Help! Water leak on vacation

[Paulie]

Hello all.
I am down in Siesta Key for a couple of weeks and we got in from a full day of boating yesterday to find water in the bilge which does not happen to me unless there is a leak of some kind. I started to investigate and noticed that it may be coming from the port side intermediate bearing housing. It's not a big leak at this point because after a ful day it had not reached the bilge pump level yet, but I imagine that it will only get worse. Does anyone know if this will lead to a gusher and potentially over power the bilge pump or does this scenario usually maintain a small leak?

 

[Ilmmct]

You might want to try the "[USERGROUP=9]@HELP[/USERGROUP]" group for this ... I once seared a bolt on the intake grate of my 2008 SX230 and the steady amount of water that entered the bilge area had me worried enough that I pulled the boat out of the water. I did not experiment to see if the bilge would have kept up with the leak I created by the missing bolt that was holding the intake grate to the hull.

 

[Murf'n'surf]

@Paulie that scenario is unlikely.

Try to watch the leak at speed, you may find something else leaking. The cooling lines are likely culprits.

When is the last time that you shot grease into the bearings?

 

[Gym]

@Paulie. How did you determine it may be an intermediate bearing leak? Is it possible it was your wake splashing over your rear deck when coming off plane? You could put the boat on the trailer in a steep bow up position and see if you have any water leaking out. You may have to put additional water in the bilge to help expose any leak.

Have you been properly maintaining the bearing by putting some grease in the fitting each season? Too much grease can be as much of a problem as too little.

Also, make sure it's not your scupper valve. Have you upgraded to a stainless steel scupper valve? The plastic ones are subject to leaking and catastrophic failure. If you determine it's the intermediate I would keep an eye on it but wouldn't let it ruin my vacation. The scupper could be another issue.

 

[Julian]

Very hard to predict this one, but I would have to agree with Gym that in general it is unlikely to turn into a gusher, unless it is a scupper leak. Just sitting the scupper is unlikely to break off, but running over waves/wakes it when that might happen. I'd monitor it and if you have an onboard charger, keep it plugged in so your bilge has full power while unattended. If you don't have an onboard charger but do have power available, I'd pick one up for peace of mind!

 

[4x15mph]

If it's the intermediate bearing you may find it leaks when the engine is not running and will leak less when spinning. I would choose not to leave it in the water over night if you have that choice.

 

[Paulie]

Thanks for all the feedback guys. Went out for a long day on the water today. Even made it to passage key (naked island) and wow! What a show that was! I did not witness any water coming from the bearing, just some grease from possible over fill so I will continue to monitor that. @Gym may be correct about the water coming in from over the swim deck area because we did head out through an inlet into open water and the breakers were a little challenging. I have installed a stainless scupper so I know it isn't that. Thanks again for all of the responses!

 

[Gym]

That's what we do best @Paulie...help you enjoy your boat and help you spend your money on mods. Have a great vacation.

 

[Britboater]

Say hi to @Alysha a regular visitor to passage key, I believe .

 

[Paulie]

Ha! I looked ALL over the island for her but didn't see her. Lol!