Water Got In Hull Yesterday How Big of a Prob do I have

[TBSLawnEngine]

Well yesterday we took the boat out for the first run of the year and also for the first time I got water in the hull. After being beached for about a hours we returned to find our cabin floor with a inch of standing water. I was able to pump it out and we headed back for port. Today I hooked up the muffs and the engine runs with no problem and has no leaks. I put the plug in and flooded the hull like it was yesterday and before it even got half as much water I found the leak. It was leaking out between the gimble housing and the transom. Does anyone know if there is a seal between transom and housing?? Never had this problem before and I'm not quite sure why it started out of no where. My craft is a 1990 Sun Ray 22 Cabin with 5.0L Chevy Block OMC Cobra.

 

[Bt Doctur]

Re: Water Got In Hull Yesterday How Big of a Prob do I have

There is a seal but unless you`ve hit something substansial(tree,rocks) is more likely caused by transom rot.Motor must come out to remove the inner and outer halves for inspection.

 

[TBSLawnEngine]

Re: Water Got In Hull Yesterday How Big of a Prob do I have

I am able to each down all around the inner plate and the transom feels solid. I used a screwdriver to see I could find a place that was even remotely soft and I found nothing. The only thing that comes to mind was last year late in the season I hit something and trashed my prop but didn't have any water coming in the hull. How is it sealed the transom. Is there a gasket or is it just silicone?

 

[danond]

Re: Water Got In Hull Yesterday How Big of a Prob do I have

You won't find anything soft with a screwdriver because the transom wood is typically covered by fiberglass, making it "feel" solid. You need to do a core sample - drill into the transom around the lower area and see if the wood comes out mushy/wet.

The age of your boat says that your transom is very likely the culprit and needs to be replaced.

 

[TBSLawnEngine]

Re: Water Got In Hull Yesterday How Big of a Prob do I have

You won't find anything soft with a screwdriver because the transom wood is typically covered by fiberglass, making it "feel" solid. You need to do a core sample - drill into the transom around the lower area and see if the wood comes out mushy/wet.

The age of your boat says that your transom is very likely the culprit and needs to be replaced.

I'll have to pull a monifold off tommorow if it isn't raining and take a core and hope for the best. I did look and there isn't any stress cracks anywhere so I guess thats a good sign. Last winter when I had it stored I did have the drive down and it sunk into the rock pretty far. I'm wondering if the force against the drive caused the seal to break. Its the only time I ever stored it with the drive down so I'm wondering. Hopefully I don't have the issue you had with your boat.

 

[sea wolf]

Re: Water Got In Hull Yesterday How Big of a Prob do I have

Grab ahold of the l/u & move it up & down. If the transom flexes, chances are it's shot. If it's the seal, then you have to remove the engine & outdrive to replace it. My bet is on the seal. Either way, it's a major repair.

 

[TBSLawnEngine]

Re: Water Got In Hull Yesterday How Big of a Prob do I have

Well so far so good.. I pulled the engine in a little under 45 mins tonight and pulled the exhaust port off and check the transom. I only found a little spot.. less than a quarter inch that was even remotely soft. I did try to move the outdrive up and down before I pulled and no play at all in the transom so I feel its solid. Tommorow night I'm going to pull the rest of the housing off the rear and clean things up. I would like to seal the not fiber glass coated wood where the gimble housing mounts to prevent any future rot. Any ideas short of fiber glass that will last. Also is there any special sealant I should know about???

 

[danond]

Re: Water Got In Hull Yesterday How Big of a Prob do I have

What do you mean by "checked the transom"? Pushing on it isn't going to tell you much, if anything, and the drive won't necessarily move when you jump around on it. Your drive puts a bit more than a few hundred pounds of force on the back of the boat.

Did you take core samples?

 

[TBSLawnEngine]

Re: Water Got In Hull Yesterday How Big of a Prob do I have

What do you mean by "checked the transom"? Pushing on it isn't going to tell you much, if anything, and the drive won't necessarily move when you jump around on it. Your drive puts a bit more than a few hundred pounds of force on the back of the boat.

Did you take core samples?

I took 4 core samples in a "v" around the bottom of the outdrive mounting between that and the hull drain and all resulted in dry wood chips no mush what so ever. The only place I found slightly wet was at the bottom of the hole cut through the transom where the gimble housing bolts up but nothing was mushy just wet which I would assume was because I had water in the hull over the weekend and it keep raining here so nothing has had a chance to dry out