I hate leaks. Even small ones. I guess I have always felt that a leak can do nothing other than get worse. New to my 2007 226 I have been on the hunt for any leaks. There have been several however nothing serious. As a matter of fact my auto bilge has only engaged once in all my trips. I would still prefer to hunt these things down and get them resolved. Since they can be somewhat hard to detect at times I have decided to share my finds and fixes. I hope someone finds them useful.
1) I was getting some water in my forward bilge area when in sloppy seas. Nothing on a calm day, but enough to drive me crazy and start the hunt. I determined that the source of the leak was my forward bilge discharge. The water could slop on the side of the boat and actually back feed into the boat through the bilge itself. Kind of stupid that water is coming in through a hose in which it's supposed to exit.
SOLUTION - I removed the hose and put in a longer hose with a riser loop. For those that don't know, a riser loop is simply a longer hose that comes off the thru hull fitting and goes up several inches before dropping to the bilge pump. The factory hose dropped straight down and was like a funnel in the sloppy conditions. So far it's been completely dry after the repair.
2) Wash down pump - Now that the weather has finally warmed up a bit were starting to de-winterize things like wash down pumps and live wells. I noticed that the wash down pump had a pretty bad leak on the "out" side plastic connector. It also leaked on the fitting behind where the boat hose itself screws on and where the hose screws on from the outside.
SOLUTION - For the where the hose screws on it was a simple rubber washer. Just like the ones for your garden hose. I used a thicker on and it's drip free now. The other two leaks were plastic fittings. One needed some Teflon tape and the other was cracked so I replaced it. The hoses themselves had a lot of cracks however they were not leaking. I still made it a point to replace all 3 hoses that make up the wash down pump.
3) The biggest leak - Out fishing with a full crew and noticed the aft bilge engage automatically when I went to the back corner. It pumped a decent amount of water so I knew I had something going on. Those of you that have been on a 226 (2007) may know that you can access the rear bilge area thru 2 deck plates in the rear motor well area. You can also peak thru either side where the rear seats are however access itself would be tough to the actual bilge. This access is for batteries (port side) and fuel tank selector, battery switch, etc. (starboard side). I peaked thru the starboard side and there was water RUNNING like a facet was on. We determined the leak was actually the deck plates in the motor well. Water was running in and out of the motor well scuppers the entire day. At times there was a good 1/2 inch of water covering the plates with a lot of people standing at the back of the boat. I corked the scuppers (AS A TEST) and there was no more water running. I couldn't believe the amount of water dripping from these two covers. It looked and sounded like shower heads.
SOLUTION - 1st things 1st I wanted new covers. After a suggestion from a great friend (that was on the water with me that day) I decided to purchase clear ones. These are awesome. Now I can look right into the bilge without even bending over. I can see everything going on without even popping out the insert. I bought these from Beckson if anyone was wondering. They had great service and delivered them immediately. After taking off the old ones and messing around removing silicone for two days the new ones were installed and re-sealed.
Well I hope that solves all my leaks. I hope if anyone else has leaks, one of these solutions helps you out...
Salmon fishing has been great on Lake Michigan this spring. Me and the boys managed 23 for 30 yesterday having to release our last 3 due to a max limit of 20 being allowed. We had 3 Steelhead with the largest at 13 lbs. and 20 Coho Salmon. Great time on the water. Especially when I pulled the plug at the ramp and no water came out.....LOL
Jim
1) I was getting some water in my forward bilge area when in sloppy seas. Nothing on a calm day, but enough to drive me crazy and start the hunt. I determined that the source of the leak was my forward bilge discharge. The water could slop on the side of the boat and actually back feed into the boat through the bilge itself. Kind of stupid that water is coming in through a hose in which it's supposed to exit.
SOLUTION - I removed the hose and put in a longer hose with a riser loop. For those that don't know, a riser loop is simply a longer hose that comes off the thru hull fitting and goes up several inches before dropping to the bilge pump. The factory hose dropped straight down and was like a funnel in the sloppy conditions. So far it's been completely dry after the repair.
2) Wash down pump - Now that the weather has finally warmed up a bit were starting to de-winterize things like wash down pumps and live wells. I noticed that the wash down pump had a pretty bad leak on the "out" side plastic connector. It also leaked on the fitting behind where the boat hose itself screws on and where the hose screws on from the outside.
SOLUTION - For the where the hose screws on it was a simple rubber washer. Just like the ones for your garden hose. I used a thicker on and it's drip free now. The other two leaks were plastic fittings. One needed some Teflon tape and the other was cracked so I replaced it. The hoses themselves had a lot of cracks however they were not leaking. I still made it a point to replace all 3 hoses that make up the wash down pump.
3) The biggest leak - Out fishing with a full crew and noticed the aft bilge engage automatically when I went to the back corner. It pumped a decent amount of water so I knew I had something going on. Those of you that have been on a 226 (2007) may know that you can access the rear bilge area thru 2 deck plates in the rear motor well area. You can also peak thru either side where the rear seats are however access itself would be tough to the actual bilge. This access is for batteries (port side) and fuel tank selector, battery switch, etc. (starboard side). I peaked thru the starboard side and there was water RUNNING like a facet was on. We determined the leak was actually the deck plates in the motor well. Water was running in and out of the motor well scuppers the entire day. At times there was a good 1/2 inch of water covering the plates with a lot of people standing at the back of the boat. I corked the scuppers (AS A TEST) and there was no more water running. I couldn't believe the amount of water dripping from these two covers. It looked and sounded like shower heads.
SOLUTION - 1st things 1st I wanted new covers. After a suggestion from a great friend (that was on the water with me that day) I decided to purchase clear ones. These are awesome. Now I can look right into the bilge without even bending over. I can see everything going on without even popping out the insert. I bought these from Beckson if anyone was wondering. They had great service and delivered them immediately. After taking off the old ones and messing around removing silicone for two days the new ones were installed and re-sealed.
Well I hope that solves all my leaks. I hope if anyone else has leaks, one of these solutions helps you out...
Salmon fishing has been great on Lake Michigan this spring. Me and the boys managed 23 for 30 yesterday having to release our last 3 due to a max limit of 20 being allowed. We had 3 Steelhead with the largest at 13 lbs. and 20 Coho Salmon. Great time on the water. Especially when I pulled the plug at the ramp and no water came out.....LOL
Jim
