How is rain water entering my bilge?

[Todd in NY]

I have a self-bailing deck on my Bayliner Trophy 2160. It has a fully enclosed cabin as well. The drain holes in the deck are not clogged because there is rain water coming out of both scuppers on the back of the transom. Also, I have cleared them with a high pressure garden hose. I think the rain water might be entering the bilge around the bottom of the dog house, but I will try to confirm that with a garden hose. If the rain water is getting into the bilge through the bottom of the dog house, is that normal? If not, how do I fix it? There is a small "channel" worn into the deck under the edge of the engine cover, made by the engine cover resting on the deck like it is made to do. That worn "channel" might be the culprit... or maybe not?

 

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and feedback!

[Bozeman Bob]

If you do not have a lip on the cockpit floor that goes around the doghouse you may want to make one after verifying that is how it is getting in.Is the floor factory finished there or is there a rough cut in the deck. If you have room between the doghouse and where the lip should be you might be able to get something like a fridge door sealer, tape on one side and closed cell foam on the other,that would crate a pathway for the water to run to the sides and stern area.

[Todd in NY]

Thanks Bob! I just went out to take a pic of the rain rail. There is a tall rail around the inside edge of the engine cover, the battery box cover and the livewell. It could be a problem with the drain hoses between the top opening and the scuppers. I'll check that tomorrow. It's not a lot of rain water entering the bilge, but I like a dry bilge. Here's a pic of the rail inside the engine cover. It's about a 1/2" or 3/4" tall and molded into the deck, so that's not the culprit.

 

[Bozeman Bob]

Yes the around the house gutters looks to be designed well. Sometimes boats leak around the rubrail , cleats and other above water line through hull/deck fittings/bilge pump hoses not properly looped. Either have a friend water down everything with the nozzle off the hose and then with it on as you crawl into every nook and  cranny with a flashlight or consider it Holy Fish Water and a gift from the Fish Gods, haha. Maybe put some newspaper around the engine compartments floor and gutter area and spray with water, obviously after closing dog house.

[FleetTracker]

Is the boat in the water or on a trailer?

Do your fish boxes drain into the bilge? That's a common problem.

Edited July 2, 2016 by FleetTracker

[Xxx]

Not to the subject, with the distributer up front, is that a Ford motor? 5.0L is it a 302, that used to be the 5.0L I had for pickups and the 5.0L was a 302 cid but that seems lite for that size vessel? Now they are 4.6. They can be nasty motors though!! My uncle won many features in the small block modified division!! With a Ford 302 motor, you can twist them 5-6 grand no problem.

[Todd in NY]

Is the boat in the water or on a trailer?

Do your fish boxes drain into the bilge? That's a common problem.

The boat is always on the trailer, which makes it not a big deal. I'm just a little OCD with my boats

[Todd in NY]

Yes the around the house gutters looks to be designed well. Sometimes boats leak around the rubrail , cleats and other above water line through hull/deck fittings/bilge pump hoses not properly looped. Either have a friend water down everything with the nozzle off the hose and then with it on as you crawl into every nook and  cranny with a flashlight or consider it Holy Fish Water and a gift from the Fish Gods, haha. Maybe put some newspaper around the engine compartments floor and gutter area and spray with water, obviously after closing dog house.

Thanks! I'll check into it tomorrow. There may be nothing I can do about it, but that won't stop me from trying.

[Todd in NY]

Not to the subject, with the distributer up front, is that a Ford motor? 5.0L is it a 302, that used to be the 5.0L I had for pickups and the 5.0L was a 302 cid but that seems lite for that size vessel? Now they are 4.6. They can be nasty motors though!! My uncle won many features in the small block modified division!! With a Ford 302 motor, you can twist them 5-6 grand no problem.

It's an OMC Cobra, replaced 2 years ago. It runs like a champ and sounds great too. It's a great motor for this 21ft boat. I haven't had it wide open on calm water yet but I'm guessing 30mph GPS speed. It has a 15x17 aluminum prop.

[rolmops]

Good Morning.

Reading your post,I found myself thinking about your problem,and it may be a completely different thing happening. NOT rain water.

A boat on a trailer probably in a place with big temperature differences between day and night has a lot of water condensing during the night on the engine block and other internal parts. The condense water may be your problem.

Check it out early in the morning when it is still relatively cold. Open your doghouse and see if there is condense water on the block.

Edited July 2, 2016 by rolmops

[cyrility]

Not too familiar with cobra drives but bellows have been known to leak also.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[Todd in NY]

You guys are coming up with some great ideas!

 

The fish box does drain into the bilge, and somehow it gets rain water in it even though it has the same rain gutter around it that the engine cover has. I have all day today to use a garden hose to figure out where the water is coming from and why.

 

There is some condensation on the motor at times, but it's not much.

 

This is my first boat with a stern drive, so pardon my lack of knowledge... but can rain water seep in through the bellows when the boat is on the trailer? If so, I never would have thought of that.

 

If you look closely at the picture, there is a black line around the left and right side of the doghouse where the doghouse edge sits on the deck. The weight of the doghouse over the years has "cut" a crease into the deck and I was thinking it might be creating a seal around the base of the doghouse that doesn't allow water to get to the two drain holes to the left and right of the rear of the motor. It might be allowing water to pool up around the deck covers and spill over the drain rail under the covers. I'll check into that more today too. But if that's the case, what is the best way to fill in that crease under the doghouse edge?

 

The water coming out of the bilge drain was a steady stream yesterday during a downpour, so that's why I asked the question on here. Until yesterday, I've never noticed how much rain water gets into the bilge.

 

Thanks again for all the replies!

[Gill-T]

My '88 trophy does the same.  You have possible leak points from the windshield gaskets going bad.  Fish box lids will leak water into the fish boxes.  I too scratch my head at "where does the water come from" when I take her out on the water as all the scuppers have zero connection to the bilge area.  The exhaust holes in the bellows might be a source.  In the end if your bilge pumps are working it doesn't really matter as there is always going to be water in there.

[Todd in NY]

My '88 trophy does the same.  You have possible leak points from the windshield gaskets going bad.  Fish box lids will leak water into the fish boxes.  I too scratch my head at "where does the water come from" when I take her out on the water as all the scuppers have zero connection to the bilge area.  The exhaust holes in the bellows might be a source.  In the end if your bilge pumps are working it doesn't really matter as there is always going to be water in there.

Thanks for the info! The bilge pumps work, so a little rain water is not a show stopper. But this is how I spend my non-fishing days, going over the boat with a fine tooth comb.

[mr 580]

From your picture looks like you have several covers in your floor along with motor box and in floor fish boxes. Probably some water goes to bilge from each of them. You can plug fish box drains to see how much water they collect. While you're checking bilge I'd suggest you look at all the thru hull fittings especially if they are plastic. They can crack if over tightened and degrade over time - big problem if one fails in the water.

[HB2]

I have a 86  2160 trophy as yours. My fish box has a pump and does not go into bilge.

 

 Where you stand midship at that stepdown in front of sink, that drains in bilge .

[Bozeman Bob]

 To fill in the crack in the doghouse gutter you could use some bondo like they use on cars or maybe some gel coat that you can buy in toothpaste type containers.  Or just take a small, thin if possible,  [ clear/black ]  1/4- 5/16 diameter hose and cut a slit in it and glue that on the lower/offending edge of doghouse. It may just sit there with no glue if you want to try that first. If you use a thick hose or similar material it may not close tight depending on how much clearance you have. You should not be getting any water through your outdrive whether its on land or in the drink.

[Todd in NY]

From your picture looks like you have several covers in your floor along with motor box and in floor fish boxes. Probably some water goes to bilge from each of them. You can plug fish box drains to see how much water they collect. While you're checking bilge I'd suggest you look at all the thru hull fittings especially if they are plastic. They can crack if over tightened and degrade over time - big problem if one fails in the water.

 

The small cover to the right in the picture is the battery box. he long cover. To the left in the pic is the fish box. It drains into the bilge and does fill with rain water when I have the plug in. There is never any water in the battery box. I think the culprit might be that worn crease made by the edge of the doghouse. You can see in the pic that it appears to be blocking water access to that drain hole. I thought about sticking a 1 inch washer between the deck and doghouse to see if it allows more water to go into that drain hole. Nothing got done today because of other commitments, so tomorrow should be the day. Also, the thru-hull fittings and hoses seem to be in good shape.

[Todd in NY]

 To fill in the crack in the doghouse gutter you could use some bondo like they use on cars or maybe some gel coat that you can buy in toothpaste type containers.  Or just take a small, thin if possible,  [ clear/black ]  1/4- 5/16 diameter hose and cut a slit in it and glue that on the lower/offending edge of doghouse. It may just sit there with no glue if you want to try that first. If you use a thick hose or similar material it may not close tight depending on how much clearance you have. You should not be getting any water through your outdrive whether its on land or in the drink.

 

Thanks for the ideas, I should have it figured out by tomorrow.