dry with saran wrap or a ziplock bag.
 
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Shoot, I should have told you, I got my sefie stick at the dollar store. One buck. And the darn thing works.
ah, oh well. Maybe $9 more will get me a better one, but then again, probably not.

So I went back and looked at the video again and notice something I did not notice the first time. It looks like the water is coming from further back than where I was focusing on. There is a rubber hose blocking it until about 8 seconds in, then you can see water shooting from futher back, right about where the prop shaft seal is located (where I put the red square in the screen shot attached). This tells me that I think the water is actually coming from the prop shaft seal. See the seal in the picture attached as well.
 

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kenny nunez

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It looks like you found the problem. You will have to remove the propeller and hopefully there is a slight off set of the rudder so the shaft can be pulled.
 

QBhoy

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I’m not sure that a leaking stern gland would throw water like that. I’d see if it does the same thing with the same level of leakage, with the engine in neutral, revving and the boat not moving. If it does…it’s not the stern gland.
 

Grub54891

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That appears to be a v-drive. And a dripless stuffing box. A dripless should not leak like that unless it's not set up correctly, as in pre-load. Regardless, the leak seems to be out of the flywheel area, as stated before it might be a core plug. Get that selfie stick down there and have a better look. I did see one time where a boat wasn't winterized properly, the cooling lines went through the transmission, and the case cracked. Not sure if yours is set up like that.
 
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I took it out to the lake last weekend and confirmed no more leak now that I tightened down the collar on the dripless stuffing box, so that is definitely what the leak was. Now, I just hope I didn't make it too tight because I know it needs a little water to come through to keep it cool. I compressed it in about 1/2" and only have a very small amount of water in the bilge after about a couple hours of boating, not even enough to kick on the bilge pump.
 

Grub54891

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There is a pre-load setting for that type of box. You would have to look up the brand, and specs for it. To tight will destroy it, too loose and it will leak.
Edit. I have to ask, you stated that it was repaired at a shop before, they must have set it up wrong of it was leaking that badly. Also, your shaft alignment has to be spot on for it to last.
 
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