Serious amount of sea water in Bilge...-gctid352927

[Guest]

Hi guys,

It's been a while since I've posted. I've been so busy with work and any free time I had was being spent on the water! I was having no problems with the boat for the first time during my ownership and it was sheer bliss to be able to just walk on to her and start the engine and go! Until recently!:livid:

I had previously mentioned in one of my posts that the bilge was taking in a bit of water but nothing the pumps couldnt handle. The response from some of you guys was to keep it in the water till it got out of hand and also to try and identify where the water was coming in from.I had a mechanic check it out and left him to come back with the reason and solution for the leak.BAD IDEA!!

I kept an eye on the water level and for the time being, it was all good...till last week.

I got a txt from the marina saying ' water in bilge,please come quick'. Got to the marina in 15 minutes to find out that the pump had stopped working and in a space of 4 hours the water was up to the lower edges of thE pulleys/belts so the oil pan at this point was completely submerged.

The mechanic who was asked to find the leak had let me down severly.No one to blame but myself for being such a fool!! I had no choice but to pull her out of as the sight of all that water in the bilge was unbearable.

Now the real issue. How do I know where the leak was from? Who are the usual suspects? Exhaust bellows? Transom Seal kit etc? If anyone could give me a list I could simply replace the lot to eliminate any chances of this happening again. Engine is 5.7 Merc with Bravo III drive. Any ideas/tips on this? Much appreciated guys,what would I do with out The Boc

[Guest]

If you have any through hull fittings close to or below the waterline, and they are manufactured from marlon, nylon or other plastic type material take a look to see if any are cracked. If this is the transom shield or somethng associated with the transom shield like the outdrive pivot pins leaking, you will need to put the boat back into the water to locate the leak.

[Machog]

If its now out of the water, start filling bilges with fresh water and see if you can find a place its pouring out. If it filled that quickly it should pour out quickly as well. Don't put too much in obviously as water is heavy and you don't want to stress hull or trailer while its on land.

Machog

[Kimosammy]

This is what I did...grab some old towels, flashlight and some beer.

Put it back in the water. Start the engines and let them warm, then shut'em down.

Open the engine cover, climb inside and find a comfortable spotand sit there.

Sit there and listen and look. It could take up to a couple hours but you'll find it.

[Guest]

The reason I'm asking for the list of parts that leak is so I can change them inorder to avoid anything getting left out. The level of expertise in the mid east for inboard Merc engines is appalingly poor so Mechanics can't be trusted to fix things correctly. The solution would be to change anything that could potentially allow water into the bilge.

Also I would like to add that the forward bilge was also full and the carpet in the galley was soaking wet under an inch of water. Does anyone know if both bilges are conected? The forward bilge in a 265 is located under the stairs to the cabin and much higher than the aft bilge,I would like to know how the water travelled up???? Clueless :/

[Guest]

a buddy of mine has a 2855 1997 with a B3 leg and his is dripping from we believe a pivot pin or the pin seal, if you look

behind the rear of the engine just abouve the steering arm i beleive ,we could see the drips of water tracking

and splashing down inside. he has not had it repaired or confirmed yet that it is from this pin or pin seal but it might

be a good place to look .

[RinnyBeth]

Also check the sea strainer too.. I agree with the thru-hull fittings.. I watched a house boat last week almost sink cause the ice rubbed one almost clear off and the entire first floor was filled with water and it was at a 90 degree tip...

[Guest]

Thanks to everyone who responded earlier to my post,still wanting to know if anyone had any ideas on why and where the water in the cabin was coming from. Also could any one list any other parts that could leak apart from the one's already mentioned. I understand that my issue could not be of any interest to most but I really do need all the help and advice I can get on this as I am fairly new to boating and am dealing with a bunch of monkeys claiming to be mechanics. So please guys,some help here :/

[Guest]

Not sure if the b3 has same setup as alpha but my periodic leak was coming from a bad shift cable boot...would only leak when drive up or in hard turn...I had it changed along with exhaust and drive bellows...I discover my leak using beer method too. Never took of trailer. Just picked slow ramp day. I also swapped gimble bearing while drive was off for fear it got wet.

[Guest]

Here is what I found when water appeared in the cabin. The rubber tube from the speedometer had come off, water splashed under the dash and pooled up on the cabin floor. After putting it back with two cable ties I traced it back to the engine compartment. Thin rubber hose all the way, easy to cut or rub out. Look that over & Good Luck.

[Guest]

dramaminedragon wrote:
Here is what I found when water appeared in the cabin. The rubber tube from the speedometer had come off, water splashed under the dash and pooled up on the cabin floor. After putting it back with two cable ties I traced it back to the engine compartment. Thin rubber hose all the way, easy to cut or rub out. Look that over & Good Luck.

I agree when you are moving but this guy is getting water when boat is tied up.

[Guest]

jamie mac wrote:
I agree when you are moving but this guy is getting water when boat is tied up.

That's correct! Water in aft bige and than forward bigle and now cabin floor! Extremely worrying stuff. Desperate to get some leads to investigate further. I would also like to add that prior to the leak I did have an incident where I smacked the drive on coral. Did'nt have any problems immediately after but now thinking its something to do with seals or even worse a crack somewhere.

[itsabowtime2]

First things I would check are:

All the bellows.

Water in cabin, perhaps the thru-hull for the head.

Do you have AC? If so check that thru hull.

Do you have a thru hull for a transducer?

Are you hooked up to city water while at the dock, if so is that fitting leaking, or a hole in your fresh water tank and it is constantly filling up?

Since it is out of the water now, do a inspection of the hull, is there a crack below the water line?

[Guest]

itsabowtime2 wrote:
First things I would check are:

All the bellows.

Water in cabin, perhaps the thru-hull for the head.

Do you have AC? If so check that thru hull.

Do you have a thru hull for a transducer?

Are you hooked up to city water while at the dock, if so is that fitting leaking, or a hole in your fresh water tank and it is constantly filling up?

Since it is out of the water now, do a inspection of the hull, is there a crack below the water line?

+1 on all of these plus you might have to fill bilge with water as earlier suggested while on dry land and check for external leaks. dont let water rise to high with this method. was it raining when you noticed water in blige? after a thorough external check on dry land if you see nothing empty all water out of bilge put it back in water with trailer standing by and observe if water is coming in that fast in 4 hours you should see something farely quickly. good luck

[Guest]

My problem was a busted drain plug

Sometimes the it's better do go back to the basics