(Sorry this is long!)
Hey All! Been a while since I have posted on this site, but am back with a new problem and I having been using the search function and perusing the archives and I believe I have a good grasp on what is going on but hope to get some more input and maybe this will help someone else down the road! I am very mechanical and wrench daily on motorcycles for a living so can do pretty much all, but have no experience with fiberglass/transom repair etc etc.
Ok, 1988 Reinell 17ft with a GM 3.0 and OMC Cobra outdrive.
Boat was very well maintained with just over 300 hours, I was actually surprised at how well this thing ran when I got it and it was serviced regularly every year, every thing was greased and adjusted properly, shifts with one finger as they are supposed to (I hear that is a problem with the OMC's) and every single thing save for the horn works on this boat. The guy I got it from knew nothing about boats, but he knew the original owner since they worked together so the boat has had a good history and regular maintenance by a shop. Only operated in fresh water, lake or river.
Only problem when he sold me the boat was that water was coming in from somewhere and he did not know where...in fact he had put some MarineTex on the bottom of the hull where the boat had been beached a few times thinking that was the problem....it wasn't.
I took it out once and the after about 3 hours the bilge had water up to about 2-3 inches below the oil pan! At this time the bilge pump had some crap in the line and was plugged so it did not work, but I fixed that in about 5 mins when I got it home and works great now.
So I took the boat to the launch ramp yesterday to put it in and see if I could find the leak. Prior to this I closely inspected the driveshaft bellows and it is in very good condition with no tears or holes. The shift cable also does not seem to have any problems. The exhaust bellows does have some cracks and holes but as I understand it that is not a problem.
So after lowering it into the water and getting down into it I could see the water coming in from just above the drain plug hole. It comes in somewhat moderately, cascades down like a very gentle waterfall about 3 inches across.
The area I am pointing to with the orange rod is where the water seeps from...just behind that metal plate. (NOTE: The drain plug assembly is removed to repair the kinda poor job done on it before, but it did not leak)
Here is a shot from outside of the boat...(note I have the Anode part removed from the bottom of the drive to have a better look!)
It seems to me that when I pulled the boat out of the water and stopped on the ramp to have a look, the water came back out in this approximate area that I am pointing to!
So I realize after reading a number of other threads here that I probably have some degree of rot or "soft transom". I have physically tried to move the outdrive up and down and see no play or flexing, I have also tapped around the transom and it appears solid, but I realize I need to drill into it to see how much rot and am going to take it to a local boat repair guy tomorrow to do just that.
I did get back into the boat and put a socket on one of the nuts seen in the first picture and it easily turned a revolution or so before becoming somewhat tight....I realize that it should not be loose and tightening it down is just pulling in the transom, or drive so to speak. I also realize that the engine and drive need to be removed to repair the transom and fix the seal...no problem I can do that...my question is:
Can I tighten this down and maybe use a marine grade sealant somewhere to get me through this season so I can use the boat and then pull it all apart in the winter??? I understand that tightening it down may affect the alignment and I would have to compensate (I think) by adjusting the front engine mount.
Ok, I think that is it, I am probably forgetting something but will add more later if I remember. Thanks for any and all advice on this! Would really like to fix this for the summer and then ovehaul in the winter....I just moved to a new house TWO MINUTES from the boat launch! LOL!!
Hey All! Been a while since I have posted on this site, but am back with a new problem and I having been using the search function and perusing the archives and I believe I have a good grasp on what is going on but hope to get some more input and maybe this will help someone else down the road! I am very mechanical and wrench daily on motorcycles for a living so can do pretty much all, but have no experience with fiberglass/transom repair etc etc.
Ok, 1988 Reinell 17ft with a GM 3.0 and OMC Cobra outdrive.
Boat was very well maintained with just over 300 hours, I was actually surprised at how well this thing ran when I got it and it was serviced regularly every year, every thing was greased and adjusted properly, shifts with one finger as they are supposed to (I hear that is a problem with the OMC's) and every single thing save for the horn works on this boat. The guy I got it from knew nothing about boats, but he knew the original owner since they worked together so the boat has had a good history and regular maintenance by a shop. Only operated in fresh water, lake or river.
Only problem when he sold me the boat was that water was coming in from somewhere and he did not know where...in fact he had put some MarineTex on the bottom of the hull where the boat had been beached a few times thinking that was the problem....it wasn't.
I took it out once and the after about 3 hours the bilge had water up to about 2-3 inches below the oil pan! At this time the bilge pump had some crap in the line and was plugged so it did not work, but I fixed that in about 5 mins when I got it home and works great now.
So I took the boat to the launch ramp yesterday to put it in and see if I could find the leak. Prior to this I closely inspected the driveshaft bellows and it is in very good condition with no tears or holes. The shift cable also does not seem to have any problems. The exhaust bellows does have some cracks and holes but as I understand it that is not a problem.
So after lowering it into the water and getting down into it I could see the water coming in from just above the drain plug hole. It comes in somewhat moderately, cascades down like a very gentle waterfall about 3 inches across.
The area I am pointing to with the orange rod is where the water seeps from...just behind that metal plate. (NOTE: The drain plug assembly is removed to repair the kinda poor job done on it before, but it did not leak)
Here is a shot from outside of the boat...(note I have the Anode part removed from the bottom of the drive to have a better look!)
It seems to me that when I pulled the boat out of the water and stopped on the ramp to have a look, the water came back out in this approximate area that I am pointing to!
So I realize after reading a number of other threads here that I probably have some degree of rot or "soft transom". I have physically tried to move the outdrive up and down and see no play or flexing, I have also tapped around the transom and it appears solid, but I realize I need to drill into it to see how much rot and am going to take it to a local boat repair guy tomorrow to do just that.
I did get back into the boat and put a socket on one of the nuts seen in the first picture and it easily turned a revolution or so before becoming somewhat tight....I realize that it should not be loose and tightening it down is just pulling in the transom, or drive so to speak. I also realize that the engine and drive need to be removed to repair the transom and fix the seal...no problem I can do that...my question is:
Can I tighten this down and maybe use a marine grade sealant somewhere to get me through this season so I can use the boat and then pull it all apart in the winter??? I understand that tightening it down may affect the alignment and I would have to compensate (I think) by adjusting the front engine mount.
Ok, I think that is it, I am probably forgetting something but will add more later if I remember. Thanks for any and all advice on this! Would really like to fix this for the summer and then ovehaul in the winter....I just moved to a new house TWO MINUTES from the boat launch! LOL!!
