Leak???

[Chaunceybland]

So, I made the drive from Memphis to Chattanooga to check out and sea trial a 2017 242 LSE... Boat looks great and appears to run great. I drove it for a bit, but didn't go crazy. He had it up to 49 @ what appeared to be 7000rpm. My question is, while we were docked before we went out, i checked all compartments (I opened everything that would open ). The carpet was wet inside the stern compartment behind the driver. Is it normal for that compartment to be wet? There was no water anywhere else. Could that be from a leak or is the tank for the shower in there? The salesman said he took it out early this morning before I arrived because they de-winterized it this morning. Any thoughts?

 

[Neutron]

Rain water or when washing boat can go into the rear seat compartments easily

 

[Chaunceybland]

He said it was rain water, but wanted to get the opinion from you guys. Thanks!

 

[tdonoughue]

Likely. That would be an odd spot to have a leak. Most common would be drainage from the cupholders back there. There can also be seepage around the seats.

 

[Chaunceybland]

One other question... after the sea trial and arriving back to the dock, as he was tying the boat to the dock water started coming out of the side for about 5-7 seconds. I want to say the boat was off. We were out on the water for no more than 15 minutes. He made some pretty aggressive turns while testing to let me see what it can do. Is it normal for that water to come out at that time. I didn't think anything about it at the time, so I didn't check the compartments.

 

[the MfM]

It’s possible water can get in the bilge from aggressive driving. Sea doos are also know to have a problem with leaking carbon seals.

 

[marcham]

Coming out of the side through the pilots or through the larger bilge pump outlet? I'll presume the later.

IMHO, the bilge pump should not have water to pump out with the boat in the water for only 15 minutes. Or was the boat in the water all day?

There's a good chance that it's just an improperly sealed drain plug on the transom though, although it could be a hose clamp that needs tightening. Most likely this is a very simple fix. You could add a line in the contract "dealer warrants for 30 days that boat has no unintended water ingress through hull or fittings".

 

[Chaunceybland]

Yeah it was the larger opening. The boat was in the water all morning before I got there, but the engine compartment was dry before we left the dock. But thanks about the line in the contract.

 

[Scottintexas]

He said it was rain water, but wanted to get the opinion from you guys. Thanks!

that's a long ways to drive for a test ride,

Had it rained during the day while he had it out waiting on you??
None of the other compartments were wet??

if it hadn't rained, when was the last rain? it's going to get old fast if that carpet gets wet every time it rains,

I'm sorry but I've heard to many salesman's BS just to appease someone to push the problem down the road,

That compartment, if you were to raise the seats and look upwards on the hull you would see the indicator lines and the bilge pump hose, if one of those hoses weren't connected well or had a leak it would leak water on that carpet,

I would also ask what they did to de-winterize it to gauge if he's feeding you BS, that's a great thing about Yamaha's, no mechanical winterization is needed, if he just meant they changed to the oil and plugs, cleaned it up and wanted to make sure it was running good for you that would be acceptable,

it's probably something easily fixable it just whether you enjoy investing the time to track it down are you going to be pissed and the dealer is 5 hours away,

Have you check at St. Charles Boat/marine in Mo ? it looks like they're 4 hours from you and we've got a couple members who recommend them,

.

.

 

[Chaunceybland]

When I asked about the de-winterization, he said they basically checked the oil and fittings. No oil change or plugs. I would ask for that if I proceed with them. I just found a new 19Ltd S E for $9k more out the door and mooring cover included, so now I'm going back and forth. Hope to have 1 tomorrow.

 

[marcham]

Just out of curiosity, is the bilge pump outlet on the same side as the compartment that had the wet carpet? Could that hose to thru-hull connection be the culprit?

I get wet carpets once in a while after washing, rain or boat use (watersports bring a fair bit of water into the boat). It's no worry as they are designed for marine use (mold resistant). I find that having the black cover and by cracking each bench/compartment open by 3/4" when stored, everything dries out quickly with 1 day of sunshine. There are several cup holders with drain lines, but the drain lines may still lead to a carpeted area.

 

[Chaunceybland]

Yeah they are on the same side...

 

[Neutron]

Get the 19 and dont look back. I wouldn't want to deal with hunting down a leak. If my boat is in the water for 8 hours plus, my bilge pump never comes on no mater how i drive it. When i pull the bilge plug on the ramp, water comes out for only 10 seconds

 

[FLJetBoater]

Get the 19 and dont look back. I wouldn't want to deal with hunting down a leak. If my boat is in the water for 8 hours plus, my bilge pump never comes on no mater how i drive it. When i pull the bilge plug on the ramp, water comes out for only 10 seconds

Is 10 seconds normal? I was out with a full load today and bilge never came on. However when we got back and I started pulling the boat up the ramp (it’s fairly steep) I saw it kick on for a good 4-5 seconds. I guess all the water flushing to the back of the boat but seemed like quite a lot. Then, I opened the drain plug (still on the ramp) and it drained for another good 8-10 seconds.
does That seem like an excessive amount of water?

edit: the tops of the clean out plugs were bone dry

 

[tdonoughue]

@FLJetBoater , I would not say so, but I would equally not say that was 'bone dry'. Even when I got water early on, it was far more than a 10 sec drain, and I used to get the same bilge thing pulling out. I pulled up a hill once and let it for for a full 60 sec at least...

10 sec I would not even worry about.... IMHO.

 

[Inthrustwetrust]

Hard to tell. Might be something, might be nothing. Carpet gets wet if the seats gets wet and you open them. Anchor locker drain is notorious for leaking in the hull. Mine don’t leak on the water but after a couple days of rain I notice some water, I assume gets in through there. Rest of the boat is dry and covered so it’s only logical thing I can think of.

 

[FLJetBoater]

Hard to tell. Might be something, might be nothing. Carpet gets wet if the seats gets wet and you open them. Anchor locker drain is notorious for leaking in the hull. Mine don’t leak on the water but after a couple days of rain I notice some water, I assume gets in through there. Rest of the boat is dry and covered so it’s only logical thing I can think of.

I’m going to try plugging the anchor locker tomorrow. I have noticed more people = more water and the bow sure does get weighed down pretty good when you get close to 10 people. I saw my wife driving from shore and the anchor locker drain was dipping in and out of the water.

 

[pcriley]

I get absolutely no water from my transom drain normally after hours of use and haven't ever seen my bilge run.

That said, i've figured out that if have the bow loaded up I will get water in the bilge from the anchor compartment drain.

 

[Neutron]

I still have never had my bilge pump ever kick on no matter how long we are out and.

And most of my bilge plug drain water I have found is from rain going through the cover around the tower. Because i have been opening the drain on the ramp prior to launching a few times and when i do 5 or so seconds of water comes out. I boat for the day then when coming off the water i pull the plug on the ramp again and almost no water comes out.
If we dont get much rain between launches i dont bother.

 

[FLJetBoater]

Because i have been opening the drain on the ramp prior to launching a few times and when i do 5 or so seconds of water comes out.

You don’t leave your plug out when you’re parked?