I've owned this boat for about 3 years (17' Larson with 3.0 Liter, Alpha One). Until this summer, it has seen little use (few times a year). Although I knew I had a leak in the bilge, I paid little attention to it until recently. Until I began searching for reason a for the leak, I also knew very little about the periodic maintenance required of the bellows etc.
Long story, short, my bellows are long overdue replacement. However, that does not appear to be the source of my present leak.
During my research, a local boat repair shop mentioned transom rot. After a little digging in the bilge and pushing on the lower inner transom, I did in fact find some soft spots in the lower port side transom area. This combined with the 'mush' I found in the bottom of the bilge area led me to realize that I have transom rot.
Fortunately, the gel coat on the back of the boat shows no signs of cracking. Yet, I could move the sterndrive by hand, with a finger touching the Gimbal Housing and the transom and feel just a little movement on the lower port side. Yet another indication that the transom is less than sturdy in this area.
With a boating vacation in 2 weeks, where I had planned on leaving the boat in the water, I did not see transom repair as a possibility in such a short time frame. Not wanting to completely depend upon my battery, float switch and bilge pump to keep my boat afloat, I was in search of a temporary (AKA 'quick') solution to this leaking problem.
As mentioned above, the initial inspection of the bellows were negative. Not only could I NOT find any obvious tears or rips, they still felt and look fairly new (supple and 'rubbery').
This left a possible leak at the Gimbal Housing seal where it meets the outer transom wall. To test that theory (and possibly provide me with a temporary fix), I placed a bead of silicon around the outer edge of the Gimbal Housing where it meets the transom.
The initial results of this test were very promising. Where I was pumping close to a gallon of water every half hour out of the bilge, I now had NO water coming in. This was after an hour of floating, idling and riding on plane.
Needless to say, I will still make sure my bilge, float switch and battery are in good working order as well as some periodic checks during this vacation. My precaution with this had even prompted me to buy a second bilge pump wired to my second battery that is NOT sitting in the bilge (as a 'fresh' backup); where I can 'throw' it in the bilge to pump in the event the main bilge pump system should fail.
This will hopefully allow me to enjoy my vacation and not sink my boat. This also has me lined up for a challenging project after this vacation (and hopefully after the summer is over). Looks like a full engine/sterndrive pull for transom repair and some long overdue maintenance on the drivetrain.
Long story, short, my bellows are long overdue replacement. However, that does not appear to be the source of my present leak.
During my research, a local boat repair shop mentioned transom rot. After a little digging in the bilge and pushing on the lower inner transom, I did in fact find some soft spots in the lower port side transom area. This combined with the 'mush' I found in the bottom of the bilge area led me to realize that I have transom rot.
Fortunately, the gel coat on the back of the boat shows no signs of cracking. Yet, I could move the sterndrive by hand, with a finger touching the Gimbal Housing and the transom and feel just a little movement on the lower port side. Yet another indication that the transom is less than sturdy in this area.
With a boating vacation in 2 weeks, where I had planned on leaving the boat in the water, I did not see transom repair as a possibility in such a short time frame. Not wanting to completely depend upon my battery, float switch and bilge pump to keep my boat afloat, I was in search of a temporary (AKA 'quick') solution to this leaking problem.
As mentioned above, the initial inspection of the bellows were negative. Not only could I NOT find any obvious tears or rips, they still felt and look fairly new (supple and 'rubbery').
This left a possible leak at the Gimbal Housing seal where it meets the outer transom wall. To test that theory (and possibly provide me with a temporary fix), I placed a bead of silicon around the outer edge of the Gimbal Housing where it meets the transom.
The initial results of this test were very promising. Where I was pumping close to a gallon of water every half hour out of the bilge, I now had NO water coming in. This was after an hour of floating, idling and riding on plane.
Needless to say, I will still make sure my bilge, float switch and battery are in good working order as well as some periodic checks during this vacation. My precaution with this had even prompted me to buy a second bilge pump wired to my second battery that is NOT sitting in the bilge (as a 'fresh' backup); where I can 'throw' it in the bilge to pump in the event the main bilge pump system should fail.
This will hopefully allow me to enjoy my vacation and not sink my boat. This also has me lined up for a challenging project after this vacation (and hopefully after the summer is over). Looks like a full engine/sterndrive pull for transom repair and some long overdue maintenance on the drivetrain.
