Water in engine compartment

[Couvewakesetter]

2009 Malibu 23 LSV.  When get underway the “caution auto bilge” light come on.  Press okay and goes away and doesn’t come back on.  When I remove the middle back seat I can see that there’s about one inch of standing water in engine compartment and some hoses seem to be sitting in water.  When hit bilge pump to empty usually don’t get any discharge of water or much anyway.  I’ve got that brass plug that I put in (tight) at beginning of season.  My mind has been wandering lately worrying about water in engine.  Is one inch of water a concern or normal?

 

 

[shawndoggy]

Does the boat ever come off the water?  If so, pull the bilge plugs, drain the water, then figure out where it’s coming from. 1” isn’t the end of the world but not ideal either. 

[wakesonthesnake]

I think I would be worried if there was not an inch of water.  Leaking bags, people in and out of water, shaft seal, and so on.  The bilge pump is in the wrong location and never seems to get that last bit out.  If you hit the bilge pump switch it will pump some out before the float switch will activate it.  I take a little extra time getting on plane and let it pump a couple times an outing.  As Shawndoggy mentioned pulling plugs will help with drying it out between outings.

[smileysteve]

1 hour ago, Couvewakesetter said:

 I’ve got that brass plug that I put in (tight) at beginning of season.  

Shouldn't have to be tight, should be hand tight only

[ajive]

+1 on that's pretty normal.  I especially get some bilge water when wakeboarding... The wake tends to wash up onto the back and gets in the vent pipe if I stop a little fast.  Also life jackets hold a ton of water so if you are just tossing them in the floor or in a hatch 5 or 6 rounds of that can put a decent amount in, not an inch, but a contribution.

If you're just floating around and still get that much then I guess I'd start to worry.  But agree with the others that you should pull the center plug every time if you trailer.

[JeffK]

We get lots of water in when the kiddos jump in the boat without dripping off first.  You'd be amazed home much water gets brought in through that. 

[Ryan1776]

+1 to everyone who doesn't worry. 

I get water in simply from the rain. 
My cover fits terribly around the tower mount and after a good rain, my seats under the tower legs are wet. So you know it's getting into the hull eventually. 

 

[mackie12]

3 hours ago, JeffK said:

We get lots of water in when the kiddos jump in the boat without dripping off first.  You'd be amazed home much water gets brought in through that. 

some days I wonder if they are bringing buckets in with them.....4 kids jumping in/out of a boat brings in alot of water......

[jwl019]

4 hours ago, mackie12 said:

some days I wonder if they are bringing buckets in with them.....4 kids jumping in/out of a boat brings in alot of water......

One of my rules is that whenever someone gets out of the water, they stand on the platform for just a few seconds to let the first 5 gallons of water drain off of them and from out of the lifejacket.  I don't get near the amount of water in my boat as I used too once I started doing that.

[shawndoggy]

I've had lots of kids jumping in and out of the boat and never ever had excessive water in the bilge as a result.  That would seriously take a TON of water drippage from people to make it to the bilge.

[kerpluxal]

On 8/25/2019 at 10:41 AM, wakesonthesnake said:

I think I would be worried if there was not an inch of water.  Leaking bags, people in and out of water, shaft seal, and so on.  The bilge pump is in the wrong location and never seems to get that last bit out.  If you hit the bilge pump switch it will pump some out before the float switch will activate it.  I take a little extra time getting on plane and let it pump a couple times an outing.  As Shawndoggy mentioned pulling plugs will help with drying it out between outings.

Due to a bag busting.. dumping 132 gallons into bilge and hydro locking engine.. I had dealership install one in the middle as well. The middle is where most of water accumulates anyways as it is the lowest part of the bilge.

@Couvewakesetter are you removing plug with square head from rear or T handle in boat? 

Edited August 26, 2019 by kerpluxal

[Brichter14]

You had a 1000 lb bag bust and it ruined your engine??

[Eagleboy99]

4 hours ago, kerpluxal said:

dumping 132 gallons into bilge and hydro locking engine

How did water in the bilge hydrolock an engine?

[JeffK]

13 hours ago, shawndoggy said:

I've had lots of kids jumping in and out of the boat and never ever had excessive water in the bilge as a result.  That would seriously take a TON of water drippage from people to make it to the bilge.

Our kids like to jump off the sundeck, so picture an hour of dragging water in like that.  We have started this year asking them to jump once at the beginning, then find another activity. 

[shawndoggy]

1 hour ago, JeffK said:

Our kids like to jump off the sundeck, so picture an hour of dragging water in like that.  We have started this year asking them to jump once at the beginning, then find another activity. 

totally been there.  unless they are jumping in with buckets or wringing out soaking wet towels for an hour, I still don't see how that could result in meaningful water in the bilge.  Unless we are talking about 50 kids at a time?

[TallRedRider]

2 hours ago, JeffK said:

Our kids like to jump off the sundeck, so picture an hour of dragging water in like that.  We have started this year asking them to jump once at the beginning, then find another activity. 

Funkiller 

14 minutes ago, shawndoggy said:

totally been there.  unless they are jumping in with buckets or wringing out soaking wet towels for an hour, I still don't see how that could result in meaningful water in the bilge.  Unless we are talking about 50 kids at a time?

I have seen quite a bit of water come in from kids jumping out, climbing in, jump out, climb in.   It is a family joke when I yell at them: 'Knock it off, you're getting my boat all wet!'  

An inch of water isn't going to cause any problems, but you still want to know where it came from, as a big hose that is barely hanging on might give you an inch, until suddenly the water is coming above your floor.  

[kerpluxal]

12 hours ago, Eagleboy99 said:

How did water in the bilge hydrolock an engine?

The person driving my boat did not know the bag busted while I was surfing. Nose up means all the water was in engine compartment and the intake is down low. Water came in through intake. He shut down when the dash lit up with alternator failure but too late by then. We are talking about a bunch of water, not an inch lol. When I came into boat water was up to floor board.

[Eagleboy99]

13 minutes ago, kerpluxal said:

The person driving my boat did not know the bag busted while I was surfing. Nose up means all the water was in engine compartment and the intake is down low. Water came in through intake. He shut down when the dash lit up with alternator failure but too late by then. We are talking about a bunch of water, not an inch lol. When I came into boat water was up to floor board.

Thanks for the explanation.  Sorry to hear though.  Pretty wild scenario, but makes sense.

[kerpluxal]

1 minute ago, Eagleboy99 said:

Thanks for the explanation.  Sorry to hear though.  Pretty wild scenario, but makes sense.

It was a fluke.. and think the chances of being eaten by a catfish are higher 

 

[JeffK]

2 hours ago, shawndoggy said:

totally been there.  unless they are jumping in with buckets or wringing out soaking wet towels for an hour, I still don't see how that could result in meaningful water in the bilge.  Unless we are talking about 50 kids at a time?

You wouldn't think so, but I checked the engine tray after one session and there was a ton of water.  Bathing suit, swim shirt, and vest all draining off water can amass a lot of water.  Picture 5-6 kids doing this for 90 minutes. 

[justgary]

2 hours ago, kerpluxal said:

It was a fluke.. and think the chances of being eaten by a catfish are higher 

 

You seem awfully excited to get eaten by a catfish.  Anything we should know about? 

[kerpluxal]

20 minutes ago, justgary said:

You seem awfully excited to get eaten by a catfish.  Anything we should know about? 

It was a sarcastic remark as I think there have only been 3 people to be eaten by a catfish lol 

[justgary]

2 hours ago, kerpluxal said:

It was a sarcastic remark as I think there have only been 3 people to be eaten by a catfish lol 

And here I was, ready to read your story about the time you went noodling with your brother-in-law and found the big one, and it had you more than you had it, and you had to take your shirt off all Afun style, and you finally got away, only to find that your brother-in-law had been watching the whole time but didn't lift a finger to help, and how impressed he was that you took your shirt off when you did or it would have been a whole lot worse....

[shawndoggy]

20 minutes ago, justgary said:

And here I was, ready to read your story about the time you went noodling with your brother-in-law and found the big one, and it had you more than you had it, and you had to take your shirt off all Afun style, and you finally got away, only to find that your brother-in-law had been watching the whole time but didn't lift a finger to help, and how impressed he was that you took your shirt off when you did or it would have been a whole lot worse....

It still holds up, gary.  

 

 

[justgary]

14 hours ago, shawndoggy said:

It still holds up, gary.  

 

 

I can honestly tell you that I have never had so much fun on the internet as I did reading that one thread.  @Afun, if you are still out there, thanks again for posting it.

BTW, sorry for the hijack... to get back on topic, I try to keep my bilge as dry as possible (mainly due to salt water).  I'm amazed at how much water I get when I have friends or family on the boat that don't know to stand on the platform to drip.  It doesn't seem to matter that I tell them to drip for a minute, somehow they just can't wait to get back in the boat.