Water coming in boat through sterndrive

[VegasWaterRatt]

Hello.. I have an 88 bayliner with a 3.0 OMC motor and sterndrive. I noticed a good amount of water coming into the boat when she was in the water. I thought maybe it was a bad bellows but I don't see any rips or wholes.. just for the heck of it I put the nose up as high as it could get and started filling up the bilge to see where the water come out of the boat...

After a short bit water started coming out of the very bottom/underside of the sterndrive ... i took a pic but can't seem to get it attached to the post... it looks like a bolt for part of the pivot of the dive.. then on either side is a round port of some kind.. water coming out of those.. my guess is that they are part of the water pumping system and not exhaust... any ideas on what I am looking at....

J

 

[cannonford57]

Re: Water coming in boat through sterndrive

sometimes the transom will become soft at the bottom of the plate and leak there.sometimes tightening the bottom bolts will help but its just a matter of time....been there,sorry

 

[VegasWaterRatt]

Re: Water coming in boat through sterndrive

So... you are talking about the wooden/fiberglass back "wall" that the sterndrive goes through is rotten and water is leaking through that....?? odds are...

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Water coming in boat through sterndrive

So... you are talking about the wooden/fiberglass back "wall" that the sterndrive goes through is rotten and water is leaking through that....?? odds are...

Odds are pretty good on a 88 Bayliner.
I would pull the drive and really inspect the bellows.The U-joint and shift cable bellows are the usual culprit.

 

[tschmidty]

Re: Water coming in boat through sterndrive

Those round ports are the idle exhaust ports, are you saying that is the only place water is coming out of? Does water get in the boat only when the engine is running or just floating on the water?

But either way basically means a transom seal, which generally means the transom is rotted. Not a super fun project but on the bayliner it's not as hard as it could be. There is about a 3x4 bump out box on the back the drive is mounted to and there is a plywood core underneath the fiberglass that rots out, usually from the drain hole. There are plenty of posts here on what to do, but basically pull the engine, cut it out, put in new epoxy coated plywood, then fiberglass it back in.