7 replies to this topic

[thumper]

everytime we come back to the slipway i always watch how much water comes out of the drain holes when i take them out, generally not much, but recently there has been much more - anyway not sure where the water is coming in from - exhause seals ok - have lifted out locker with engine running and checked all hoses - doesnt seem to be any water coming in from anywhere on the exhaust cooling side - any water that comes on board from the sea into the floor goes out through the scupper valve in the floor - always seems to be quite a bit draining out - yet bilge pump never switches on - although i have deliberately over filled with fresh water to check it works - confused - any ideas?

because we boat in salt water i always flush the engine inside and out with lots of fresh water and then spray with lube when its cool to prevent corrosion.

[Dale180se]

everytime we come back to the slipway i always watch how much water comes out of the drain holes when i take them out, generally not much, but recently there has been much more - anyway not sure where the water is coming in from - exhause seals ok - have lifted out locker with engine running and checked all hoses - doesnt seem to be any water coming in from anywhere on the exhaust cooling side - any water that comes on board from the sea into the floor goes out through the scupper valve in the floor - always seems to be quite a bit draining out - yet bilge pump never switches on - although i have deliberately over filled with fresh water to check it works - confused - any ideas?

because we boat in salt water i always flush the engine inside and out with lots of fresh water and then spray with lube when its cool to prevent corrosion.

I had a sportster that had lots of water in engine compartment. My new doo not a drop! I suspect bad sealed ride plate. Or your scupper value is leaking?? Good luck!

[keviseeb]

I had a sportster that had lots of water in engine compartment. My new doo not a drop! I suspect bad sealed ride plate. Or your scupper value is leaking?? Good luck!

Remote diagnosis is always a dangerous thing however you might want to take a look at the engine while its running, have somebody else drive please after removing the rear storage tray! Make sure the driveshaft carbon seal is not leaking as well as any hoses, both cooling and exhaust. I assume the closed loop part of the cooling system is ok because you didn't mention any coolant leaking out. You don't need to go very fast while checking.

Kevin Seeber
Kingsland Marine

[no1stumper]

I had the same thing happend to me. I just let my friend drive and found out it was a gasket between the engine and the jet pump. Not a very fun fix but solved my problem. Do as said above, next time you go out let someone else drive and chet out!

[thumper]

surely if it was the shaft seal then the baot would slowly fill with water until the bilge pump would activate - the boat was at anchor for 5 hours on sunday and the bilge didnt operate once - yet underway there doesnt seem to be any leaks??? - if it was the seal it would surely leak more at anchor than underway? i will investigate further this weekend - i will drain completely by jacking up baot on trailer then put in water without starting for say an hour then haul out again and check.

[keviseeb]

surely if it was the shaft seal then the baot would slowly fill with water until the bilge pump would activate - the boat was at anchor for 5 hours on sunday and the bilge didnt operate once - yet underway there doesnt seem to be any leaks??? - if it was the seal it would surely leak more at anchor than underway? i will investigate further this weekend - i will drain completely by jacking up baot on trailer then put in water without starting for say an hour then haul out again and check.

thumper, we had a customer with a 150 Speedster with a similar situation. What happened was a small piece of debris was in the carbon seal. Eventually it made its way out of the seal and ended up creating a path that only leaked water when the engine was running. Effectively the seal turned itself into a centrifugal pump. It was strange and hard to diagnose especially since it didn't leak at rest, only while underway. Again, no diagnosis here, just some fun facts!

Kevin Seeber
Kingsland Marine

[thumper]

ok i will take a look - any hints on whereabouts the leak is likely- is it visible from up top as i dont really want to get in the engine bay when we are underway?

[keviseeb]

ok i will take a look - any hints on whereabouts the leak is likely- is it visible from up top as i dont really want to get in the engine bay when we are underway?

Out of the hundreds of Seadoo Sport Boats and tens of Sugar Sand models here is what we have found, keep in mind this is a very low percentage of the total:

One boat leaked through the carbon seal, two leaked around the through bolts for the radiator/ride shoe plate, one had a hydraulic water leak where the hull was not quite made right near the forward part of the radiator/ride shoe plate, and 2 just plain had pinholes where they didn't belong on the bottom. Three leaked through the transom area at the hull joint. All except for the transom leak were visible looking into the engine room from out side. Good luck with it!

Kevin Seeber
Kingsland Marine