where is this water coming from?!?!?

[david_tye]

i'm chasing a leak with no luck. the boat is a 1989 sunbird corsica that begins leaking into the bilge and ski-well after being in the water for a while...mainly while parked on the beach. i can see it coming (pouring) in from a tube that opens into the bilge, but i have no idea where the tube/pipe comes from. i've filled the back of the boat up with water and there wasnt a drop coming out from the outdrive or rear plug. i just replaced both the exhaust and gimbal bellows a few weeks ago, i havent pulled the outdrive off again since then. i took a picture of the pipe where i can see the water coming into the bilge from. please excuse my dirty bilge. thanks in advance for any help

 

[Don S]

Re: where is this water coming from?!?!?

The wood is rotten in the transom.

 

[david_tye]

Re: where is this water coming from?!?!?

The wood is rotten in the transom.

i've tapped with a ballpeen hammer all around the transom and it honestly all "sounds" solid. i know it is very likely due to the age, however before i start drilling into the transom i'd love to explore ANY other possibilities. any idea on where that pipe originates?

 

[jigngrub]

Re: where is this water coming from?!?!?

i've tapped with a ballpeen hammer all around the transom and it honestly all "sounds" solid. i know it is very likely due to the age, however before i start drilling into the transom i'd love to explore ANY other possibilities.

Drill the transom down low for core samples, better to find out now than spending a bunch of time on a wild goose chase only to find you should've drilled the transom sooner. If the transom wood is dry, then you can chase the wild goose.

 

[NYBo]

Re: where is this water coming from?!?!?

How is the picture oriented, i.e. is top of the picture fore or aft? Any through-hulls for a livewell?

 

[glenn property of pam]

Re: where is this water coming from?!?!?

if thats a pipe that was glassed in then it proberly a drain for the section between the stringers. to be honest that pic looks like rubber cool seal has been painted in the bilge which is a sign its time to drill test holes. if theres water between the stringers then you need to test drill the stingers

 

[NYBo]

Re: where is this water coming from?!?!?

That still doesn't explain where the water is entering in the first place, Glenn.

 

[david_tye]

Re: where is this water coming from?!?!?

How is the picture oriented, i.e. is top of the picture fore or aft? Any through-hulls for a livewell?

picture was taken looking down into the bilge on the starboard side of the motor; the left side of picture is going to the aft, right side is going to bow. no livewells

 

[david_tye]

Re: where is this water coming from?!?!?

if thats a pipe that was glassed in then it proberly a drain for the section between the stringers. to be honest that pic looks like rubber cool seal has been painted in the bilge which is a sign its time to drill test holes. if theres water between the stringers then you need to test drill the stingers

i've never thought of that before, but it does indeed look and feel like kool-seal. i'm guessing kool-seal wasnt a factory applied material... how would water get between the stringers? when it starts coming out of that pipe, it looks like a water hose. strangely enough, it has only done it twice and both times the boat was beached.

im guessing since it leaked pretty heavily into the ski-well (3-4 gallons) is another sign of leakage bewteen the stringers? does this all point to a bad transom?

 

[glenn property of pam]

Re: where is this water coming from?!?!?

That still doesn't explain where the water is entering in the first place, Glenn.

:facepalm: if the section between the stringers in flooding then what i should have pointed out is that the leak could be anywhere on that side of the boat not just around the rear section. time to check every hole that was ever drilled or knocked into the hull under the floor level on that side especially the area where the speedo tube, tabs, transducer was/is mounted. as it happens when the boat is at rest then its not proberly not coming in from the deck like rain water thats trapped. another note is that silicon makes a great check valve so filling the bilge might not show a leak on the outside.

 

[glenn property of pam]

Re: where is this water coming from?!?!?

i've never thought of that before, but it does indeed look and feel like kool-seal. i'm guessing kool-seal wasnt a factory applied material... how would water get between the stringers? when it starts coming out of that pipe, it looks like a water hose. strangely enough, it has only done it twice and both times the boat was beached.

beaching may put stress in a area and help to open a gap especially if the speedo tube is in the sand. the other thing may be the angle of the boat. try lifting the front as high as you can and see if you get any water to come out.

 

[david_tye]

Re: where is this water coming from?!?!?

Drill the transom down low for core samples, better to find out now than spending a bunch of time on a wild goose chase only to find you should've drilled the transom sooner. If the transom wood is dry, then you can chase the wild goose.

looks like that's exactly what i'll be doing tomorrow..

 

[david_tye]

Re: where is this water coming from?!?!?

beaching may put stress in a area and help to open a gap especially if the speedo tube is in the sand. the other thing may be the angle of the boat. try lifting the front as high as you can and see if you get any water to come out.

did that this afternoon...not a drop

 

[81_chapparel194]

Re: where is this water coming from?!?!?

X2 on maybe a crack when beached it separates when pressure is applied from being beached.

 

[NYBo]

Re: where is this water coming from?!?!?

picture was taken looking down into the bilge on the starboard side of the motor; the left side of picture is going to the aft, right side is going to bow. no livewells

Guys, this means the water is coming from forward, not from the transom area. David, what's that right above the tube?

 

[david_tye]

Re: where is this water coming from?!?!?

Guys, this means the water is coming from forward, not from the transom area. David, what's that right above the tube?

that's what i was thinking...the big box looking thing the tube is coming out of is what the front motor mount is bolted to. the gray thing above the tube is the bottom of the oil pan

 

[NYBo]

Re: where is this water coming from?!?!?

So I'm guess that tube is a drain running through the bunkhead. Start looking for water sources forward, like a gap between the hull and the cap.

 

[04fxdwgi]

Re: where is this water coming from?!?!?

So I'm guess that tube is a drain running through the bunkhead. Start looking for water sources forward, like a gap between the hull and the cap.

If like the boats I have had, a tube like that usually runs back from the forward bilge / low areas to drain off incidental standing water. You could apply a garden hose to that drain and see where the water comes out. If water is already in there, shouldn't hurt anything, but might make a mess.

Maybe a steep angle of the hull while beached is draining some water left standing in the foward part of the boat, maybe from rain or leaking rubrail seam. I had some drainage into bilges in my boat when bow got elevated more than usual and it was caused by a plugged up chain locker drain, causing a buildup of rain water in the locker, running into the overflow tube and into the bilges. I would be checking all the forward compartments, ice chest (if there is one), water tank areas (if any) for signs of standing water, then go from there.

 

[500dollar744ti]

Re: where is this water coming from?!?!?

i would start by pulling the boat out, running water up that tube to see where it goes to, then go around in that area and find the point of entry. if water it pouring in as you say it is, i would not use the boat any more until the issue is resolved.

if you go over the hull with a fine tooth comb and there's no points of entry for water you can rest a little easier next time you go out.

a friend of mine had an old bayliner that eventually developed a crack in one of the chines. when he beached the boat it would take on water and when planing the bilge pump ran more often but he was probably drunk most of the time. he didn't take it seriously until the boat fell off a plane in rough water and when he pulled the engine cover the belts were slinging water everywhere.

after coming back down to idle speed the bilge pump was able to keep up with the leak but it almost sunk the boat.

find the leak and fix it.

 

[david_tye]

Re: where is this water coming from?!?!?

just got done going over the boat again (it's on the trailer)...

I ran water up the tube in question and it started filling up the ski well in the middle of the boat. However, it didnt start coming in from the front of the well, it started coming up in the corners at the rear of the well.

SO, if it is coming into the bilge from the ski-well, how is it getting into the ski-well to begin with?!?!?

There are several deep scratches on the bottom of the hull, but i pushed as hard as i could and the edges didnt move at all. There is one actual 1/4" hole in the hull at the center of the V where it begins curving back up to the bow, but i stuck a screwdriver in it and it's only about 1/4" deep. i cant see anything above the trailer bunks, so those parts of the hull will have to wait till i get it back in the water.

i've left some water in the ski-well to see if maybe it starts seeping out of the hull somwhere

i checked the transom again, i swear it is solid....but it's not leaking in from there anyway.