2004 Islandia - bilge gaining water under power?

[bobbob911]

Hi all, I have a 2004 Islandia, and the first time I pulled it out of the water this season I noticed a lot more water than normal draining out of the bilge. So I’ve had it in the water for 8 hours just to confirm there is no leak, and it seems fine.

But today I noticed that when I’m under power for a little while, afterwards if I take a look the bilge has a decent amount of water in it (~4 inches possibly). I’m not really sure what is a normal amount? My understanding is that the bilge actually should be pumping out under power from Venturi effect?

I confirmed my pee hole water cooling drain is working properly, but I wonder if it’s possible there is a leak or crack in this plumbing and some of it is going into the bilge? Thankfully the bilge pump works fine still.

I’m not really sure how to troubleshoot this since, if it is an issue, im not really thrilled about popping the engine cover while under power

Separately (or possibly not), I am wondering what this hose is with a filter on the end of it - I noticed it was really gummed up with debris and just sitting loose in the engine compartment (pic attached)


Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[ripcuda]

The pictured hose is the bilge siphon hose. It sucks water through that filter-end anytime the engine is running in the water. That hose should have a connector in its middle... where it's routed up and over the engine... that connector should have a tiny hole in it to prevent a backflow siphon.

As for you taking on water. Put the boat in the water, get it running and get your head in the engine compartment with a flashlight to see where the water is coming in from. Could be a cut cooling hose or something.

 

[bobbob911]

Thanks! Should that end of the bilge siphon hose be down at the bottom of the bilge (ie submerged when water is present)?

I didn’t notice anything with the boat at idle motor but I can double check. It seems to me that the motor doesn’t draw much water to cool at idle. I can try to drop anchor and increase throttle but that seems precarious.

 

[bobbob911]

Oh! Maybe these two issues are related! From this thread: Regarding automatic bilge siphon break Mercury 240 M2 EFI 1st gen

It seems that siphon hose should be tied up above water level. It was falling down and completely gummed up, probably this is why the Venturi syphon was not working when at cruising speed?

 

[bobbob911]

Oh, reading that post again, it should be looped up above water level and then back down into the bilge. I think it was resting out of the bilge and , as I mentioned, really gummed up.

 

[ripcuda]

Yes, the bilge siphon hose... the end with the screen filter, goes down low in the hull where water would be (if present) to be sucked out.
Yes, the bilge siphon hose does need to be looped up high in the middle. It goes over the top of my engine. This is important to ensure the hose is above the waterline so it can't create a backflow when engine is off and the boat is sitting in the water. While the engine is running, there should be a suction on the line. In the middle of the bilge siphon hose, there will be a plastic connector... in this connector is a tiny hole. Make sure this hole is clear.

 

[bobbob911]

Okay, perfect - thanks so much!