Water in my bilge

[Dan01543]

Hello I have a 1996 wellcraft excel 21sl boat with a volvo penta 5.0fl motor and a cobra sx outdrive. I have been getting water in my bilge for a couple of months now. It's a very slow leak.my bilge pump will run twice in 24 hours. So I decided to go out and buy a inspection camera.i spent 2 hours looking at the back of my boat and the transom to see if I had any drips of water or small stream trickling in and did not find anything. But yet the water is coming from somewhere. Also that morning I took the boat out all day for 8 hours and in them 8 hours my bilge stayed completely dry until I got back to my slip then the water started to leak in after 8 hours. I looked with the camera again and still couldn't find any sign of water coming in. So now im asking for help because this has really got me stumped. I even put the boat on the trailer and filled the bilge with water and went back the next day and the same amount of water was still in my bilge.my bellows and gimbal bearing are a month old and nothing has a tear or cut in them.i replaced the water line as well in the outdrive. So with that being said and im asking for help. Where would the water be coming in from.
Specially to go all day and nothing leak inside and then for it to start leaking boggles my mind. I attached a picture of the camera that I bought and used. If anyone may know what's going on please let me know. Thank you dan

 

[Scott Danforth]

never put water in the bilge.

first, you add many thousands of pounds to your trailer
second, you put water into areas of your boat that should never have water and it will never come out of those areas
third, you almost always ruin your starter and other electrical devices.

you bought a bore scope. they are like $5 to connect to your phone. I have 3 or 4 of them.

if it is not leaking with the boat static. run the motor and look for signs of water. could be your raw water pump seal leaking

could be the exhaust y leaking

 

[Dan01543]

First of all my starter did get wet.secound a the camera I have will do everything a bore scope would do.my raw water pump is brand new and my y pipe isn't leaking I already checked that.

 

[Dan01543]

All my coolant lines are tight my manifolds and risers are brand new and tight. But know you brought something up about static. I don't know what that is or what you mean. If u can please explain then I'll understand better. But as far as me putting water in my bilge I only put more water in by a 1 1/2 more than what was going in there. So the water was only coming up to the lower part of my oil pan. So it wasn't that much but I understand what you mean by that I could ruin my trailer. Again this water leak boggles my mind because I can't find out where it is coming from. I even used my cordless shop vac to suck the water out my bilge and wipe my bilge dry and no water comes in but as soon as I take my eyes off of it and go to my jeep to get other tools or to put tools away and I come back there's water in it.so again I don't understand it.im about ready to pull my motor out and see what is going on but that's last resort.

 

[briangcc]

Static....sitting anchored on your trailer, not running.

On my FourWinns, the bellows were loose and only leaked water when running. Pretty much what you described.....ran it for a few hours and upon retrieval the bilge pump would kick in and give a hell of a shower as I pulled the boat up the ramp. Took 2 marinas to find it - first ones (my selling marina) were idiots.

So I'd run it, on the lake. Have a friend/family member drive it, idle should be fine, and check to see if you can find the leak.

 

[JASinIL2006]

So, while the boat was running for 8 hours, there was no leak, but after it sat in the slip for another 8 hours, you found water in the bilge? Is that correct?

Also, I agree with others that filling the bilge with water is a bad idea; you're unlikely to find the source of your water and you'll introduce water to all sorts of places that are best kept dry (even if you don't submerge the starter). Just not good for the boat.

How much water is infiltrating while the boat just sits? Do you know if the bilge pump ran during the time the was at rest?

 

[poconojoe]

How is the condition of your garboard drain plug? Maybe water can't get in through it while the boat is moving due to the suction of the wake, but standing still without any pressure it leaks.

Do you have any underwater intakes for maybe a bait well or something like that? The same thing could be happening. Water gets drawn away when the boat is moving, but leaks when just sitting.

Do you have anything like a transducer or trim tabs screwed to your transom? Same scenario as above. The water pressure of the boat moving may not allow the water to leak in, but sitting still it might leak.

Just guessing.....

 

[poconojoe]

Did you have this problem before the bellows were replaced?
I would get that checked. Could be something didn't seal properly when they did the bellows job.

 

[Dan01543]

I had the problem before the bellows were replaced. My cousin checked over my work as he is a certified marine mechanic. I do have a transducer but them holes are sealed with a marine epoxy. My bilge pump will run twice In 24 hours. As far as filling the boat with water im at the end of my rope with this leak.i had know other way of finding out where it's coming from which is why I did it.i only put as much as what was in there when my bilge pump turned on.i left the water in there over night and the next morning it never went down. All coolant lines are tight. Manifolds and risers are not leaking.
My y pipe is not leaking either as i checked with a camera. I even used the camera while i was under way at 10 miles per hour while my girlfriend drove for me and still couldn't find out where.i even sucked out all the water with a shop vac and no water came in until I left for the night and the next morning the water was in there..so I don't know what else it could be.

 

[airshot]

There is a possibility that the water is comming thru the transom bolts if the transom is starting to go bad. As the wood inside compresses a small amount of water begins to seep in thru those thru bolts....very difficult to detect !!!!! As stated while underwayvthey wont leak but sitting..they will seep !! Test your transom for soft wood, closest to the bottom....I will hope that I am wrong, but...it is a possibility !!

 

[poconojoe]

There is a possibility that the water is comming thru the transom bolts if the transom is starting to go bad. As the wood inside compresses a small amount of water begins to seep in thru those thru bolts....very difficult to detect !!!!! As stated while underwayvthey wont leak but sitting..they will seep !! Test your transom for soft wood, closest to the bottom....I will hope that I am wrong, but...it is a possibility !!

Yep, could very well be that.
Same reason I mentioned transducer or trim tab mounting screws or maybe garboard drain plug housing.
It's not seeping in while under way due to the negative pressure of the moving boat.

I recall being told years ago when we had a small row boat with a kicker motor that you could pull the transom plug while moving in order to pull out any water that was in the boat. I never had the stones to try it, but it made sense.

 

[airshot]

Yep, could very well be that.
Same reason I mentioned transducer or trim tab mounting screws or maybe garboard drain plug housing.
It's not seeping in while under way due to the negative pressure of the moving boat.

I recall being told years ago when we had a small row boat with a kicker motor that you could pull the transom plug while moving in order to pull out any water that was in the boat. I never had the stones to try it, but it made sense.

Had an old leaky 12' v bottom alum boat, I often pulled the plug ( could reach it from the inside!). To let the excess water out while underway. The suction from moving would suck out a couple gallons real quick!! Just make sure the plug was back in before stopping..

 

[Grub54891]

Several ideas here are good. Transom bolts, drain plug, ect. Another thing could be the steering pin. At rest some are under water and will leak.

 

[Dan01543]

I did that it's not coming in from there

Yep, could very well be that.
Same reason I mentioned transducer or trim tab mounting screws or maybe garboard drain plug housing.
It's not seeping in while under way due to the negative pressure of the moving boat.

I recall being told years ago when we had a small row boat with a kicker motor that you could pull the transom plug while moving in order to pull out any water that was in the boat. I never had the stones to try it, but it made sense.