Boat Takes On Water

[sea wolf]

Boat is an '87 Starcraft 19 ft. powered by a 3.0 Cobra drive. The bilge has been taking on water enough where I have to run the bilge pump every few minutes. Today I jacked the trailer up & filled the bilge with a garden hose. Lo & behold I found water leaking out of the bottom of the transom assembly where the anode meets the bottom of the hull. I didn't want to fill the bilge any further so as not to flood the starter. Now how do I proceed? The transom feels solid. Is there a seal behind this transom assy? I don't have the means to pull the engine & I don't want to go there anyway unless absolutely neccessary. What do you guys think? Will I gain anything by pulling the transom assy. for a look see?

 

[jigngrub]

Pics would help us help you better.

How long have you owned this boat? When was the last time you serviced the outdrive?

 

[sea wolf]

I've owned this boat for over 20 yrs. I had the drive off this spring for service. Greased u-joints, checked gimbal bearing & bellows. I've never pulled the transom assy. Never saw the need.

 

[produceguy]

Their should be a gasket that mates the gimble or out drive to the transom if I recall correctly.

 

[pckeen]

If this leak started right after a drive removal and replacement, I would be looking there for the cause. Pictures of the area will give us all a better idea of the area if you are thinking that isn't the problem.

 

[jigngrub]

Is this an aluminum SC or a fiberglass one?

Have you checked for transom rot?

 

[sea wolf]

Is this an aluminum SC or a fiberglass one?

Have you checked for transom rot?

It's glass & the transom feels solid. When I filled the bilge with water it ran down between the hull & transom assy. To replace whatever seal is in there it appears I'll have to pull the engine to remove the transom assembly. I'll try to post some pics today.

 

[jigngrub]

You should drill the inside of your transom and check for rot. The odds are pretty high for a 27 yr. old glass boat to have transom rot... but you probably already suspect that eh?!

 

[jbcurt00]

Yep ^^^
Esp one that's had water coming in past the transom seal

Soft transoms are often the reason the seal is no longer keeping the boat water-tight.

 

[Watermann]

I don't know about OMC but it should be very similar to my Merc sterndrive. Yeah you have to pull the motor to get the transom assembly off and replace the seal.

What some guys do is to try and band aid the problem facing you, they squirt goop around the outside of the transom assembly, re-tighten the mount bolts and then when that doesn't work... sell it off to some poor schlub.

 

[500dollar744ti]

It's glass & the transom feels solid.

Every rotten transom I've seen "feels" solid. You can't go by feel, you gotta drill holes and get samples.

 

[Rickmerrill]

Yep, ^^^, what 500 said!