Skeg Repair

[Saddlehorse]

Was on the lake today and found a rock that wasnt marked like the others in the area. Needless to say i lost my prop and most of my skeg and got water seeping in around where sterndrive mounts but no fiberglass damage that i can find.
my question is do those bolt on skeg repair deals work and what should I get or look for?
1987 OMC Cobra 3.0
thanks

 

[superbenk]

I’d do some pressure tests on the outdrive to make sure you didn’t break more than the skeg. Sounds like you hit hard. Also check that the prop shaft is still true.

For the leaking at the transom now you may want to take a close look for rot in the transom.

As for the bolt-on skeg fix, I don’t see why they’d be a problem. Maybe slightly more drag in the water but negligible. But I’m more concerned you have more damage than that.

 

[tpenfield]

The skeg might be the least of your problems.

 

[Saddlehorse]

I plan on pulling the outdrive off and checking for damage to transom . How do i go about pressure testing it? Icam kinda still new to working on boats.
Thanks

 

[Saddlehorse]

Also the water was cominh in just to the left side of where the outdrive mounts up to transom it lookes like, so could it have been coming in through a seal or something? It was getting dark so couldn't really look it over good at the ramp due to being so busy . Sorry for all the questions, but this really has me worried and mad at same time.
thanks for all the help

 

[Saddlehorse]

Filled bilge with water from water hose, it is coming out around where shift cable passes through . So i am assuming i ripped that bellow on cable or broke a seal loose in bottom side where outdrive mounts to transom.

 

[tpenfield]

Posting a bunch of picture will help us see what you are seeing

 

[Saddlehorse]

I will post them up soon , I dont get good service here and the pics wont load to post . Should have them posted in avout an hour.

 

[tpenfield]

You will need to reduce their size to another 800 x 600 in order to get them to upload.

 

[Saddlehorse]

Water comes out where i cirlced in red when icfilled bilge with water hose. Sorry i was wrong and not shift cable area. Will see in next pic

 

[Saddlehorse]

Trting to figure out how to reaize them since i cant get photobucket to work

 

[Saddlehorse]

Water leaks out between that bracket cirlced in red and the hull when i filled ilge with water hose. So assuming there is a seal bewteen that and hull .

 

[Saddlehorse]

I was wrong not where shift cable is. When i filled the bilge with water hose it stopped leaking once the water level got below this area so i am assuming leak is the area cirlced in red and that is below the water line.

 

[Saddlehorse]

After some reading all morning i aam thinking transom seal got disturbed since it was such a hard hit it broke the skeg off and killed the prop .
Cant find a definite answer if i have to remove motor as well to replace the seal or not.

 

[tpenfield]

If it is leaking from the bottom of the transom assembly, then you have some work ahead of you.

 

[Saddlehorse]

Here is the pic of what is ledt of skeg and prop to show how hard the hit was. Hard to tell in that pic but all 3 blades got twisted and ripped up .

 

[Saddlehorse]

If it is leaking from the bottom of the transom assembly, then you have some work ahead of you.

It is the bottom part around that housing . What all would you say has to be done ? And if motor has to removed how do i align it back up ? Been working on cars for 25 years but never a boat till i got this about 2 months ago .
thanks alot for your info

 

[Saddlehorse]

Ok i read if i can get a business card between housing and hull that was the problem , i can get a credit card between them on port side bottom but on starboard it is tight as can be.

 

[superbenk]

The putty/epoxy around the drain hole is a bit of a red flag. You need to find out if you have a rotten transom. The epoxy makes me think there has been leaks in that area before which means water has very likely gotten into the transom wood.

 

[Saddlehorse]

The putty/epoxy around the drain hole is a bit of a red flag. You need to find out if you have a rotten transom. The epoxy makes me think there has been leaks in that area before which means water has very likely gotten into the transom wood.

Yeah i know what you mean. I poked around with a flathead and it seemed ok as it didnt go in anywhere. Do you suggest another to test it.
before this accident I would only have to run bilge pump for maybe 10 seconds every couple hours pulling a tube around or sitting still .
the previous owner was the original owner said he replaced the drain plug setup because he cracked the old one over tightening the plug. It is just silicone around it where he sealed the new setup