89 300 DA leak?

[SCORPIO]

Splashed today and notice i have a slight seepage on port side senter of transom assembly. got about two quarts of water in bilge in about four hours. Bellows are from 2013 but looked good prelaunch. I had drives off to do water pumps. Could water leak into boat around that big o ring and enter thru the gimbal? I need to figure out what is leaking so i can fix it.

 

[Sundancer]

Subscribed! I feel like this could be my future!!

 

[SCORPIO]

Where would a shift cable bellows show, down low? i can get my hand under the drive shaft and it feels dry. I can see a bit of water down by the Y pipe which has me wondering about that too. Im goung to stay in the water through the Holiday and try to find source then pull and fix. Im going to bring my inspection camera back on Sat to see if that helps me find the leak.

 

[SCORPIO]

My newctheory is that my leak is from the Mercathode or the hydraulic block under it. I replaced that Mercathode unit spring 2016 and had a tough time fishing the wires thru. I noted a mineral stain in the same area as my leak that was not present beginning of 2016 as I had repainted bilge in 2015 when I repowered. I'm thinking it seeped a little last year, not enough to notice making the mineral stain, and is now leaking more. I really hope that this is the problem, it's easy to get to once hauled and is inexpensive and best of all I don't need to pull the engine! I'll report when I can see the leak on camera.

 

[SCORPIO]

Got to boat tonight and bilge is DRY!? WTF? I'm not complaining and hope it is finished leaking. Going to watch it the next few days and scope it with my camera. It hasn't leaked since Thursday 11:30 when I shop vacd the bilge dry. I guess something had to swell closed? Reminds me of my dads old Century plank boat, we had to soak it out for a few days prior to use or it leaked like a sieve.

 

[SCORPIO]

Still thinking the Mercathode area is suspect and have a new one ordered as well as a new hydraulic block and gaskets. I'm going to do a short haul next week when I get parts and replace those and check bellows carefully. Going to do process of elimination starting with the easy to get to items first and see what I find.

 

[John bouy]

Does it leak when you're running or just when you're sitting? Mine has a slight leak from the y pipe gasket where it joins the transom assembly, but only leaks when the engine is running

 

[SCORPIO]

This was leaking while sitting but has all but stopped. Lousy weather so haven't been out.

 

[SCORPIO]

OK, pulled boat out today for a detailed inspection. Prior to haul out, I tilted both drives up for about 20 minutes and observed, no leaks or no change in leak rate, so bellows not likely the issue. I ran each engine at fast idle in the slip for about 15 minutes each, again no leakage so think Y-pipe/y-pipe o-ring probably not the issue. I believe what I have is transom plate corrosion. I noted on the lower flange below bottom mounting bolt, a small chip, about 1/4" is missing and is showing the foam gasket. I can see how this would take some pressure off that seal and allow water to sneak past and into the boat. This lines up exactly with the general area I'm seeing water ingress. Last season we had a lot of stay voltage in the marina and several of us noted accelerated zinc wear. Yard owner thought that could have helped contribute to the drive plate corrosion too. Looks like I'll be replacing the gimbal housing hopefully not until season is over. For the time being, I cleaned the area around the outdrive down to bare gelcoat and sanded with 100 grit and cleaned everything up with acetone. I then made a heavy bead of 5200 all around the transom plate and paid special attention to that damaged area. I'm hoping this forms a flexible gasket over the trouble spot that will hopefully stop the leak and last through the season. I don't want to have to pull engines, drives and transom assemblies just now if I can avoid it. Yard owner thought plan was reasonable. He also said that even at the rate it was leaking that there are 'a dozen inboard guy out here who leak five times that amount of water every day and consider it a good day. Let your pumps do their jobs and enjoy your summer and fix her after the season.' Hope it stops the leak and I can relax and enjoy the season. Anybody got a good source for alpha I gen I transom assemblies?
Here are a few pics for clarityamage is on the right side of pic. Second pic just for my morale, she really looks good and I'm ready for a fun summer, just got to jump this hurdle first.

 

[pakama]

I had the same problem with a 88 270 DA. It was the transom plate corroding from electrolysis. The lower corner was eaten away enough that it was leaking a good bit. I tried to tighten that bolt to snug it up but the bolt came right out. It had been eaten right in half in side the transom. I just put a new bolt and sealed the assembly to the hull with 4200. Stopped the leak completely. Replaced the assembly the next winter even though it was still not leaking. Your last pic looks like you did the same?

 

[SCORPIO]

Basically gobbed on the 5200 and hope it holds for the season. I'm planning on replacing both transom assemblies with complete new units, not cheap but will complement the brand new engines nicely. If this doesn't hold, I'll have to do it sooner rather than later but I'm hoping to get the summer out of it and bring the boat home to do this project in my shop where I have my own forklift, tools etc. I don't know what I'll find when I pull the transom assemblies, could be some bad wood so I want to be able to address that at the same time. Going to be a big project I think.

 

[SCORPIO]

Put her back in this morning, leak fixed! Weather is warm, boat is in, leak is fixed and as a bonus, my favorite microbrewery brought back my all time favorite beer, life is good again in my happy place!

 

[pakama]

Got to love when a plan comes together!:smt038

 

[boatman37]

so why are you on here typing? get out on the water!!!:grin: