Leaky Boat

[OnTheWater]

Hey All,

I'm pulling out my most recent update from the atHelp thread and starting a new one on this, since it's not an atHelp situation anymore. Also, I would like to get more eyes on it, to see who else has had a similar issue. Thanks!

Update from Saturday...
Well, still have a leak - not as fast as before, but still there. The guys at The Resort Boat Shop in Coeur d'Alene did all they could to troubleshoot, but since they don't work on Yamaha's or jets (Cobalt, Malibu, Carver, and custom wooden boat dealer) they didn't want to go any further b/c of cost. They had it for 2 weeks, did some troubleshooting, caulked/siliconed, put it in and out of the tank 3 times - no charge. Gr8 guys! They said I could use their tank again after my Yamaha dealer does the warranty work, so I can make sure it is good to go.

Picture of 'The Full Quiver' in the tank. 'Full' is taking on a new meaning these days...

Starboard side - looking through the access hatch between the two clean out plugs. There was a hole in the silicone on the right side, which Resort guys sealed. Water is coming in much slower now(can't see where), but still coming in. Water is pooling in the cavity on the right side of the black hose with blue siding. Once that is full, it fills the center cavity, then over into the engine compartment.

All LED's, scuppers, hardware are bone dry, so we're thinking there is a cavity underneath what you're looking at below that isn't sealed and when the water comes up in the jet intake, that it is leaking up. Dropped it off at the Yamaha dealer and walked them through what we have done and they'll be working on it as warranty work. Hopefully they can figure it out and get it done quickly.

Different angle - you can see the water on the other side of the hose. That's about 5 minutes worth.

Different issue - small leak on port side(next to the clamp screw by the hose)

This is the worst part of it all...

 

[CAM212SS]

my leak was the drain plug. took the one out of the ski locker to see if that was it, and it fixed the issue. my bilge would turn on every 10 min or so. mine is the plastic plug, not sure about the 24'

 

[Gym]

I'm just copying this over from your at help thread @Belteddeep.

Thanks for the update @Belteddeep. Looks like you're making some progress. The upper and lower sections of the boat have had occasional sealant issues. You might try putting it on the trailer, putting 8-10 gallons in the engine compartment with a hose. This will drain into the lower bilge. Then stand behind the boat and see if you observe water dripping from anyplace. Could be the gardboard drain (bilge plug and mounting) is leaking as it did with @Bruce causing him to replace it. You could also have a main seal leak around the impeller shaft. Have you or dealer been servicing the impeller seal by shooting some grease in there annually? I'm just throwing out some ideas based on what we've seen over the years. Keep us in the loop.

 

[Bruce]

I am with @Gym. Put her on a trailer. Park with the stern downhill if possible. Put a water hose in the engine compartment with the drain plugs pulled and add water until you figure out where it is coming out. This is also a good bilge pump test as you can use it to pump the water out of the bilge. My only caution is not to flood the engines. But you should find your problem before water gets that far up.

 

[OnTheWater]

I am with @Gym. Put her on a trailer. Park with the stern downhill if possible. Put a water hose in the engine compartment with the drain plugs pulled and add water until you figure out where it is coming out. This is also a good bilge pump test as you can use it to pump the water out of the bilge. My only caution is not to flood the engines. But you should find your problem before water gets that far up.

@Bruce - thanks. We can see the water coming in through the access port between the plugs(pic above), so they're going to fill that and see where it drains. Once that cavity fills, it flows over to the engine comp. All hardware, fittings, plugs, and scuppers are dry, so they think it's the sealant or the impeller. Thanks!

 

[MrMoose]

@Belteddeep, I feel your pain. My 2015 AR240 leaked terribly. Before bringing my boat to the dealer to have the leaks fixed, I turned off my bilge pump and filled the bilge with water; I looked for leaks. Nothing leaked out. I raised the issue with my dealer at the 10 hr service and I was told "they all leak", and they did nothing to fix the situation. I had many leaks, but they are all fixed now, so maybe my list will help you. The amount of water showing up in my bilge varied which made it difficult to track down all of the leaks.
1. If you have cup holders on your swim platform, make sure that the drain hoses are connected and are draining the water out onto the swim platform, and not into the bilge. Those cup holders will take on lots of water when you come off plane.
2. My clean-out apron and access port both leaked. Water was flowing backwards up the drain for the "wet locker" and that water was draining into my bilge via the apron and port. Silicone sealant fixed it.
3. The hull fitting for my scupper valve leaked. To fix this, I used a small bead of 3M 5200 around the outside of the flange where it mates with the hull.
4. My big leaks were coming from the hull fittings on both my drive shafts. 3 minutes at WOT would produce about 2 gallons in the bilge. The dealer replaced and resealed the drive shaft hull fittings.

I hope that this helps. Good luck.

 

[OnTheWater]

@Belteddeep, I feel your pain. My 2015 AR240 leaked terribly. Before bringing my boat to the dealer to have the leaks fixed, I turned off my bilge pump and filled the bilge with water; I looked for leaks. Nothing leaked out. I raised the issue with my dealer at the 10 hr service and I was told "they all leak", and they did nothing to fix the situation. I had many leaks, but they are all fixed now, so maybe my list will help you. The amount of water showing up in my bilge varied which made it difficult to track down all of the leaks.
1. If you have cup holders on your swim platform, make sure that the drain hoses are connected and are draining the water out onto the swim platform, and not into the bilge. Those cup holders will take on lots of water when you come off plane.
2. My clean-out apron and access port both leaked. Water was flowing backwards up the drain for the "wet locker" and that water was draining into my bilge via the apron and port. Silicone sealant fixed it.
3. The hull fitting for my scupper valve leaked. To fix this, I used a small bead of 3M 5200 around the outside of the flange where it mates with the hull.
4. My big leaks were coming from the hull fittings on both my drive shafts. 3 minutes at WOT would produce about 2 gallons in the bilge. The dealer replaced and resealed the drive shaft hull fittings.

I hope that this helps. Good luck.

Thanks @MrMoose
-I can rule out #1, because it's filling when it's sitting in the test tank and not running.
-#2 could be an issue - there was a gap in the sealant on the port side(see pic 3). That was resealed and that slowed it down a bunch, but it's still coming in somewhere. The dealer will be looking for another gap.
-#3 seems to be fine - all hull fittings are bone dry.
-#4 could be an issue, filling up slowly as it sits in the tank. Seems like the water is coming in through the intake and there is probably a seal somewhere between there and the access port that is missing.

The interesting part is that this boat has sat in a wet slip for 2 years and I haven't had a single drop come out either year when I pulled it and opened the drain plug. Dry. The only thing that happened since then is it sat in storage over the winter.

Thanks again to everyone for the replies - helps me troubleshoot with the dealer while I travel!

 

[rickd01]

Hurry up and fix that leak, I'll be in CDA at the end of next month. Let's meet up

 

[OnTheWater]

Hurry up and fix that leak, I'll be in CDA at the end of next month. Let's meet up

Right?!?@!?$

You bringing your boat when you come up?

 

[rickd01]

I wish, just playing with you, Which lake do you prefer, CA or Hayden?

 

[rickd01]

I wish, just playing with you, Which lake do you prefer, CA or Hayden?

CDA, darn spellchecker

 

[OnTheWater]

CDA, darn spellchecker

CDA, darn spellchecker

We moor right at the resort on CdA. Let me know when you have official dates and we'll see if we can make it work.

 

[OnTheWater]

The Full Quiver floats again! Got to take it out for Father's Day and enjoyed a day at the beach with the family, then put it in the wetslip for the night. Swung by to check it out this morning and all it has is a little water in the access hatch from pulling the clean out plugs, but a very low level and none in in ghe engine comp.

In the end, the Yamaha dealer(Specialty Recreation and Marine) said it was a leak around the starboard underwater LED light. They took it to the lake 3 times to troubleshoot and validate, so nice job on the service they provided.

A look out the back as I type...

 

[itsdgm]

Took it to the lake to "Trouble Shoot" Right

 

[bronze_10]

16 additional hours on the motors and empty beer cans are part of the troubshooting process!

 

[rickd01]

We will be there July 25-28

 

[OnTheWater]

We will be there July 25-28

Bummer - I'll be working over in Seattle those days. Just coming off a couple of weeks of vacation prior to that, so have to do some travelling that week.

 

[rickd01]

catch you next summer, I'll take good care of your lake while your gone