Water ingress on a brand new boat?

[mappgh]

Hello folks, I am a new boat owner, just purchased a brand new Tahoe Q5i SF with the 220hp Mercruiser I/O. I keep my boat at a local river marina. Now I noticed that everytime I get in my boat that there is water in the locker ski storage and the bottom of the engine compartment, so I always run my bilge pump when I first get there which usually runs for about a minute. Sometimes there is barely any water in there and sometimes there is a few inches. This just doesnt seem right to me but I can't imagine there being a leak since the boat is brand new. However, I am thinking the culprit might be the river itself. The river typically has a good amount of boat traffic including commericial barges and recreational boaters. I noticed that sometimes a good wake from a passing boat really hits the back of my boat pretty good when I am in my slip, there were even a couple instances where water has splashed up over the back pretty good. My dock is not a floating dock either so I'm thinking that if there is lots of boat traffic on the river and my boat is getting hit pretty good by passing boats wakes then there may be water coming in the bilge hole on the back starboard side of the boat. What are your thoughts? Thanks!

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Water ingress on a brand new boat?

Have you considered backing into your slip so the front of the boat is facing the waves?

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Water ingress on a brand new boat?

good point on mooring bow out; should be done anyway.
Sounds like too much water, though; an empty moored boat should be able to take some stern wake, even if it goes over the transom and into the splash well. Maybe your seals there are bad?
I recently saw pics of a new boat with a built-in cooler in the swim platform, and its drain leaked into the hull. A bad design with a flawed installation= serious leaks.
Water won't go into the bilge outlet unless the hose inside is disconnected.
Boats can accumulate a surprising amount of water from condensation and dew. But not inches in a day.
Since it's new, moor it correctly and watch. Dry out the compartments as best you can. Lay newspaper down to detect sources of leaks. At least you can take it back to the seller and make him fix it if you eliminate the wakes. This is not normal and should be top priority.
If you don't have one, get a float switch on the bilge pump.

 

[QC]

Re: Water ingress on a brand new boat?

even if it goes over the transom and into the splash well.

I/O boat and probably nothing like splash well

This just doesnt seem right to me but I can't imagine there being a leak since the boat is brand new.

Never get sucked into that. Plenty of stuff can be wrong with a brand new boat from any manufacturer.

I recently saw pics of a new boat with a built-in cooler in the swim platform, and its drain leaked into the hull. A bad design with a flawed installation= serious leaks.

That was probably this thread, and the pic below leads me to believe you could have the same issue(s) . . . Where does that little ice chest drain?

If you don't have one, get a float switch on the bilge pump.

Yes!

good point on mooring bow out; should be done anyway.

Yes!

Also, are you using this boat for watersports? There is often some water in a boat that has people climbing in and out of thew water and it may not collect until after the cushions have drained etc.

 

[mappgh]

Re: Water ingress on a brand new boat?

Thanks for the input guys, I'll check out that little cooler on the swim platform later today when I go down to the dock. Also, I'm not sure if I'll be able to put the boat into the slip with the bow facing out because 3/4 of the way into the slip it gets very shallow. All the boats at this marina have their stern facing out because of this. I'll do a little peeking around and I'm going to be having the initial service done soon so I'll have them look at the water thing as well. I'll keep you guys updated and thanks for the help!

 

[mappgh]

Re: Water ingress on a brand new boat?

By the way, I only have a manual bilge pump right now. I'm definitely going to look into getting an automatic. Thanks

 

[QC]

Re: Water ingress on a brand new boat?

You just have to add a float switch . . . Search for destructions on this site.

 

[SeanT]

Re: Water ingress on a brand new boat?

The fact that the amount of water changes (sometimes its a little, sometimes its a lot) - would that have anything to do with the amount of time it's left in the slip? Or can it be left for say, a day and have a varying degree of water in it?

The reason I ask is if the time is always about the same, but a different amount of water is always found, I'd say that's evidence _against_ an external leak, which should be a fairly constant seepage or stream of water. Unless, I suppose, if the leak is right around the water line and it depends on how much weight is sitting in the boat. Or something. Just some thoughts that may or may not help.

 

[QC]

Re: Water ingress on a brand new boat?

Would be different if it was from wakes or waves splashing over. Would depend on weather and traffic . . .

 

[mappgh]

Re: Water ingress on a brand new boat?

The fact that the amount of water changes (sometimes its a little, sometimes its a lot) - would that have anything to do with the amount of time it's left in the slip? Or can it be left for say, a day and have a varying degree of water in it?

The reason I ask is if the time is always about the same, but a different amount of water is always found, I'd say that's evidence _against_ an external leak, which should be a fairly constant seepage or stream of water. Unless, I suppose, if the leak is right around the water line and it depends on how much weight is sitting in the boat. Or something. Just some thoughts that may or may not help.

The water varies over the same period of time. I just bought the boat about two weeks ago and I typically go down everyday to the boat because the marina is just a couple miles away and sometimes when I go down there is very little water and other times there is a few inches in the ski locker. There was one day when I didn't go down to the boat at all and the boat was sitting there about two days by the time I got down and it was just an average amount of water. My dealer seems to think the drain plug might need re-siliconed. Is this something I can easily do myself? Thanks guys

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Water ingress on a brand new boat?

make the dealer do it. And why would they sell a new boat without a float switch?

 

[mappgh]

Re: Water ingress on a brand new boat?

Pulled the boat and dropped it off at the dealer, he is anxious to see what the problem is so we will see. Like I said, he thinks the drain plug may need re-siliconed. Thankfully I pulled the boat today, after it was out of the water, I found out the transducer was ripped from its mount on the transom and dangling in the water near the drive!!!!!! Luckily it was ok, the bolt holding it in seemed to have snapped when I ran something over on the river. Darn rivers! Sometimes you can't see those logs and sticks etc! I'm kinda curious why the boat was sold without a float switch. I'm going to have to look into that.

 

[QC]

Re: Water ingress on a brand new boat?

! I'm kinda curious why the boat was sold without a float switch. I'm going to have to look into that.

Very typical . . . Mine doesn't have one, but I don't keep her in a slip.

 

[SeanT]

Re: Water ingress on a brand new boat?

Hey, maybe the broken bolt is the cause of the leak.

Also, possibly newb question, but when is it okay to use silicon under the water line? How would silicon help a drain plug?

 

[dkorzun21]

Re: Water ingress on a brand new boat?

WOW THE SAME THING HAPPENS TO MY BOAT IM GUNNA CHECK OUT THE SEAL AROUND MY TRANS for the depth finder later

 

[mappgh]

Re: Water ingress on a brand new boat?

well the transducer is held on by some sort of bolt that is is held on by the mount. The mount itself is fine but the bolt holding the transducer on is what broke so its not leaking in that way, however, I did notice that the wire coming out of transom for the transducer has been pulled a bit because it was dangling in the water and the silicone was also pulled out, so its possible some water was getting in there but I doubt it was only from that.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Water ingress on a brand new boat?

You'd be surprised how much that could leak.....

 

[mappgh]

Re: Water ingress on a brand new boat?

Well, we got the water problem taken care of....the seal around the oil drain plug needed re-sealed and its been good since! Thanks for the help folks!