1995 Sportster taking on some water

[InDebtJet]

Hey everyone,

So I got the pump rebuilt, apparently a bearing was bad and the drive shaft was all over the place inside the pump. The impeller and wear ring were no good and the pump oil was shot. So all that is fixed, carbs cleaned, new battery, the boat starts right up faster than ever before.

Dropped it in the water (plugs in) and started her up at the dock with the lid open to see if I noticed any leaks. I didnt see anything. Drove it around and started seeing water filling up so I brought it back to the dock and kicked on the bilge pump, emptied right out.

As I was trying to see where the water was coming from, I noticed a stream coming from the hose connection used to flush out the motor, that goes to the head. Does this make any sense? I put the hose up in the air, and there was not enough pressure to continue the water leak, so I left it up, and drove around again.

Still has water coming in from some where, it wasn't as much but there was definitly water in there. I only drove around for 5 to 10 mins and the water was high enough that the PTO would hit the water when spinning and spray up (took the gray cover off). Any thoughts of what I could check to see where the water could be coming in?

Thanks!

 

[rjcress]

There is no magic formula for finding an external water leak... that I know of, at least.
You just have to methodically inspect each fitting that goes through the hull, and each hose connection in the boat until you find it. And you may not find one "smoking gun". It could be that you have a slow drip coming from a variety of places and it adds up to meaningful water in the bilge somewhat quickly.

We know that the carbon seal on the drive shaft should drip a tiny bit (not sure which drive shaft seal your model has), but that shouldn't be much.

On the hose that you found streaming water... that definitely is not right. There shouldn't be ANY hoses pumping or letting water get into the hull. My first thought is that you need to figure out where each end of that hose is supposed to be connected and reconnect it. Holding it above the water line may only stop water flow when standing still. When moving, you could have pressurized water flowing in, even when the hose is elevated.

I would then hand check each and every hose clamp (loosen, wiggle - looking for any splits or pin holes in the hose, re-tighten. replace any suspect hoses or clamps), and thru-hull fitting.

Good luck!
Posting a picture of the offending hose might help.