Got a Bayliner Question

[atomb]

I have a 96 bayliner capri strendrive .... Question is had some water get into the boat this weekend from rain tarp ripped couldnt have been avoided unfortunately.

Anyway the ski locker filled with water and did not drain out. So I took a pump and pumped the water out of the locker.
The water coming out into the bilge was a slow trickle I used asnake to try and clear the passage to what i thought was a pipe that ran from the locker to the bilge. Next I found that water surrounded the gas tank.
Whats going on is there a pipe that runs under the gas tank or is it just space? Im concerned what kinda problem am i looking at.

BTW after used air to attempt to unclogged what I thought was clogged pipe and a snake next i used high pressure water Pushed about a half gallon in without seeing it come out. Wheres the effin water goin? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[speedrulz]

Re: Got a Bayliner Question

Make sure the front up of your boat is up in the air and the drain plug is out. I'm sure you done thought of this but after reading some of the posts on here it seems like its always best to start with the simplest answers and work your way up.

 

[redone4x4]

Re: Got a Bayliner Question

you are correct, theres a "tube" that runs under the fuel tank connecting the ski locker to the engine compartment where the bilge pump is. Mine got clogged one time with leaves/debris and it took a combination of a coat hanger and water hose to free it up. it took a while working back and forth with the two, but the water finally flowed thru and I havent had any problems since.

 

[petermarcus]

Re: Got a Bayliner Question

If that tube is cracked (on purpose, to let the gas tank area drain or accidentally), and there's a blockage anywhere in that tube, then it's probably going to go up around the tank instead of through the tube. Or, there could be a tube through one bulkhead, a tube through the second, but empty space in between. The tank area in my '94 Capri can easily hold 1/2 gallon of water in the space around tank. Maybe a few gallons.

I've seen bilge tubes in many boats clogged with all sorts of stuff, from kids toys to fishing bobbers, leaves, sticks, bottlecaps, bait, lunch, you name it.

You said you tried to clear the passage, did it seem like one tube, and did it seem like something was in there?

 

[atomb]

Re: Got a Bayliner Question

If that tube is cracked (on purpose, to let the gas tank area drain or accidentally),
why would someone crack this tube on purpose?

and there's a blockage anywhere in that tube, then it's probably going to go up around the tank instead of through the tube. Or, there could be a tube through one bulkhead, a tube through the second, but empty space in between. The tank area in my '94 Capri can easily hold 1/2 gallon of water in the space around tank. Maybe a few gallons.



You said you tried to clear the passage, did it seem like one tube, and did it seem like something was in there?

Well water definetly filled the area around the gas tank..
I stuck a 1/2" pipe thru the ski locker hole, hoping to come out in the bilge but after shoving much pipe in there it seem to bunch up somewhere under the gas tank never shwing up in the bilge leading me to believe.....

that there is no tube under the gas tank. Can anyone verify this???

Yeah the boat is angled up in the front.
If the tube is cracked are you saying that the water invades the gas tank area?

 

[petermarcus]

Re: Got a Bayliner Question

Not cracked as much as holes drilled into it on purpose, like a drain tube near the foundation of a house. The tube is there to guide the water, but also permeable.

So here are some random thoughts and suggestions:

I'm going to guess (and it's a guess, I haven't taken the tank out of my Bayliner yet to see what my setup is) your tank probably has supports over the hull, but you don't have a full tube. You probably have a couple inches of tube through each bulkhead, but it's open space under the tank, and something is blocking the flow out by the aft end of the tank tube.

It's going to be tough to get down there and see what's going on. I mean, you can aim a shop-lamp or a bright mag-lite up the aft-side of the tube and then try to look into the tube on the ski-locker side, or even get a camera and see if you can see bright light or an obstruction. If it's dry, you can try compressed air? I'd hesitate to use a roto-rooter kind of thing since you don't want to nick your tank if it's exposed.

Without taking off the deck and removing the tank, a possibility might be to get a tube where the outer diameter is smaller than the inner diameter of the pass-through. It'll be a lot like threading two needles five feet apart, but it'll clear a drain path through so the ski locker won't have standing water. If there's clearance on either side of the inner tube, it'll also let the tank compartment drain from around the sides. (*)

My only worry is that if there's something causing water build up that isn't going to go away (inorganic debris like chunks of foam or toys or fishing bobbers) then the constant wet conditions might cause the stringers or deck to start to rot, then you'll be reading all of our renovation threads

Good luck!

(*) Edit: after re-reading I notice you tried this. Originally, I thought you meant something flexible like a garden hose, instead of a rigid pipe.

 

[petermarcus]

Re: Got a Bayliner Question

Don't know if you still have a problem with this, but pulled my tank today:

The two bulkheads fore and aft had about 2" of pipe each, and they only extended an inch or so into that center channel. The rest of it was completely open. The tank itself sat on those black strips of rubber, which sat on the raised part of the hull on either side of the channel. There was about 1/2" to 3/4" on each side of the tank between the stringers, the foam pads are about 1/4" thick, so there was plenty of room around the tank, not to mention that channel in the bottom.

Pic's a little messy (heh) since I'm in the middle of a demo, but hope that helps give you a visual. Again, mine is a couple years older than yours, but I'm guessing they're pretty similar.