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water entering bilge after sharp turns

cathole

cathole

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I'm new to boating. I trailer my 2004 2575 RFS after every time. Its powered by a Mercruizer 6.2l bravo III The previous owner kept it in a slip. I have no reason to assume the bilge takes on water when the boat is still or merely cruising. However, when the tri-toons are cutting hard into turns, there is water entering the bilge. So much so that the distributor occasionally gets wet because the motor sometimes sputters a little. The bilge automatically removes the water and the motor sounds great again in no time. Is it normal for water to enter the bilge after turning? Where could it be coming from? I've not noticed water leaking in while sitting still. Thanks
 
No, it's not normal for water to be coming into the bilge after turning. I've got 2 suggestions...................First, It has to either be coming from a crack/hole in the engine pod. Next time you go out.......make sure the engine and the engine pod is dry then take it out for a short ride and make a few turns and check again...............Second.........when we first got our I/O we had water in our bilge and couldn't figure out where it was coming from. Found out that there was a leak from the speedometer pick up hose and it was bringing water into the bilge/engine compartment when underway..................Had it replaced.
 
Also check the pods nuts and bolts (if attached in that manner) and make sure they have not loosened up over time.
 
After running the boat again today, it seems worse. The bilge pump ran nearly a third of the time while cruising against the wind. The bilge keeps taking water while steering straight through smooth water with the wind, just not as much. Turning is the fastest method of filling the bilge with water. Just sitting still while beached doesn't kick the auto bilge pump on but i did see some water in the bilge. My plan now is to back it into water while hooked on the trailer, run the positioning of the lower unit through all its stages and see if it's entering through the bellows. I filled the bilge with a garden hose in my drive way. The water only sat in the forward part as the boat was pitched that way. I noticed no water making its way through so my best guess is its coming in from the aft.
 
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Make sure you check that speedometer pick up hose...........Look under your helm at the back of the speedometer to see what it looks like then find it on the engine or in the engine compartment............might not be the problem but it's worth a shot. That hose brought a lot of water into my bilge............Do you have a set of muffs that you can hook up to a hose and put it on the water intake on your outdrive and run the engine in the driveway. This way you can check to see if the water is coming in via the engine instead of leaking in through a hole or crack in the engine pod while you are underway or turning..........
 
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Is that a sealed system or does it have intake hoses. B/K makes a good point, as it seems like a awful lot of water just from cruising. The bellows is another good checkpoint. It is 9 years old at this point, so the rubber could be deteriorated. I'm not positive on life expectancy, but I do remember reading somewhere avg is 3-5 years, then replace ???

5 years max with saltwater use ??
 
Thanks, I've got muffs I'll use tomorrow and I'll be trying to diagnose the bellows next time I go to the ramp.  
 
Cathole................

Any update???????
 
Sorry.  I've continued to monitor the bilge while operating the boat and while it's sitting still in the water.  Still no clear indication on where the water is entering.  Whenever I operate without being crazy on turns, the bilge seems to stay mostly dry.  It only holds a few gallons of water, not enough to kick on the automatic bilge.  When I go crazy on turns and/or slow down abruptly is when the water becomes an issue.  It's a sealed system to answer your question.
 
Did you ever use the "muffs" in the driveway while sitting on the trailer to see if it was coming through the engine?

My automatic bilge pump sits at the bilges lowest point so any significant water would be pumped out.........
 
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