Water leak in my 2008 Monterey 275

[bogga71]

Hi. We have a water leak under the cocpit i the sleeping cell below the cocpit in our 2008 Monterey 275. Anybody knows where the leak is coming from (anybody having the same problem)? The carpet on the floor in the sleeping cell is soaking wet. It's fresh water, so it's coming from above.

 

[JoLin]

Re: Water leak in my 2008 Monterey 275

It's fresh water, so it's coming from above.

Maybe not. Is any area above the wet area, also wet? My cabin sole was soaked when I picked up my boat at the start of the season. We'd had some killer rainstorms, so I figured the water had managed to come in through a deck hatch or sidelight. Wrong. After wet-vacuuming the area and drying up as much as possible, I found it soaked again the next day. When I investigated further, nothing above the sole showed any sign of leakage. That left only the fresh water tank. Mine is located in the bow under the v-berth. A fitting at the pump caused the problem, it just needed to be tightened a little.

Hi- and welcome to iboats!

 

[Slip Away]

Re: Water leak in my 2008 Monterey 275

Also check your sump connections , could be a connection loose there. My guess is a faucet/water tank connection .

 

[bogga71]

Re: Water leak in my 2008 Monterey 275

Maybe not. Is any area above the wet area, also wet? My cabin sole was soaked when I picked up my boat at the start of the season. We'd had some killer rainstorms, so I figured the water had managed to come in through a deck hatch or sidelight. Wrong. After wet-vacuuming the area and drying up as much as possible, I found it soaked again the next day. When I investigated further, nothing above the sole showed any sign of leakage. That left only the fresh water tank. Mine is located in the bow under the v-berth. A fitting at the pump caused the problem, it just needed to be tightened a little.

Hi- and welcome to iboats!

Hi.
Thanks a lot for your answer. I think we only have leaks after it's been raining. But your idea is a good one, since the shower and the toilet is next door to the sleeping area. The fresh water tank is located next to the engine, below the sleeping area, s? if it's coming from the fresh water system it must happen when the water is under pressure i guess.

I really appreciate you are helping me. We are pretty frustrated and we have spend a lot of money to fix the leak with no success.

 

[bogga71]

Re: Water leak in my 2008 Monterey 275

Also check your sump connections , could be a connection loose there. My guess is a faucet/water tank connection .

Thank you for helping me out. Will check the fresh water system. But i think we only have leaks after rain.

 

[JoLin]

Re: Water leak in my 2008 Monterey 275

Yeah, with the tank back in the ER, I'd agree it sounds like a rain leak. Those can be awful tough to find as the drip can show up a good distance from where the water is coming into the boat. Wish I could offer more help. Have you contacted Monterey? They might be aware of a problem area that's shown up in other owners' boats.

 

[bogga71]

Re: Water leak in my 2008 Monterey 275

Yeah, with the tank back in the ER, I'd agree it sounds like a rain leak. Those can be awful tough to find as the drip can show up a good distance from where the water is coming into the boat. Wish I could offer more help. Have you contacted Monterey? They might be aware of a problem area that's shown up in other owners' boats.

I have tried to get an answer from Monterey Boats on their Facebook page. But no answer yet. They seem to like to get nice pictures on that site and no problems. Unfortunately the guarantee they brag about is worth nothing to me since I'm not the original buyer of the boat. My guess is that this is a failure during production. We've had leaks since 2008,when the boat was just some month old (the original owner sold it to me after 6 months). We've paid a lot of money to get the leak fixed but they could not find the leak and thay have given up now. I'm afraid that there might be water in the hull somewhere and that this water will rot and create new problems.

 

[JoLin]

Re: Water leak in my 2008 Monterey 275

I'd try a more direct route. Contact their customer service directly. Does Monterey have a link to an 'owners club' on their site? Register and post there, too.

Have you spent time inside the boat during a rainstorm, or have you had somebody spray the boat with a hose while you stayed aboard? Have you checked the entire sleeping area for wetness, up the sides and across the ceiling? The water is following a path from the leak's entry point to the floor of the mid-berth.

 

[Slip Away]

Re: Water leak in my 2008 Monterey 275

Monterey's facebook page is not the place to get an answer. It's social media, not problem solving. Go to their forum (heavily moderated) and you may get some suggestions from members there. You will have to wait several days for a response. M.O.S.T (Monterey Owners Support Team) is part of their customer service group, they moderate the site and can likely help answer your questions. Also, in the states your model is designated as a 250CR, so adding that to this topic as well as to MOST may get more results. Boats do leak, no matter what brand, so this is not a design issue with your boat. I have been a Monterey owner for 5 years (2 boats) and I have never heard of an issue like you are experiencing, so it is not all that common. Moisture test can tell you what is wet, and from there the source of the leak can be traced. Have you had a test like this done? You state that you have spent "a lot of money" trying to diagnose the problem. What exactly was all this money spent on ?

 

[Mischief Managed]

Re: Water leak in my 2008 Monterey 275

I bet it's the hull to deck joint screws. Water runs down behind the rub rail then then finds a screw that's a little loose and leaks into he boat. If you run in any sort of chop often, these screws get worked loose. Assuming you can't find any other leaks, the fix is:
1. remove the stainless steel section of the rub rail screws in two meter section.
2. gently pull the rub rail away from the boat.
3. remove the screws under the stainless steel, one at a time, fill the screw hole with 3M 4200 sealer (or something equivalent), put the screw back, and move to the next screw until all the exposed screws are sealed.
4. Put almost all stainless steel section screws back in place, with sealer, leaving enough out to move on to next two meter section.
5. remove stainless steel rub rail section screws in next 2 meter section.
6. repeat steps 2 through 5 until all screws are sealed.

This work can take all day.

 

[bogga71]

Re: Water leak in my 2008 Monterey 275

I'd try a more direct route. Contact their customer service directly. Does Monterey have a link to an 'owners club' on their site? Register and post there, too.

Have you spent time inside the boat during a rainstorm, or have you had somebody spray the boat with a hose while you stayed aboard? Have you checked the entire sleeping area for wetness, up the sides and across the ceiling? The water is following a path from the leak's entry point to the floor of the mid-berth.

Thanks a lot. I will do that. I really appreciate your comments

We have tried to check the leak during rainstorm but it seem to be just small amount of water coming in. During a two day rainstorm it gets wet. Also one of the walls gets wet.

 

[bogga71]

Re: Water leak in my 2008 Monterey 275

Thanks for you comments! I will check that site. I have not done a Moisture test (don't know what it is), the company we used to fix the problem is the Monterey service company in Norway. They say they have taken out screws and put on sealer and used a fire hose to spray the boat. They did not find any leaks after this. I think it is because the leak is to small to find in just some hours. I will ask them to send me an overwiew on everything they have sealed, which screws they have fixed so I might get an idea of where it's coming from.

 

[bogga71]

Re: Water leak in my 2008 Monterey 275

Monterey's facebook page is not the place to get an answer. It's social media, not problem solving. Go to their forum (heavily moderated) and you may get some suggestions from members there. You will have to wait several days for a response. M.O.S.T (Monterey Owners Support Team) is part of their customer service group, they moderate the site and can likely help answer your questions. Also, in the states your model is designated as a 250CR, so adding that to this topic as well as to MOST may get more results. Boats do leak, no matter what brand, so this is not a design issue with your boat. I have been a Monterey owner for 5 years (2 boats) and I have never heard of an issue like you are experiencing, so it is not all that common. Moisture test can tell you what is wet, and from there the source of the leak can be traced. Have you had a test like this done? You state that you have spent "a lot of money" trying to diagnose the problem. What exactly was all this money spent on ?

Water leak in my 2008 Monterey 275



Thanks for you comments! I will check that site. I have not done a Moisture test (don't know what it is), the company we used to fix the problem is the Monterey service company in Norway. They say they have taken out screws and put on sealer and used a fire hose to spray the boat. They did not find any leaks after this. I think it is because the leak is to small to find in just some hours. I will ask them to send me an overwiew on everything they have sealed, which screws they have fixed so I might get an idea of where it's coming from.

 

[bogga71]

Re: Water leak in my 2008 Monterey 275

I bet it's the hull to deck joint screws. Water runs down behind the rub rail then then finds a screw that's a little loose and leaks into he boat. If you run in any sort of chop often, these screws get worked loose. Assuming you can't find any other leaks, the fix is:
1. remove the stainless steel section of the rub rail screws in two meter section.
2. gently pull the rub rail away from the boat.
3. remove the screws under the stainless steel, one at a time, fill the screw hole with 3M 4200 sealer (or something equivalent), put the screw back, and move to the next screw until all the exposed screws are sealed.
4. Put almost all stainless steel section screws back in place, with sealer, leaving enough out to move on to next two meter section.
5. remove stainless steel rub rail section screws in next 2 meter section.
6. repeat steps 2 through 5 until all screws are sealed.

This work can take all day.

Thanks a lot. I have a lot to do I can see

 

[Mischief Managed]

Re: Water leak in my 2008 Monterey 275

We have tried to check the leak during rainstorm but it seem to be just small amount of water coming in. During a two day rainstorm it gets wet. Also one of the walls gets wet.

This is a classic symptom of a hull to deck joint leak. Most repair facilities would simply caulk the top of the rub rail with sealer and fix the leak for a year or two. My screw seal fix will last MUCH longer and is a better solution in my opinion. Good luck!