Taking on water overnight-gctid809019

[souljunkie]

Hey everyone -

We have slept overnight on the boat twice now and both times there was probably 3-4 gallons of water in the hull by morning that I had to pump out. (My float switch is broken, fixing that this week)

I don't know where it is coming from other than possibly the bellows. The top (u-joint) bellows looks ok, but the exhaust bellows is not connected - looks like it just popped off at the drive and it is hard as hell to re-connect.

Can that be the problem? The only other penetrations in the hull are the head pick up, the transducer and the pick up for the AC, and they all look fine.

[Ruffryder]

Simple answer is NO.

Your exhaust bellows doesn't even need to be connected , but it is better to be connected. So that is not the problem.

What kind of a boat? What power train? Moored or trailered?

Fill out your profile!

[Dave907]

Water in the bilge is a really broad problem to diagnose. I've spent a many hours tracking down the source of them over several boats.

I once spent a huge amount of time looking for a leak from through hull fittings, etc. only to splash some bilge water and notice it was fresh water, not salt. Aha! Soon learned it was a leaking fresh water pump, not a leak from the ocean at all.

So, was it raining the nights you spent on the boat? If so, could it be a deck leak? A scupper hose with an loose hose clamp or clogged line?

If not, did you run the boat before docking it? If so, could it have come from wet exhausts? An insufficiently tightened packing gland? Or do you have outdrives and therefore no wet exhausts or packing gland on the shaft?

Does the air conditioning cooling raw water loop leak?

Anyway, just running through the "what if" mental exercise anyone should do when finding unexpected water in the bilge. You basically just run through every "hole" in the boat (water line down and water line up) and check them off the list for leaks.

Hope this helps. Good luck in searching out the leak. It's one of the maddening parts of boat ownership for sure!

Dave

[Pcpete]

The shifter cable have an upper and lower section that tie together on the starboard manifold. The lower cable goes though the outer transom plate and has a bellows on it that commonly fails. The quantity you mentioned is about right for the sifter bellows. It's a relatively easy job to do if you know how to pop the leg off. You may be able to replace the bellows without replacing the cable and housing. If you decide to replace the cable and housing, buy the special socket for removing the cable nut from the transom plate, absolutely remember to remove the wrapped cable stiffener, and follow the on line instructions to the letter and it will work out fine.

[souljunkie]

No it wasn't raining, can't be fresh water since the system was holding pressure, pump never kicked on and the holding tank is still full.

Pretty sure it was lake water. We weren't docked so we weren't using A/C. There are only 3 thru-hull holes in the boat that I know of, and they all look fine.

Nothing at all coming out of the forward bilge area or the head/shower. Dry as a bone up front.

Has to be the bellows or one of two aft hull penetrations for the transducer or the A/C seawater intake, but they all look fine

It is trailered now in the driveway and nothing...

[TenMile]

Do you know the last time the bellows were serviced? While they are on the trailer, it's worth taking a close up look to see if you can see cracks. If you've not serviced them in the last 5 or so years, it may be worth the while getting it done.

[souljunkie]

Yea, I think that is the route I will have to take. I don't know how long it has been since since they were serviced. We just bought it over the winter.

I can see the main one from the bottom only. Looks fine, but it could be cracked on top somewhere.

Guess I will call the local marina and see if they can service it. I was hoping for something simpler of course, but all signs point to that.

[Ruffryder]

Upper SQ shaft seal,

Drive shaft bellows,

Shift cable bellows,

ANY of those cases above, you will be able to see it dripping from the inner transom shield.

BEST to determine these problems while she is in the water.

Rusted steering lever...upper SQ shaft seal,

Dripping below the drive shaft... drive bellows, or pull the drive to inspect inside.

Dripping bottom of the shield. ..shift cable bellows.

[builderdude]

Probably another square shaft water seal :S

With Joon on finding the source of the leak while its in the water, using paper towels can help pin point the actual area.