Taking on water after leak fixes?

[Cmginger12]

I’ve got a 2018 Z19. Bought with low hours and I’ve gotten good use of it. On a few recent outings, there was an insane amount of water draining and my bilge would run full blast for about 5 minutes when I put it back on the trailer.

Took it to a shop and they found several leaks along the live well ports and a few other spots near the motor. Took it back out yesterday for about 4ish hours and didn’t feel any difficulty getting to top speed, but when I pulled it out, it again drained for a few minutes and the bilge spit out water for maybe 2-3 minutes. Definitely not as much as before the shop but I’m still concerned.

I guess I’m just confused what level of water is normal? I never paid attention to how much would drain before it became an issue. I plan to swap out the drain plug just to ensure it’s not a leaky O ring but even so, I can’t quite figure it out.

 

[Andrebass]

I had the same problem in my old boat of water in bilge when taking boat out of water. One time I checked the bilge when I came back from fishing and the bilge was bone dry, yet when I pulled the boat out, there was a minute or two of water in it. It turned out to be the place where the top shell meets the hull was leaking all around. When the boat was on the trailer the stern would dip into the water and let water in until I pulled the boat out. I had to take off the rub rail insert and then the rub rail base, then I tightened or replaced the screws all the way around the boat. Once that was done I ran a bead of silicone around the lip, then reinstalled the rub rail base with new ss screws, silicone on bottom of rub rail base, then reinstalled the rub rail. problem disappeared 99.9% of the way. There is a really small trickle of water coming from the stern/transom, since I could not get silicone where the motor mounts. Do this on a really warm day to soften the rubber.

 

[DONAOL]

Really shouldn’t have any water leaking in at all. Seems like the water leak was slowed down. Does it take on water just sitting at the dock? Mine didn’t. Only took on water while running. Never was told how the leak was fixed.

 

[jerry shack]

I’ve got a 2018 Z19. Bought with low hours and I’ve gotten good use of it. On a few recent outings, there was an insane amount of water draining and my bilge would run full blast for about 5 minutes when I put it back on the trailer.

Took it to a shop and they found several leaks along the live well ports and a few other spots near the motor. Took it back out yesterday for about 4ish hours and didn’t feel any difficulty getting to top speed, but when I pulled it out, it again drained for a few minutes and the bilge spit out water for maybe 2-3 minutes. Definitely not as much as before the shop but I’m still concerned.

I guess I’m just confused what level of water is normal? I never paid attention to how much would drain before it became an issue. I plan to swap out the drain plug just to ensure it’s not a leaky O ring but even so, I can’t quite figure it out.

your best bet is to fill the boat with water till the bilge pump comes on and look under the boat for leaks like all your thru hull fittings and bilge plug also fill your live well and check that out for leaks. if water comes in its got to come out.

 

[Cmginger12]

I had the same problem in my old boat of water in bilge when taking boat out of water. One time I checked the bilge when I came back from fishing and the bilge was bone dry, yet when I pulled the boat out, there was a minute or two of water in it. It turned out to be the place where the top shell meets the hull was leaking all around. When the boat was on the trailer the stern would dip into the water and let water in until I pulled the boat out. I had to take off the rub rail insert and then the rub rail base, then I tightened or replaced the screws all the way around the boat. Once that was done I ran a bead of silicone around the lip, then reinstalled the rub rail base with new ss screws, silicone on bottom of rub rail base, then reinstalled the rub rail. problem disappeared 99.9% of the way. There is a really small trickle of water coming from the stern/transom, since I could not get silicone where the motor mounts. Do this on a really warm day to soften the rubber.

Interesting. I've definitely had issues with the rubber on the rub rail coming loose and I've had to tighten those screws several times. So you're saying take that off, replace or at least tighten the screws, and put some silicone along the edges when you put it back on?

 

[Andrebass]

Yes, especially if you've looked for every possible place for leaks.

There are two sets of screws I am referring to. One set of screws hold the rub rail on, the other set of screws is under the rub rail and holds the top and bottom hull together.

When I took the rub rail off I was shocked at how the old silicone just peeled off. The top off the boat just sits over the bottom by a couple of inches. Don't remove all the screws at once for the fear of the top popping off, but do a section at a time. Only need to silicone the bottom of the rub rail. It probably gets too messy if you do the top.

 

[Ken Reed]

Open your Battery box and look in it as your buddy drives it, my problem was the MPH water supply tube coming out of the motor has a plastic hose barb and sometimes it will come off . I fixed mine and put small tie rap on it to hold it to the barb. Hope this helps.