Taking on Water

[davemoore]

Ok, need some other brains working on this besides mine...

Our 18 ft. runabout with Mercruiser 470 / Alpha One Drive has started taking on more water than it did last year. I removed the dog house when we were out on the lake last weekend with the engine off and tried to look and see where it was coming in, but couldn't tell for sure. It is definitely coming in through the stern drive somewhere. It's reached the point where we have to run the bilge pump about every 10 minutes while we're out.

What is the first thing I should check? Bellows?

I did have things apart last year to replace the exhaust flapper, but was pretty sure it all looked ok when reassembled.

I have to do something as it's getting pretty bad.

Thanks for any help...

 

[chaparall villain 2]

Re: Taking on Water

raise the outdrive and check all the bellows really close to see if there is a hole in one of them it really doesnt take much of one to leak alot of water in mine almost sunk one night when i had the motor trimmed up for the night it stretched the hole and filled the bilge to my valve covers ... really a mess

 

[NHGuy]

Re: Taking on Water

If you can't ID the leak you could trailer the boat and put water inside the bilge to see where it leaks out.

 

[EddiePetty]

Re: Taking on Water

....to futher Villian's suggestions:

With the boat on the trailer, raise the drive to the trailer position and elevate the bow as high as possible. Fill the bilge with water short of getting the starter wet and then observe the bellows from the outboard side. My bet is that the shift bellows is leaking. (you DID have the plug in tight?)

Edit: NH Guy types faster than I do!!!

 

[davemoore]

Re: Taking on Water

I have tried filling the bilge while on trailer with bow up... no leaks. Of course, I only put about 4 inches of water in there...

And yes - plug in tight.

I think it's coming in pretty high up (like 2/3 of the way up on the drive), at least that's what it looked like when I checked it out on the lake. I also checked it running with the hose/muffs on to make sure it wasn't the cooling water...

I'm going to inspect the bellows first, and then check the transom bolts second.

I sure need to get this fixed, as we're going on a week-long boating vacation in two weeks... and planning to leave the boat in the water all week.

 

[NHGuy]

Re: Taking on Water

Well, It never ever hurt a boat to get a fresh bellows.

 

[EddiePetty]

Re: Taking on Water

...please advise if the leak is more apparent with the engine running or off. You might just have an in-hull exhaust leak.

 

[davemoore]

Re: Taking on Water

Eddie -

No difference whether running or off. Same flow...

I'm going to inspect the bellows and if I don't find anything jumping out at me, I think I'll take it down and put it in the water, and use a bright light and mirror to see if I can tell exactly where it's coming in...

NHGuy: agreed. I bought her used last year, and have no idea how old the current ones are. I think I will plan on replacing regardless.

 

[cr2k]

Re: Taking on Water

If its the drive bellows you probably wont be taking on water when on a plane.

Shift bellows, same.

exhaust leak in the boat water when running.

Loose or damaged Y pipe, constant leak.

Loose transom plate, leak when not on plane.

Transom separation, Holly crap bail like mad.

 

[ker]

Re: Taking on Water

same issue I was having a few weeks ago, it was leaking about 1/2-1 gallon of water an hour, not enough the cause a problem but still enough to worry about. I inspected externally and couldnt find the issue, pulled the drive, found no issues. Bought a new lower shift cable and bellows, pull the cable (was old anyways) and after removing the bellows found a smart split near the small clamp near the drive, installed new bellows and cable, no more leaking. Took me about 4-5hours total to do the replacement and cable adjustment, but I did it by myself and this was really the first time doing anything major on the boat, so lots of stopping and checking the forums and manual. First things first, remove the drive and inspect, but plan on replacing the cable and bellows at the least.

 

[MPII]

Re: Taking on Water

There was a similar topic on the following thread:

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=424937

Hope this helps.