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Taking on Water


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 I have a 1998 sporster that at low-mid rpm range takes on more water than normal. I can let the boat sit overnight and it does not take on any water, just when the throttle is engaged. I have about a drop per second on my driveshaft, all plugs are in, and i physically can not see any water dripping from the engine. However, when i am running at high speeds and slow down quickly, i will have a splash of water hit the back of the boat and run all the way to the drivers seat...

Any ideas on where this water is coming from?

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formulaben
1 minute ago, cgsmakaveli said:

 I have a 1998 sporster that at low-mid rpm range takes on more water than normal. I can let the boat sit overnight and it does not take on any water, just when the throttle is engaged. I have about a drop per second on my driveshaft, all plugs are in, and i physically can not see any water dripping from the engine. However, when i am running at high speeds and slow down quickly, i will have a splash of water hit the back of the boat and run all the way to the drivers seat...

Any ideas on where this water is coming from?

Could you explain this a little better?  By back of the boat you mean transom, or the rear seating area?  And you're saying this is on the floor?

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Leaks around the platform brackets?  My inlaws LXI had a phantom leak for years until we figured out that the platform bracket bolts were a little loose and had chewed all the sealant up allowing water to run in around the bolts.

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27 minutes ago, formulaben said:

Could you explain this a little better?  By back of the boat you mean transom, or the rear seating area?  And you're saying this is on the floor?

The water will hit the back seat and splash up onto the floor running wall the way up to the passenger front seats...its a decent amount of water. 

 

Also, i appreciate some of the suggestions. I figure it has to deal with the boat in motion since i can leave the boat sitting in the water overnight and it wont take on any water...

Edited by cgsmakaveli
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I'm not familiar with your specific boat, but I had a Regal that would take on a similar amount of water. On my boat it turned out to be a bad seal under the run rail where the two halfs of the boat came together. The bow spray was going between the seam and filling up the boat, but only when underway. A tube of 3m marine calk solved that problem.

 

best bet is to drive around while someone else with a flashlight looks for the source.

  • Like 2
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Could also be a split in a water hose, running the engine and not moving would eliminate this possibility.

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Both my BU & my MB get wet, can never figure out where the water comes from.  I think on my MB its coming in from the engine vents or possibly hard tank leak but haven't been able to pin point it.  Seems most can't keep their hull 100% dry?

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  • 2 weeks later...

update: teak platform bolts and front bow eye bolts are all tight. plugs are tight. no visible water dripping from engine when in motion. 

Could my rear muffler/exhaust tubes have a leak or crack?

 

Also, i disconnected the shower but there is not any water coming out of the pump so i dont think that would be an issue. 

Edited by cgsmakaveli
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Does your boat have airglide speedos? Where the air tubes go thru the transom can leak, and be hard to find, been there done that ;-0

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Did you check the inside all around where the deck and the hull are glued together by the factory?

I had to (re-)seal our 2010 Response because when cruising, water would enter through a few gaps there. (Mainly both sides inside the trunk.) Used black Sikaflex and went all the way around just to be sure everything would be watertight.

Edited by Chaabo
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ahopkins22LSV
1 hour ago, cgsmakaveli said:

update: teak platform bolts and front bow eye bolts are all tight. plugs are tight. no visible water dripping from engine when in motion. 

Could my rear muffler/exhaust tubes have a leak or crack?

 

Also, i disconnected the shower but there is not any water coming out of the pump so i dont think that would be an issue. 

I had a baffle in a muffler go bad and it wore a hole in the side of the muffler. Took me a few weeks to figure out that water source. So yes it can happen. Easy to replace though.

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17 minutes ago, ahopkinsTXi said:

I had a baffle in a muffler go bad and it wore a hole in the side of the muffler. Took me a few weeks to figure out that water source. So yes it can happen. Easy to replace though.

I've seen the mufflers crack due to water in them over the winter. Pretty easy to repair the muffler with some fiberglass & resin.  On the direct drives they would leak just sitting there in the water. But I think the muffler in the V-drives is high enough it would have to be running.

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If water is hitting the transom and then finding it's way inside the boat, it is likely the rub rail that is leaking.  It would be easy to check - have someone sitting at the rear of the boat watching where the water hits when you slow down as discussed above. If the water gets to the rub rail level, I would be confident that is your problem.  If not, well then it's time to keep looking.

 

On my last boat, I would get water coming through the rub rail right at the drivers legs and feet if I hit a wave just right.  It wasn't anything to get concerned about because it was very infrequent and just a small amount of water.  But it was always a surprise when it happened!

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 5/18/2017 at 8:40 AM, sic0048 said:

If water is hitting the transom and then finding it's way inside the boat, it is likely the rub rail that is leaking.  It would be easy to check - have someone sitting at the rear of the boat watching where the water hits when you slow down as discussed above. If the water gets to the rub rail level, I would be confident that is your problem.  If not, well then it's time to keep looking.

 

On my last boat, I would get water coming through the rub rail right at the drivers legs and feet if I hit a wave just right.  It wasn't anything to get concerned about because it was very infrequent and just a small amount of water.  But it was always a surprise when it happened!

I will check but this is almost guaranteed each time i run the boat, clam water or rough. I watched it pretty good a few times and do not see anything visible while running the boat or when it is on a trailer. Again, i can leave it parked overnight and the boat doesn't sink. 

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...

Well, i resealed and it didn't eliminate the problem. Next step is taking the back seat off and removing the rub rail completely so see what exactly is going on. 

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Looks like you need me to foot behind it to check out the problem. :)

I have had one Malibu that leaked real bad from the factory. The screws around the fuel fill area where not screwed properly. Once they were redone, it stopped leaking. It leaked a lot, from the rub rail area.

You might need to remove rub rail rubber and remove each screw and then put a sealer on them and reinstall.

Edited by footndale
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So I had exactly this with my '01 Sunsetter VLX.  For years I'd have a dry starboard V-Drive locker when I set out to surf or board.  Then the bilge pump would be on a lot and the carpet would be soaked in the locker all the way up to the mid-cabin.  I went down the route of leaking plumbing from the plumbed in ballast system for a while with no improvement.  Then I caught it in action.

Imagine if you will that an installer was drilling or putting in self-tapping screws for the rub rail and he gets to a spot where the screw doesn't grab anything at all.  Hmmmm.  Just move over and try again.  Success.  Move on, but leave a hole in the boat.  So why didn't the screw grab?  Well on my boat at that spot there was a 1/2" gap where the top hull and bottom hull didn't mate up well. The epoxy they used to join the shells also wasn't enough to both gap fill and give those screws purchase.  The carpet hid the hole on the inside and the rub rail hid the hole on the outside.  I only saw it because the constant leak had broken down the carpet glue and it was hanging off the transom exposing the penetration as a roller hit and I was looking right at it.  Looked like two 1/4" streams of water peeing into my locker.  

So water would hit the rub rail, go behind it, run down all over behind the rub rail, and through those nice holes into the boat.

I plugged those holes with epoxy and glassed over that whole seam with several layers before replacing the carpet.  Never a problem with water again.

That may not be what's happening to you, but it could give you some ideas of where to look.  To be clear though, there were no matching screws in the rub rail to the holes that were penetrating the boat.  There were just holes.  If sealing up your existing screws as suggested above doesn't help, then don't give up on the idea quite yet.  It's possible to get a boat with unused drill holes. :( 

Edited by Slurpee
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Fill your bilge with water while on the trailer and see if it's coming from out the shaft hole. Being that year model it could be the water box leaking. If so, put a shaft log in.

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