Marine: Boating, Sailing, PWC, GPS and Navigation - Taking on water

I have an older Glastron I/O drive fiber glass. It is taking on water. I can not find out where it is coming in. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

Robertk

You did not say if it leaks with the engine running or not.
Also i need to know what kind of engine. Volvo, merc, omc?

IT is probably an older volvo with a bad u joint bellow that is
leaking water thru the intermidiate bearings and seals.
Let us know and we can provide assistance to get the water
stopped.


Scott

Thanks Scott for the reply. The boat is 1986, it has a 4 cyl OMC engine. I think it is a 2.6 ?????. It takes on water when pulling skiers. I am not sure, but I don't think it leaks very bad when just riding without skier. I am just the gramps. My job is to keep plenty of gas on bank. When it sits in water over night it doesn't leak. I checked the seam where top and bottom are joined and applied some silicone, but it didn't stop it. I have been thinking about putting a light inside the motor cowling on a dark night and see if I can find anything. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Robertk

Does it take on water at rest or only when moving? If it takes on water at rest, it may not necessarily be in the motor. One way to identify the leak is to put the boat on the trailor and put some water in the hull. You can then identify the leak if you see water coming out.

Did anyone think that it just might be the skiers all wet getting in and out of the boat, storing the skis in the center area ect? What is different about pulling a skier than just running about?
How much water are we talking about?
10 gallons or a cup?

It's possible that there may be some miniscule cracks or other failure between the hull and the transon. There may be enough structural tension to remain sealed when the boat is in a static state.

The extra stress that the skier places on the transom may be relieving that stress and allowing water to leak in.

The best way to check for that is to make sure the bilges are completely dry, and have someone inspect the transom joint while you're pulling a skier. Since it's back by the engine, make sure they take extreme care to avoid moving parts and hot surfaces.

fill the hull w/ water and see where it comes out

I had one that did the same thing. woodpecker had an idea and I tried that but it didn't work. When the boat got about half full there was to much weight on the trailor. Mine turned out to be a crack in the hull just aft of the bow on the bottom. The problem finding it was the way it was cracked. Water weight placed in the boat would close the crack but water pressure while moving would open it up. I ended up tearing the subfloor up when I was out one day. I just got tired of looking and went that way. Good luck

I had the same type of problem this season. I had the exhaust manifold change (flapper had peirced the manifold. '96 Volvo)
After the repair I was taking on water (about 3 gallons) every time I went out. It was never enough in the bilge for the pump to come on. The boat is at a marina. I would shop-vac the water out weekly. Finally one day while out at our favorite beach, I opened the engine hatch and saw water dripping from the rear of the exhaust manifold, Port side. At the rear of the exhaust manifold there is a cap with a clamp (I guess this cap would be removed if the boat was used in salt water and had a closed cooling system). The clamp was not put back on properly when they changed the manifold. (Nothing like quality control). I reseated and tightened the clamp and she has been dry since. What was happening was when the engine ran, it filled with fresh water. When the engine stopped, it would drain into the bilge to about the water line. I was concerned that it was the transom that needed to be rebuilt as my previous boat. Than kfully this was not the case. Best of luck and dry boating to ya!