i don't think water is suppose to be there.

[bronze_10]

So we took the boat out to falls lake again today.. we were out for about 6 hours. the kids got to ride a tube for the first time and we couldnt get them off of it. Later when it was time to go in we deflated the tube and opened the storage locker... my wife pointed, i looked and water was coming in the locker through the drain plug. The bottom of the boat was full of water.. I quickly slapped the bilge pump button and a healthy stream of water was coming out of the discharge. Then I got the boat on plane and watched the water drain out. The bilge stopped on it's own. When the boat stopped the bilge came back on again draining more water. I suspect the one way drain at the back is not closing tight. We had been tubing for a few hours. Still what else could allow that amount of water into the bottom of the boat? And with the bilge button on does the pump cycle on and off by its self?

 

[ToddW850]

Always remember, when on the water, the bilge pump should be on. If you have the stock bilge pump, it will cycle on occasionally checking for water. If you have an aftermarket bilge pump like I have now, it only comes on when it senses water. Either way, always have it on.

As far as the water, not unusul when tubing and stuff. The amount of water you mentioned was a little excessive though. Do you know if the water was warm or cold? Warm would indicate an exhaust leak. Cold could be from something else. Have you replaced your scupper valve yet?

Also, you should have all your drain plugs in while on the water too. That seperates water into compartements, instead of flooding the engine/bilge area if you take water over the bow and what not.

 

[bronze_10]

I didn't check to see if it was hot or not but I did pop the engine hatch and there was a small amount in there hut not much.. the engine coolant outlets on the side of the boat were streaming out like normal underpowered. .. I am pretty sure it's lake water.. the supper valve is the rubber one way valve in the back just about rhe drain right? If so.. no I haven't and when I look at it it doesn't seem to shut tight. I can put my finger on it and there is a small gap... plus I didn't pick hard and ot flipped into the hull.. I had to rake it back out with my finger... I think that is my proplem... it doesn't look hard to change.. and I totally didn't realize the bilge should be on..and all the pulls in.... but now that u mention it... it makes perfect since!

 

[ToddW850]

There will be a logical explanation for the water. We just gotta find it.

Yes, the scupper is the one way valve you mention. If you've looked at it and there is not an obvious defect, then your scupper probably did not allow the amount of water in you had. Now, having said that, I still highly recommend you changing your scupper to a stainless steel one. There is a thread on this forum that will walk you through step by step. I read it a couple times before I did mine and nothing caught me off guard. Also check the 'Holder of the Scupper Wrench" thread. Get that mailed to you when you are ready and it will help you with the swap.

When you have a chance, pull the hatch next to your clean out plugs and look at all the Clamps (on the hoses and stuff) under the swim platform. I found 3 rusted off and broken ones on my boat last year. I've changed them all out with new Stainless Steel Clamps and sprayed them with T-9.

Now, as far as the amount of water you had today. Like I said, it's not uncommon for water to find it's way into the bilge, especially after 6 hours of tubing. Sometimes when you stop, water can come over the swim platform and into the clean out hatch. From there, water can and will find it's way into the bilge. Also people getting on and off the boat from the water will do the same.

So inspect that scupper again and look for a crack for starters. Check for water the next time you go out. If you have some, check to see if it's warm. If it's not warm, then the water is getting in from outside.

Having said that, I'm not so sure that amount of water was caused by just the scupper either. Unless you notice the gap in it. About 80-90 % of the plastic stock scuppers that came with these boats crack and allow water in.

 

[bronze_10]

We going out tomorrow in a small lake close to home.. I'll inspect through the clean outs on the back deck and see if I see anything in there... the supper valve .. while looking at it looks... not flat! Meaning the rubber flap touches on one side but not rhe other unless I push on it.. it's rubber with a plastic ring.. I think I will take your advice and change it to a stainless steel regardless....

 

[Scottintexas]

The rubber flap really has no bearing on letting water in, it's not meant to be water tight. it connects with the hose that runs through your engine bay and the fitting that drains your cockpit, all above the water line.

If the scupper itself is cracked it can let water in as it never goes in the plastic tube or the tube is loose on the scupper fitting. I'm more confused that you didn't have more water in your engine compartment. Did you have both plugs in the engine compartment engaged? maybe being stopped and people moving just caused water to slosh forward and be noticed in the ski locker. I remember a poster saying even his metal transom plug caused a leak into the boat, was your tight?

anyways, as Todd said if your on the water the bilge should be on, it saved me one day that I got in a rush and forgot to put the transom plug in, I unloaded, tied to the pier to move my truck and heard the bilge running and thought "that's very unusual" and after a quick review quickly remembered my mistake,

take it out again and just be mindful of what's going on and you should be able to better isolate it.

 

[bronze_10]

OK.. that explains the scupper valve a lot better to me.. i just thought it was a one way drain from the bottom of the boat. When we saw the water running into the ski locker i immediately opened the engine compartment.. there was just a small amount of water directly under the engines. Those drain plugs were all in. Once the bilge pulled the water down i opened those plugs and drained that water out as well. From a newbies stand point there was a lot of water in there.. But like i said I didn't realize i needed the pump on and that it would cycle and do it's own thing. I am a little concerned where the water is coming from............... but we put in about 10 am today and we noticed it at 4pm. 6 hours... now that i know its coming from somewhere I will track it down.... rule one.. plug in.. rule two... BILGE ON!

 

[ToddW850]

@bronze_10 I apologize for not noticing what you were trying to tell me about the scupper valve flap. But just like @Scottintexas explained, not a big deal if the flap doesn't rest flat, because water will only go into the tube and not the boat. The theory behind it all is when you have water in your cockpit (by taking a wave or whatever) then the water will flow out of the cockpit through the scupper valve.

Anyway, good luck and let us know what you find out next time you go out, or if you have more questions.

 

[Speedling]

Yup, scupper cracked. Very common, a bit pita to fix. Do a search for scupper wrenchesas you will need one.

 

[bronze_10]

this is why i am so thankful i found this forum..... the answers to any question i have i can find from you guys.. !!!! we are going out tomorrow.. ill update when we come home. Txs everyone!!

 

[Julian]

I was out all afternoon on Falls and only saw one Yamaha....it had people sitting on the rear deck while underway....no one here has actually tested our boats for CO density on the swim deck, but it is illegal and possibly very dangerous to have people on the stern while underway.....hope that wasn't you....

As for your leak, that much water is not normal and you should find its source. The most common source is loose through hull fittings (like depth finder screws, drain plug and screws, or speedo screws or tube). Check all of those with the boat out of the water. The scupper fitting as mentioned above is another common leak point-not the flap itself, but the hard plastic inner tube cracks and allows water to leak into the bilge. Other less common sources include leaking exhaust manifolds (if the water is hot, this indicates this as a source), and transom plates leaks. If your speedo doesn't work, then the water could be from the pitot tube behind the dash, but that is usually noticed by wetness in the compartment behind the helm.

Hope to see you out there one day! Glad you are making great memories with the family!!!

 

[bronze_10]

@Julian that certainly was not us with people on the back... the only time anyone is on the back is when we are changing riders on the tube or floating.....

 

[buckbuck]

bronze_10, I would concur with the others about the scupper but in slightly more intense terms. Order the scupper this morning and replace it as soon as possible. The risk of a 2" hole in your boat below the water line is too great. Many of us have found ours cracked when we went to replace. Make sure you have a small roll of duct tape on board to stuff in that hole in the mean time. Don't let the fear of it stop you from having fun with the family but just be prepared.

 

[bronze_10]

@buckbuck roger that! tape going in this morning. I opened the small access ports this morning next to the clean out plugs under the rear most hatch. I ran my water hose down there and began filling it with water.. The back of the boat had a few small weeping drips.. very slow..one drip would dry on the driveway before the next would fall.. looked like it was coming from the brass plug but it was so slow it was hard to tell. the water filled higher than the scupper but i did not see any leaking from it... after reading the advise of the guys on this page i inspected the large plate the clean out plugs and access ports are in.. it seems that plate has been removed before.. It is a little loose on one side. And I cant see any caulking on that side. I now feel like that is where most of the water is coming in. I'm still going to put that scupper on top of my list but it think i need to caulk that side and tighten it down some and see if there is a noticeable difference... txs for all the advice.. that's why i am here!!

 

[ToddW850]

That was a great test you did filling up the back of the boat and testing for water leaks. It's a trick I forgot to mention. And at least your scupper isn't leaking to this point, but I'm glad you're going to change it out anyway. As with most of us, when I went to change my scupper out, it broke off into 2 pieces as I was barely pulling on it.

Also, don't forget to check for broken or rusty clamps in the transom area. Not sure if you are boating in salt water or fresh, but I'm sure salt water is what caused mine to fail.

 

[bronze_10]

im in fresh water and the boat has only been in freshwater.. we are going out for a few hours today and i am going to inspect the hoses while the engines are running as well... now that i know a little mare about what I am looking at..!!

 

[Julian]

One last area where we've seen some people have leaks is the anchor locker drain. On some models, the connection between the drain and the locker was not sealed. When the bow is loaded with people and driving at no wake speed, water would put into the drain hole and leak through the fitting, OR would push into the anchor locker, and the locker itself would leak.

 

[Murf'n'surf]

Did you store the boat with the rear plug installed? Maybe this is rain water or water from cleaning the boat?

Make sure it's good and dry next trip out and keep an eye out for when and where you see water intrusion.

Keep that bilge pump switch on while you are in the water. By the time you know something's wrong and turn it on manually, it's too late!

 

[txav8r]

Chasing down an annoying leak can be a challenge. But it is a necessary process. The scupper valve is connecting the cockpit self bailing drain to the scupper via the white hose running through the engine compartment. You have already heard many say that changing the scupper might be important, and it is if it is suspect. The other holes in the boat can accumulate water in the boat. I had an '08 SX 230 that drove me crazy one summer. I found that the speedo cable hole that was up in the top of the recess that the jet pump was in on the back of the boat, leaked, but how could that be an issue, it is always about 8" out of the water. Well, if two of us were on the back deck at the same time, the boat would sit that deep or deep enough to let water in through that hole. If you inspect all of those thru hull holes, you will find big globs of silicone that were used to seal them. I removed most of these globs and resealed them. That solved that problem.

The clean out tray leaking is not a concern really. It has a drain line hooked to it, but that doesn't do much either. So the caulking along the edge isn't a real issue, as a matter of fact, I removed mine and cleaned it up last time I was in it. I replaced the caulking with a rubber gasket so I could get in and out of the clean out tray as necessary without all the effort. Now I just remove the screws and pull it up, fixing or installing whatever I need to, and replace the tray after. No more caulk there. Sealing the clean out tubes to the tray is not a perfect seal either, and they can leak, but you can't stop that 100% either, and I don't really try to caulk them either, just make sure the tray hole lip is inside the tubes, and the hose clamp is installed. If you over tighten the clamp, it will deform the hole lip in the tray and make getting the clean out plugs in and out harder. Cleanout plugs can leak while stationary. Under pressure, the should not leak. The design of the gasket/seal on them, is such that prevents it or should. The gasket is not 100% however in terms of letting water into the plug itself and then into the tube, so finding water on top of them, whether from slosh over the deck or plug bypass is common, and not worth chasing down if your performance is ok.

A logical approach at narrowing down the leaks will result in a dry bilge...and I think your on the right track!

 

[bronze_10]

@Julian .. where does the anchor locker drain out of the boat? @Murf'n'surf .. the last time i had it out I pulled the plug and a lot of water came out.. i was thinking it was from the cleaning or rain.. but this time when i took it out it was dry... i double checked it before we left the house.