Water flowing up from under the swim deck hatch while underway

[dmincheff]

Was it the clean-out plugs that had the bad seal or the tubes the clean-out plugs sit in?

It was the actual plugs.

 

[anmut]

It was the actual plugs.

That's interesting. I've seen water on top of the plugs but was told that was normal. Thanks for sharing, have to keep an eye on that in the future.

 

[Cambo]

So the new screw in type of clean out plug has a potential seal issue . Some pictures of the seal would be nice before and after if anyone else runs into this looked at the part for the 2019 212X and its the same as the 2017 242xe so this could be an item that starts to fail

 

[Julian]

That's interesting. I've seen water on top of the plugs but was told that was normal. Thanks for sharing, have to keep an eye on that in the future.

Water on top of the plugs is normal. Water flowing out from under the hatch is NOT normal.

The seals were leaking and when underway allowing water to push up through the ports under the hatch. When they are sealed, water should always pool on top of the clean out ports. If yours are always dry, that is unusual.

Water can get on top of the ports 3 ways:

1. As with @dmincheff 's situation - a bad seal on the port allowing water to be pushed past the plug.
2. Water coming over the swim deck and leaking past the clean out port hatch
3. Water being forced up the drain under the hatch - this happens due to physics - when you stop, the water rushes up the back of the boat to fill the void behind the boat, when it does this, it can also push water UP the drain and under the hatch.

 

[Cambo]

That must have been a lot of water that removable lid in the clean out looks like it seals but does not a large amount of water must have been dumping down nto the bilge below the tray . I did extensive testing with water filling up the tray and checking how much water pours in and then sealing it up with gaskets and screws. If that oval lid were to pop loose that would easily over come the bilge pump

 

[dmincheff]

That must have been a lot of water that removable lid in the clean out looks like it seals but does not a large amount of water must have been dumping down nto the bilge below the tray . I did extensive testing with water filling up the tray and checking how much water pours in and then sealing it up with gaskets and screws. If that oval lid were to pop loose that would easily over come the bilge pump

I agree and thankfully the bilge kept up, we were at no wake speeds for a while and then there was hardly any water passing by the seals. It does have me keeping a closer eye on the bilge light now.

 

[drewkaree]

An improperly seated cleanout tray sounds plausible. I have to put a knee in the middle of mine while tightening the big hose-clamps to put it all back together. I know that if I don't get those clamped down properly and a clean-out plug starts leaking, water would certainly be pumped into the boat.

Another thing to check would be to see how many of the screws are actually "biting" into the fiberglass. I had so few that were holding it together that I went through, back-filled all of them with marine epoxy and re-drilled the holes.

Some folks like to seal that area with a sealant but I consider it something that gets opened regularly for inspections and equipment installation so I just screw it together. I would imagine it leaks a little. If half the screws weren't holding, it would probably leak a lot.

I think your theory is what happens a LOT with the screws having no bite at all in that area. I'm seriously at a loss of what was actually happening on this one though.

I have the same type of cleanout plugs, and I've taken them completely apart in October, for cleaning and to apply some 303 to the seal. The black bottom/base that @Julian replaced (pics elsewhere) could be completely missing, IMO, and there still wouldn't be water coming through that area, since the rubber ring and the screw-in action would/should completely seal everything up. That leads me to wonder how the heck the seals themselves are "bad", especially with less than a friggen year on them. Bad seating? Bad molding? Bad....? It also makes me wonder why Yamaha forces you to buy the whole damn rebuild kit for $70+ when that stupid little rubber seal should be available all on its own, should you need it replaced, and for far less than they're charging for the whole kit. Winnebagoland seems to have just that item available to them, there's no way they're simply throwing away the rest of the rebuild kit.

This is the complete plug, broken down, step by step. If I'm understanding the OP correctly, he was told that little rubber donut was the cause of all the water in his boat. Was that $5 piece of rubber something that could lead to a motor being destroyed due to water infiltration, if not attended to in time? The bottom line is that this was "fixed" with either a rebuilt plug, or a brand new plug. Maybe seeing the plug broken down can lead someone to show us how this is a problem with these plugs. This type of plug doesn't have to worry about blowouts, but there's still an issue to be concerned with

 

[drewkaree]

I haven't looked at those pics in 3+ months, and as I looked at them again just now, I'm betting it's not "the seals" on those plugs that were bad. Those seals simply fit into a groove, and are held in place when the screws on the black plastic ring in the 6th pic are tightened. My money is on a bad molding on the lower part allowing water inside that thing through either a hole or a bad seam in the molding, which would then allow it through the plug right up the middle. It would start slowly, and over time would enlarge the gap, possibly never showing a break or cracked seam until it was under pressure (such as when you're underway on the boat), and it lets in more and more water over time.

The rubber seal, IMO, can only be effed up via inattention, either during the molding of that thing (bad filling of the mold, if that's how it's done), or shitty assembly that SHOULD be so apparently visible to someone who does this day after day for a living, that it'd be inexcusable that they'd not have it assembled properly, and Winnebagoland simply replaced the whole plug, since Yamaha would have sent them the whole repair kit.

I'm not buying "a bad seal", given the relative simplicity of this type of plug. To my eye, something doesn't add up here.

 

[Matt Wetzel]

I replaced my sealant with weatherstripping...

But I can easily see where untightened band clamps or a loose cleanout tray or a tray where the little drain hose is disconnected could cause flooding into the boat...

What kind of weather stripping are you using. I’m facing the same issue and am trying to come up with a good workaround.

 

[Beachbummer]

One from Lowes made from foam intended for exterior doors. I could not find it exactly when looking online, but nothing too fancy. it was not expensive.

 

[drewkaree]

Look for "neoprene closed cell weatherstripping". Multiple dimensions on Amazon, and you might find similar at the local hardware store as well. Get at least 15', 20' will ensure that you don't come up short.

 

[tdonoughue]

I got the thinnest silicone kind I could find (don't remember the size exactly--been years). It works fine.

Basically I think just about anything is better than the silicone mess they put on there.