Water coming in from somewhere, Not certain where just yet.

[millerjustin82]

Good afternoon everyone.

So I took my boat to the lake the other day, after some overheating (mild overheating) issues to see how it's running.

Was pleased to see that the boat is running at at civilized 73-76 degrees. So we kept it in the water most of the day using it periodically to pull around the odd wakeboarder and such.

When I pulled it out of the water at the end of the day and pulled the plugs there was an alarming amount of water inside the boat. It drained for about a minute or so. The water was also very warm.

When I got it home I hooked up the hose to it and ran it for about two minutes looking to see if any water was coming in from the exhaust end of things and did not see any drips, drops, or water of any kind.

So two questions: Where should I start looking? My next action is going to be to bring it back to the lake and have someone drive around while I've got my head stuff inside the boat to look for the leak. I'm thinking maybe a shaft seal? The boat only has 40 hours on it and has not been abused.

Second question: Aren't these boats supposed to have an auto bilge? If so mine has not worked since new, it's never come on by itself.

Also, while checking the hull integrity (filled boat with water) to see if it was leaking from somewhere, I found a small gob of black silicone that looks like it was originally put in place to plug something, although the origin of this "plug" still remains a mystery.


Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Coastiejoe]

The rear molding covers a seam where the boat halves are put together, this is a common leak area. Leave it tied to the trailer with the plugs in and back it down the ramp below this seam. See if water comes rushing in. Ironically, this seam is under water when the boat is on the water.

 

[pwgsx]

It could be the drive seal, the rear molding as stated above or simply normal water. I get about a 2 -3 gallons a day of riding. The pump never turns on as there is not enough water to suck out- needs to be 3 or more inches it seems. I have 2 drain holes where the rear engine hatch is that dump right into the engine bay. Problem is if I stop and turn fast or use the rear boarding area a lot, tons of water gets dumped in.

 

[FloridaPanther]

Having Water coming in too!

My 2007 Speedster has been running absolutely great. I have had issues in the past with water coming into the hull when debris clogs the intake grate. Although I don't know where it pushes in from. I haven't had this issue in some time but now it seems like the boats hull is filling up to engine level after 30 min of cruising. There is no visible clog in the intake. any suggestions on where to start?

Thanks,

Joey

 

[pete63]

could be a number of things, carbon seal, bilge drain plugs, scubber valve, exhaust pipe seal and the hull join at stern.
not sure about the challenger but should have a bilge pump rocker switch near the helm, manual on/off and auto. if its working in manual then the 3amp fuse might be blown, its a inline fuse behind the battery.

 

[pete63]

My 2007 Speedster has been running absolutely great. I have had issues in the past with water coming into the hull when debris clogs the intake grate. Although I don't know where it pushes in from. I haven't had this issue in some time but now it seems like the boats hull is filling up to engine level after 30 min of cruising. There is no visible clog in the intake. any suggestions on where to start?

Thanks,

Joey

could be the ics system, i have heard people chatting about the seal around the ics leaking.

 

[FloridaPanther]

could be the ics system, i have heard people chatting about the seal around the ics leaking.

It only pushes water into the boat when I am underway. Would that indicate it is a seal?

 

[pete63]

I dont have the ics on my boat, so im not sure about how the seal is. but it sounds common to have problems with the ics so people take it off and silicone the hole up.
the carbon seal can leak under way, i think the best way is put gopro and led light in the hull and rule out each point of interest.
thru hull ics cable seal