Water leak into bilge, speedo tube or transducer thru hull fitting possibly?

[Nextelbuddy]

1996 sea ray 210 mercruiser 5.7 alpha 1 gen 2 setup. speedometer has never worked since i owned in past 2 months. i did replace the broken plastic connector that connects the hose to the outdrive when i did my bellows kit installation.

i've replaced all bellows with mercruiser quick silver oem kit with bellow adhesive.
i've resealed the garboard drain plug flange with 4200 (it was loose and could move when tightening the drain plug)

i noticed i still take on water in the bilge even with in an hour and this is with no swimmers getting in and out to leak water into the cabin area.

i poked my head in while floating and engine idling and also while under way with someone else driving and i can not see or hear any water coming in.

the water doesnt appear to come in while just floating, it mainly happens if i drive for a while and ten stop and the bilge is filled enough to eject out with the pump but not enough to trigger the auto bilge.

the only things left I can think of that would leak into the bilge are:

- Lowrance 3500 transducer fitting in the bottom of the hull
- speedometer hose possibly broken inside the boat causing water to get in while under way


seeing how small diameter the hose is for the speedometer i dont think its large enough to let more than a gallon of water into the bilge in an hour while under way but i could be wrong.

was wondering if anyone else has ever experienced a leak from the speedo hose and could weigh in on what their experience was?

things will try this weekend:

i will be double checking the intake inlet hole on the front of the outdrive to make sure its not clogged and i also will have someone look at the speedo gauge while i attempt to blow air into the hose to see if the needle moves even a smidge.

i suppose i would hook up a barbed fitting to the speedo hose hose and then attach a small water line to it and see if water pressure causes air to move the speedo needle or if water makes its way into the bilge area somehow.


i need to research the Lowrance 3500 transducer thru hull diameter and see what else out there will fit into the same hole as my Lowrance 3500 doesnt even work anyways so i am going to replace it with a new system and buy only if i could find one that will fit into the existing hole

 

[Kdubsc]

1996 sea ray 210 mercruiser 5.7 alpha 1 gen 2 setup. speedometer has never worked since i owned in past 2 months. i did replace the broken plastic connector that connects the hose to the outdrive when i did my bellows kit installation.

i've replaced all bellows with mercruiser quick silver oem kit with bellow adhesive.
i've resealed the garboard drain plug flange with 4200 (it was loose and could move when tightening the drain plug)

i noticed i still take on water in the bilge even with in an hour and this is with no swimmers getting in and out to leak water into the cabin area.

i poked my head in while floating and engine idling and also while under way with someone else driving and i can not see or hear any water coming in.

the water doesnt appear to come in while just floating, it mainly happens if i drive for a while and ten stop and the bilge is filled enough to eject out with the pump but not enough to trigger the auto bilge.

the only things left I can think of that would leak into the bilge are:

- Lowrance 3500 transducer fitting in the bottom of the hull
- speedometer hose possibly broken inside the boat causing water to get in while under way


seeing how small diameter the hose is for the speedometer i dont think its large enough to let more than a gallon of water into the bilge in an hour while under way but i could be wrong.

was wondering if anyone else has ever experienced a leak from the speedo hose and could weigh in on what their experience was?

things will try this weekend:

i will be double checking the intake inlet hole on the front of the outdrive to make sure its not clogged and i also will have someone look at the speedo gauge while i attempt to blow air into the hose to see if the needle moves even a smidge.

i suppose i would hook up a barbed fitting to the speedo hose hose and then attach a small water line to it and see if water pressure causes air to move the speedo needle or if water makes its way into the bilge area somehow.


i need to research the Lowrance 3500 transducer thru hull diameter and see what else out there will fit into the same hole as my Lowrance 3500 doesnt even work anyways so i am going to replace it with a new system and buy only if i could find one that will fit into the existing hole

Is there any kind of "cooler" built into the rear of the boat? I couldn't figure out why I got water in either, then figured out it was a cooler on the swim deck that drains to the bilge. Every time I came to a stop, it was filling with water and going right into the bilge. I confirmed it by putting a cork in the drain and the thing was full of water after one start and stop. The dumbest part is there is a tiny cooler that wouldn't hold 3 beers built in below the radio compartment. They decided it deserved its own thru-hull drain.

 

[Nextelbuddy]

Is there any kind of "cooler" built into the rear of the boat? I couldn't figure out why I got water in either, then figured out it was a cooler on the swim deck that drains to the bilge. Every time I came to a stop, it was filling with water and going right into the bilge. I confirmed it by putting a cork in the drain and the thing was full of water after one start and stop. The dumbest part is there is a tiny cooler that wouldn't hold 3 beers built in below the radio compartment. They decided it deserved its own thru-hull drain.

No unfortunately there's no cooler in the back on my boat there's only one cooler in the front on the passenger side below the glove compartment. It has its own drain system that goes out through the port side above the waterline but it doesn't connect to the bilge in any way that I can see. And I know when ice melts in there water goes out the front port side drain tube.

 

[dingbat]

1

i poked my head in while floating and engine idling and also while under way with someone else driving and i can not see or hear any water coming in.

the water doesnt appear to come in while just floating, it mainly happens if i drive for a while and ten stop and the bilge is filled enough to eject out with the pump but not enough to trigger the auto bilge.

the only things left I can think of that would leak into the bilge are:

- Lowrance 3500 transducer fitting in the bottom of the hull
- speedometer hose possibly broken inside the boat causing water to get in while under way



i need to research the Lowrance 3500 transducer thru hull diameter and see what else out there will fit into the same hole as my Lowrance 3500 doesnt even work anyways so i am going to replace it with a new system and buy only if i could find one that will fit into the existing hole

Are your sure the transdaucer for the 3500 isn't a "shoot thru" instead of a thru hull? Would be very unusual to use a thru hull in that application

As strange as it might sound, have you inspected the underside of the rub rail for cracks that would allow water to enter while underway? I've found that to be my "leak" on two boats now.

 

[Bondo]

i poked my head in while floating and engine idling and also while under way with someone else driving and i can not see or hear any water coming in.

Ayuh,...... You could try this, ^^^, again, 'n use a camera, or yer phone to see where yer head won't fit,......

 

[Nextelbuddy]

Ayuh,...... You could try this, ^^^, again, 'n use a camera, or yer phone to see where yer head won't fit,......

Well I finally got around to removing my old transducer.... I bought a new one a bronze airmar b19 2 in in diameter I thought it would fit in my stock hole but my original transducer is only one inch diameter so I'm going to have to drill the whole larger.

I can see that there was definitely water intrusion. The transducer came out rather easy just a couple light taps with the 2x4 and the portion of the transducer that was in the actual hole was coated in water and oil and the wood in the hole looks like it has water intrusion. Doesn't feel spongy and it doesn't come apart. The boat has been sitting for about a year now going to leave this hole exposed to the air for about a week to let it dry out. And then I'm going to use a 2-inch hole saw and drill the whole larger and if the wood looks good and dry I'll use some Marine epoxy resin to seal it up nice and then I will use life caulk on the new transducer when I seal it in.

But I think this was definitely an area where water was slowly leaking into the bilge often.