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Excess Water -- Bilge Continuously Operating


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Just bought a new '06 v-ride and the ballast intake pump is not functioning. Also, a LOT of water seemed to be coming in near the center ballast tank--so much that the bilge was continuously operating. Also, water flooded into both of the back storage lockers--not sure if that is normal either. Anyway, pulled the boat out pretty quickly and will be calling the dealer first thing tomorrow am.

Just wondering if anyone has had something similiar happen? Wondering if there is a valve or something that could be letting water in. Also wondering if it could cause any damage to wiring, etc. with too much water inside that area.

Thanks for any help.

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Sounds like a hose came off of the thru-hull fitting, the valve or the pump. That would explain both the pump not functioning properly and the excess water. Have the dealer fix it. Good luck. Enjoy your new boat. Welcome to the site. :)

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Thanks--will call the dealer and have them fix it. It did look like water was coming in thru the cut-out area that the ballast hose was running thru.

Any idea if 4-5" of water in the bilge could cause any problems--It was enough to flood the storage locker areas and get things pretty wet inside.

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I had a couple of ballast tank fittings break on my vRide last year. I was pumping water right into the port ski locker for about 5 - 7 minutes until I realized that the ballast didn't seem to be filling. Very easy fix. Also good to make sure all your drain plugs are in. It's embarassing to have the dealer tell you that's what is wrong. The 05 vRide only has two drain plugs, one in the transom and one through the hull right by the driver. Good luck and enjoy the boat. I love mine.

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No plug under the vdrive unit Scott?

Nope. Funny thing is that the dealer told me that there was one there when we took delivery and pointed to the general location, but I never actually stuck my head in there to find it until later. I looked once with no success and then heard somewhere that the vRide only had the two. Now, just recently I was under the boat getting the fake a lake in position and started counting holes in the hull and couldn't account for all the openings down there. Dontknow.gif I got distracted doing something else and didn't investigate further right then, but I will soon (maybe this afternoon since I am thinking about it and it's bugging me).

I found two holes for ballast intake, one for the engine, PP paddlewheel, another opening that was similar to the PP maybe for Temp (?) except no paddle wheel, and one other. It's the 'one other' that I need to figure out what it's for. It was plugged of course, but I have yet to locate a T handle drain plug from the inside. I am actually hoping I am wrong, because it would be nice to have a drain there.

Sorry for the hijack Julie. Let us know what you find out.

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both the plugs were in tight--checked that

Here are the facts:

1. ballast fill pump not working at all--however, center ballast tank started filling partially anyway

2. we could see some water coming in near the cut-out toward driver's side (where hose, etc. running thru)

3. approximately 4-5" of water would come in during each wakeboard run (right above handle of plug) and bilge kept coming on automatically

4. both rear storage compartments were pretty much flooded

5. a lot of water came out of the bilge area when we pulled the boat out

6. pretty much no water came out when we pulled the rear plug

will call the dealer today and see what they say--hoping it's an easy fix!

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both the plugs were in tight--checked that

Here are the facts:

1. ballast fill pump not working at all--however, center ballast tank started filling partially anyway

2. we could see some water coming in near the cut-out toward driver's side (where hose, etc. running thru)

3. approximately 4-5" of water would come in during each wakeboard run (right above handle of plug) and bilge kept coming on automatically

4. both rear storage compartments were pretty much flooded

5. a lot of water came out of the bilge area when we pulled the boat out

6. pretty much no water came out when we pulled the rear plug

will call the dealer today and see what they say--hoping it's an easy fix!

Just curious, did you actually touch or listen closely to the pump to confirm that it was not running? The pump that is right next to the driver is for draining the center ballast. The fill pump is by the v drive. I am thinking that the mid ballast fill hose fitting is partially broken. This would explain the center ballast filling some and also explain the water in the boat other wise. My center ballast fills whether I want it to or not so if that fitting was broken (but still hanging on), when running the boat you are still pumping water in. There should be a shut off valve under the center ballast pump back by the v drive, should you want to use the boat prior to getting this fixed.

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Just out of curiosity, if there is no drain plug under the v-drive, where do you run the oil drain hose out of the hull bottom? Does it reach the transom hole and if it does, is it hard to get it out that hole? I used to have a sunsetter vlx and it had a drain plug there. Why would they eliminate it?

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You should be able to fish the drain line out the transom plug, that's what I did when I changed the oil on mine. Honestly though, on my VLX, that drain plug by the vdrive unit is next to worthless & almost impossible to get to or turn with everything else there.

I'm thinking that Scott is on the right track here, maybe the pump is working but there is a split in the line somewhere between the pump & tank.

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No plug under the vdrive unit Scott?

This thread got me going enough that I had to go home at lunch to confirm. Turns out I was wrong (an all too frequent occurence). There really is a drain under the vdrive unit. It is right next to the rear ballast pumps and very difficult to see I might add. With the pumps positioned as they are, it's also quite useless. The T handle cannot be rotated because of interference from the ballast pump. That looks like another project to add to the list.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for all the ideas--took it to the dealer last Friday and a hose had popped off on the intake or cooling system. Anyway, he added some clamps to make sure it didn't happen again. The ballast pump was also indeed broken, so he replaced that as well. We ran it all weekend and it worked great!

Thanks for your help!

Julie

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srud:

you may have already thought of this but, I use the shut-off valve to keep my center tank from filling and emptying unnecessarily. You just have to remember to open it before running the pump so as not to kill it.

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srud:

you may have already thought of this but, I use the shut-off valve to keep my center tank from filling and emptying unnecessarily. You just have to remember to open it before running the pump so as not to kill it.

Yeah, someone had mentioned that previously in another thread. I will probably do just that until I get the gumption to try something more automatic like a valve that is activated when I turn on the pump.

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3/4" solenoid valves aren't too expensive on Ebay, I'm thinking of picking some up for my system.

It's time for you to quit thinking about it and do it! Tease2.gif I've been waiting for weeks for you to get this done just so I don't have to do all the research on what to buy and how to wire it myself. Crazy.gif

j/k I'll probably do something like that real soon, because I know that I'll forget about that shutoff valve and wreck my pump.

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And I've been waiting for weeks for it to get done. :lol: Actually, we're very close. We've got an air lock problem that I need to get worked out, but otherwise it's working pretty good. I was planning on tackling the solenoid valves once the rest of the system is working the way that I want it.

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