Water in Bilge

[Commander Ed]

I have an R-25, and have had an issue with water in the bilge. Not a lot of water - but more or less constant about a quart per day - more if I take her out. My original issue was the bilge pump running continuously, and eventually had to change the pump. (Thanks Andrew for your help on this one - and the rewireing advice to the start battery.) So my question is - does anyone else have this experience? My broker more or less says "boats leak a little", but this seems too much and too consistent. All I need is another bilge pump failure, and potentially a bigger problem will follow. I have only had the boat 3 months, and when I bought her, the bilge was dry. More data- water is salty therefore not from one of my freshwater sources, also the sea strainer and A/C lines are not leaking.

 

[Ainokea]

Seal where the prop shaft goes through the hull or the drain plug is not tight?

Frank

 

[captd]

My broker more or less says "boats leak a little",


Oh no, all boats don't leak. Some shafts seals are designed to drip a little, but somes seals are not. Sounds like you got too much leak in any case. Your dealer should help fix it.
captd

 

[bbrh842]

Anything that is below the waterline is a potential problem. Thru hulls, shaft log, drain plug, stern thruster, exhaust outlet. Check the entire exhsust system with the engine running. Check the plug in the side of the water lift muffler, near the bottom. Check the entire raw water intake system all the way up to the raw water pump. Check the raw water pump itself. The cover may be leaking. Then check the entire raw water system from the raw water pump to the exhaust elbow. Check the exhaust elbow itself for pinhole leaks.
If the drain plug is loose, there will not be any obvious souce of the leak. Anything else should leave a trail from the source to where it is running into the bilge. Use a flashlight to hunt for the trail. There is a small plastic pipe underneath the rear end of the propeller shaft. If water is dripping out of this pipe, the leak is in the stern compartment.

 

[doke01]

Do you wash her or have you had a lot of rain in your area? I had one of the hoses for the self bailing cockpit drains split (port side, forward) and every time it rained or I washed the boat I was getting a lot of water on the port side of the boat (under the batteries and the flooring in the cabin port storage compartment). When I would drive the boat the water would move aft and drain down into the bilge, starting the bilge pump. Every time I stepped into the cockpit the pump would come on because my weight would make the water flow aft that had collected from the rain. Use a bunch of soapy water on the deck and see if soapy water shows up in the bilge. This was my big clue. Then put a hose over each drain, one at a time, and look for leaks in the hoses. I resealed all of the compartment doors and replaced the hose. Problem solved.

 

[doke01]

If the exhaust elbow has a pinhole leak you will see a buildup of salt around it if you are in salt water, but not necessarily the water leaking. I had this problem, but it would only leak at high RPM. It was covered under the Yanmar warranty.

 

[Commander Ed]

To all of you offering advice and experience - Thanks very much. I am going to continue my troubleshooting, but based on each of your inputs, I now have more approaches that I had not thought of. One thing you have helped me immediately is giving me a retort to my broker. If our Ranger Tug community does not have a problem in general in this area, I think the answer to them is "Not all Ranger Tugs leak". I don't mind taking care of small issues as they pop up, but this one seems to me to be an issue my broker should help with, and I will let them know. Otherwise, very happy with my boat "Sea Dragon", and the chance to dialog with other Tugnut's makes me feel better. I will let you know if and when I find the problem.

 

[Kamalani]

Ed - although mine is the R-21, we did discover a seawater leak during our 50 hr. engine service. There is a small flush fitting in the raw water line leading to the raw water pump. This has a simple plastic cap over the garden hose thread for fresh water flushing. Water was leaking continuously from the cap so we shut the seacock, removed the plastic cap, and installed a hose washer. No more leak. Granted, the R-25 may not have this feature, but, if so, this may help. Alex, "Kamalani"