where is the water coming from?

[savhjco]

I have a 2002 Mercruiser 4.3. I'm taking in water, but do not know from where. Puzzling thing is out of the water I hooked up the flush kit, ran it, looked everywhere and see nothing. Even in gear. Not a drop! In the water same thing at idle, but when I'm cruising I have to hit the bilge switch often.

 

[MrDumb]

Re: where is the water coming from?

Did you have the Drain Plug in???

 

[Walt T]

Re: where is the water coming from?

You can almost hear him exclaim O ****

 

[flashback]

Re: where is the water coming from?

check your bellows....

 

[savhjco]

Re: where is the water coming from?

The plug was in. Sitting in the water, running or not, I see no leaks. Cruising is the only time water comes in. I haven't been out with anyone to view as one drives, so I tried running it on land with flush kit, in and out of gear. Still no water.

 

[Stanp]

Re: where is the water coming from?

I don't think its your engine thats putting the water into the bilge. (i think that's what we're talking about) While underway, check the seal around the outdrive inside the aft wall. look closely to thru hull drains, especially plastic ones close to the water line or under the waterline. There might be hairline cracks in them and, when your underway, water is forced into the cracks filling the bilge with water.

 

[kdmiller8251]

Re: where is the water coming from?

Put the plug in while on land, and try to fill the bilge up as high as possible with water, you may be able to see the leak that way on the outside.

 

[vinney]

Re: where is the water coming from?

Who winterized the engine? Rear core plug.

 

[Darian F.]

Re: where is the water coming from?

Take your drive off and inspect the upper bellows( the part where the shaft runs through)<br /><br />If you have water here you need a gimball bearing and your bellows replaced, also look for cracks in the gimball housing.

 

[Bondo]

Re: where is the water coming from?

This Vaguely sounds like the Fella a couple weeks ago.........<br />Remember the boat that the Flappers broke,+ fell down into the pipe,<br />Then wore a hole in the Exhaust Down Pipe.......

 

[cobra 3.0]

Re: where is the water coming from?

Is the front rope hook/eyelet loose? It may be seeping in from there.

 

[savhjco]

Re: where is the water coming from?

Rear core plug? What is the cause/effect?

 

[Walt T]

Re: where is the water coming from?

You said the engine wasnt leaking running on muffs. Therefore it's in all liklihood not the rear core plug.

 

[outboardguy]

Re: where is the water coming from?

Bondo. in all liklihood it is probably not the exhaust flappers.His boat is a 2002 and should have the rubber coated plastic flappers installed. Even if they broke they would just become a exhaust restriction and wouldn't have the sharpness to cut through aluminum.The other guy's boat was a 1994. My best guess is to check the u-joint bellows for a hole.Without the engine running the gimbal bearing will hold water back pretty effectively.But once the engine is running the u-joints will add more pressure to the water in the bellows forcing it into the boat. My .02

 

[Toad2001]

Re: where is the water coming from?

Hi Bondo/Outboardguy,<br />That happened to me on my 94 30' Doral several years back with twin 4.3 Mercs. Unfortunately, although I regularly checked my bilge pump for operation it had apparently lost it's buoyancy, and when I went down a week later, I had water up to the harmonic balancers and the entire cabin was soaked. A few more days, it would have sunk at the dock.<br />Do you know if Mercury had a campaign to cover costs to fix the problem? I ended up just fixing it myself, and didn't look at insurance or anything...It was expensive though. You have to pull a motor and replace the exhaust down/Y-Pipe<br />What a mess though. Fortunately my whole boat had snap in carpets and a smooth fibreglass liner so it was really easy to clean.

 

[outboardguy]

Re: where is the water coming from?

I know of no campaigns through Mercury that cover damage to the y-pipe due to failure of the exhaust shutters.I believe the reason why is that it is not a defect in material and workmanship.The original exhaust shutters were metal coated with rubber,which work fine until the first time the exhaust runs out of water(overheat).After that the rubber is gone and the constant banging of a metal flapper will weaken it enough to break.once it breaks it will lodge in the lower portion of the pipe and cut a hole slowly.As you can see the beginning of the end is when the engine is overheated which is usally caused by lack of maintenance which isn't any fault of Mercury's

 

[55chevy]

Re: where is the water coming from?

My uncle had a problem similar to this one, he filled the bilge area with water and ran around the entire outdrive with compressed air. Found nothing, so he started hitting stress cracks... in the process he found a small pin hole, drilled it out and sealed it. You apply air pressure from the outside and look for bubbles on the inside, just remember..not to much water, you don't want to soak your starter......<br />Mark

 

[Northern Eclipse]

Re: where is the water coming from?

I was going crazy a few years back trying to find the source of water in my bilge when at speed and after repairs were made for a leaking y-pipe and transom seal, still got water, turned out to be a pinhole in the speedo tube at the transom...

 

[texsun]

Re: where is the water coming from?

I had this problem with my 3.0. Turned out to be bellows at the riser/exhaust tube. The flapper bushings had worn out and at cruising speed it must have pumped quite a bit of water. Bilge would fill just as you are referring to. Check around the top of the exhaust tubes for signs of water leakage(mine left a white residue even after the water had dried) Is the water warm in the bilge or lake temperature. That might give you a hint of where the water is coming from. When I'd put my boat on the trailer and pull the plug the water was like bath water. I was pretty sure it was coming from the engine...it just took me a while to find it.<br /><br />Mark