Water in The engine compartment!!!

[DonWon]

I noticed on the way back to the boat launch that the boat sounded different. Pulled her out and got her home. I checked the impeller from all angles, then opened the engine compartment. There was about 6 to 7 inches of water in it. My first thought was that it's an exhaust leak because the water was warm. The only other thing that I think it could be is the scupper. Does anyone have any thoughts or input on what else I should look for. Thanks much my fellow boaters.

 

[Julian]

I agree with your theory it is an exhaust leak for 2 reasons:

1. You said the boat sounded different
2. the water was warm.

You'll want to pull the clean out tray while the boat is in the water and run the engines looking for the leak. Check the engine manifolds first though since they are easily accessible.

 

[DonWon]

@Julian will an exhaust leak be visible if I have a garden hose hooked up to it vs having it in the water?

 

[Julian]

@Julian will an exhaust leak be visible if I have a garden hose hooked up to it vs having it in the water?

Hard to say....it might, but you might have to have the engine running at higher RPM to produce maximum pressure in the system for the leak to occur. This is one reason why the boats that have the button at the axis of the throttles are a nice feature. SOME boats don't have this button (not clear which ones)...but if it is there, you can sit without engaging the gates and rev the engines.

 

[Scottintexas]

did you have your bilge pump on? was it pumping at all?

I think your best bet is to take it out and water test it both with the engine hatch open and look through your clean out tray ports with a small flash light to see if you can see where the waters coming from, with the hatch open at least you can eliminate a hose connection there and then move to the scupper or exhaust hoses in the cleanout area,

 

[Murf'n'surf]

If you had your bilge pump switch on, you need to look into why your pump didn't pump out the water.

Before you take your clean out cover off, run the boat on the hose. Look for drips from the cooling lines/thermostat. See nothing? Tear into the clean out tray and inspect those exhaust connections and hose clamps.

Also check to make sure your clean out plugs are seated properly. You may have a semi blown plug that's injecting water into the bilge and warming up just because it's hot out and touching hot engine components.

 

[DonWon]

I don't have the button on the axis of the throttle. Unfortunately it will be a couple of weeks before I can water test it. I'm going to hook it up to the hose tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully I can diagnose it at that point. By the way, I did not have the bilge on...lesson learned. Thanks for sharing your time and knowledge. I'll post what I find.

 

[Murf'n'surf]

You could also fill your bilge with water and see if it is dripping outside of the hull. Probably not going to show your leak but worth a shot if the above suggestions show nothing.

 

[Big Shasta]

I don't have the button on the axis of the throttle. Unfortunately it will be a couple of weeks before I can water test it. I'm going to hook it up to the hose tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully I can diagnose it at that point. By the way, I did not have the bilge on...lesson learned. Thanks for sharing your time and knowledge. I'll post what I find.

The Yamaha bilge pumps suck (Pun intended) they have to run occasionally to check for water. It might be a good time to upgrade to a water sensing pump or one with a float switch (alarm is also a good idea) and wire them directly to the battery with a fused power lead. No more remembering the switch. I changed to the rule mate 750 and never had to worry about remembering the switch again.