Taking On Water!

[Sanddune12]

Need some help guys. Rebuilt the jet pump yesterday and put back on boat this morning. Put the grease gun on PTO boot until I saw it budge. After work took to the lake. Fired right up but couldn't get good propulsion. Took a peek into engine compartment...quite a bit of water. By the time I got it trailered it had a lot in it. Fortunately not up to the electrical box.
Never had this problem before so not sure what I may have done/not done to allow that much water to get in by pulling off pump and putting back on. Jet pump rebuild is only thing I have done to it since winterized last fall.

 

[Coastiejoe]

I would think it is in your pump area. Some require seals and or sealant. If they get pinched they don't seal, you get water.

Drain the hull. Then back it down a ramp, plugs in, with the seat removed not running. See if any water comes in. If not, start it and see if water comes in.

 

[Sanddune12]

So water can penetrate the compartment at the pump? I was was thinking the only access was where the drive shaft came thru the hull???

 

[Sanddune12]

Pulled the pump last night and saw no obvious problems with pump or seal. Put it back on making sure had a tight seal. Took to lake this morning, kept on trailer and just backed in about half way. Jumped in back and saw water spurting between stainless ring and carbon seal (whole drive line replaced 2 years ago). Pushed seal and ring together by hand and stopped all but small drip on bottom.
Pulled boat back out and pulled drain plugs to empty out water. Backed in again. Only small drip from ring/seal but water was slowly raising from a place I could not identify. Pulled back out and pulled plugs.
Backed in again with just very back of boat in water. A small amount of water began to pool but still could not identify from where. Backed in a little more. Still slow water raising. Backed in more and still slow water rising.
At this point I have no idea where to even begin. Some of the sealant for bolts assemblies seems a little corroded but there are difficult to see. I leave the boat in the water for a full week while on vacation and engine compartment stays dry. Having a hard time understanding how this could change so significantly just from sitting over the winter.
Any suggestions or ideas how to problem solve this one out?

 

[Coastiejoe]

Bailer tubes I bet. Are the hoses connected to to nozzle tubes.

 

[Sanddune12]

Not sure what the bailer tubes are, I'll have to look that up. When you say "hides", is that a typo??? haha Because I have no idea what a hide is!

 

[Sanddune12]

Ok I looked up bailer hose, so I will check that. Still don't know about "hides" tho!

 

[Coastiejoe]

I added a pic to my post above. See the little plastic tubes coming out? The have hoses that connect to them, then to the hull and bailers. If they are. It hooked up, water will enter there.

 

[Sanddune12]

I found the tubes. They seem secure to the bailers and the hull. All have zip ties on them. So when the motor is running they act like a bilge pump? I did not run the motor when in the water today. But even last summer when it sat idle in water for days I think I would have noticed water seeping in and building up. I can replace the zip ties just to be sure tho. Any other ideas? BTW, really appreciate the help!!!

 

[Sanddune12]

Oh, I did not see the pic in your post.

 

[Sanddune12]

Never mind, saw you added it to a previous post!

 

[Coastiejoe]

The bailers work when the water comes out the jet. It creates a low pressure are and atmospheric pressure basically pushed the standing water out of the hull. Other say it sucks the water out,,, but no pumps suck, they create a low pressure area and the water flows to this due to atmospheric pressure.

 

[jhjesse]

Is your carbon seal tight against the stainless steel ring?
Can you move the drive shaft forwards and backwards more that...say 1/8 inch?
The reason I ask is maybe your drive shaft bumpers got left off allowing excessive play in the driveshaft thus your carbon ring looses seal you suck air and it will cavitation. It will also allow water in your engine bay.
Also are you sure you got the c clip back in the groove of the driveshaft? If not it will allow the stainless steel ring to come off the carbon seal. This will make your boat cavitate as well as take on water. No propulsion as you said.
Might check it out.

 

[Sanddune12]

Bumper is on end of shaft. I never pulled the shaft completely off, c clip is in place. I put some marine grease between ring and seal as a temporary fix.
Now I am more confused than ever. Totally cleaned out and dried the entire engine compartment. Went back to launch and slowly backed boat in while I sat in engine compartment looking for water entry. Submerged just pump area, no leak. Backed in a little more, no leak. Backed in about half way and water began to slowly come from under engine but I have no clue where it may be coming from since there is nothing in front of intake grate. Ski locker bone dry. Even looked under the boat to see if there was a crack and saw nothing obvious. Anyone ever experience anything like this?

 

[Coastiejoe]

Let's go the other way. In your driveway, have the drain plugs installed and start to fill the hull with a garden hose,,,

Look for the leak on the outside of the hull.

I know the grease is temporary. But that will destroy the CS under normal use.

 

[Sanddune12]

Thanks Coastiejoe! That's funny, I came to that same conclusion just a bit ago. What is the life span of a CS? I probably only put about 20 hours, probably less, per year on the boat and I replaced the CS 2-3 seasons ago. I will order a new one tomorrow. Also, wouldn't it take something pretty drastic for a crack to happen while in storage???

 

[Coastiejoe]

They can last many years as long as there is not a specific reason for it to fail. Bent drive shaft, engine alignment, broken motor mount.

 

[Sanddune12]

Update: The only leak was from the stainless ring and carbon seal. The other water came from inside the front of the boat. Apparently there must be a cavity that held some water that only came out when I kept the boat strapped to trailer as I dipped it into water and a buddy and I were sitting in engine compartment looking for the leak! Running like a champ now. Coastiejoe and jhjesse, thanks for your help, much appreciated!

 

[Coastiejoe]

You are welcome,,,